The Best Lighting for Photographing Your Cards

 

Hi, Sweet Things!  It's Melissa here again and I'm back to share another tidbit about product photography with you!

When it comes to getting a good photo of one of your cards, lighting is one of the most important elements!  Personally, I prefer natural lighting! Good ole daylight itself with no help from light bulbs, including the flash on my camera.  That said, there are certain times of day that contain better light than others!  Take a look at the photos below:

Photo #1 was taken mid-afternoon when the light still had a nice, warm tone to it.
Photo #2 was taken about an hour later.  You can see a little greyish blue appearing in the photo.
Photo #3 was taken in the late afternoon.  You can definitely see a bluish tint in the photo now.
Photo #4 was taken in the late afternoon with flash.  Lighting from a flash tends to be a bit harsh for my liking.

As you can see, the time of day in which you snap those photos makes a big difference in the type of light you will have to work with.  If you don't have access to good natural daylight due to the time of day you need to take your photos, a light box (purchased or handmade) is another alternative as long as you use daylight bulbs as your lighting.  Even with the light box, you will want to turn off your flash!

Don't worry if your photo isn't absolutely perfect!  There are ways to edit them and I'll discuss that in a future post.  For now, go ahead and work on finding a good natural light source (indoor or outdoor) and practice taking some photos, paying attention to how your photos look at different times of day.  I took the photos above in the exact same location each time and just look at the difference in appearance!

Below is Photo #1 edited and ready for blog posting!  The color of the lighting was good, but I did brighten it up just a little.

I used the newly released Elegant Flowers for my card this week as well as the Distressed Chevron for filling in the flower image and the wonderfully flexible Monogram Alpha to create the sentiment!

I hope this helps you to begin to understand a little bit about why a good lighting source is so important!  Without good lighting, you'll find yourself frustrated with the color and sharpness of your images.

Be sure to stop back two weeks from today as I share some tips on actually taking your photos!  You won't want to miss these!  In the meantime, be sure and come visit my blog today for more Sweet Stamp Shop goodness!

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