How to photograph cards and stationery for sharing online or selling!

Posted on 14th September 2017 by Papermilldirect
Filed under How To Sell Handmade Cards, Competitions And Giveaways

Take better photos of your work! Learn how to photograph cards and stationery for blogging, sharing on social media or for your card or wedding stationery business.  

Enter our competition to win a box of card and a voucher to spend at www.photoboards.org at the end of this post!

Have you ever  taken a picture of your freshly made card or wedding stationery and been disappointed in how the quality of the card just doesn't come across in your image.  Learn how to take photographs of you cards with these 7 great tips from Debby Hughes, writer of the absolutely gorgeous blog www.limedoodledesign.com

If you follow Debby's photography tips, it will help you get onto design teams, win more cardmaking challenges and generally improve how people react to your cards.  You might even find you get your work featured in papercraft magazines.  If you love making and sharing cards then taking great photos of your work will help get your designs noticed.  

If you run a wedding stationery business or sell cards online then in focus, well lit cards are essential. 

Debby also shares her tips for styling your cards using backgrounds like these fab Photo Boards which come in lots of sizes. All of the gorgeous images of cards featured in this post by Debby have been taken using these clever backgrounds. You don't need the perfect shabby chic white floorboards or slate work-surface - just use a Photo Board backdrop! 

At the end of the post be sure to enter the competition to win a £30 voucher from www.photoboards.org .

1. Natural light, natural light and natural light again! I take my card photographs with natural light coming in from one side. It tends to be from the left side when taking upright photographs or from the top with the overhead, flat lay style.

2. If you find you are getting harsh shadows then use a diffuser/piece of paper/muslin to soften the light and so soften the shadows.

3. Here in the UK, light can be a valuable commodity and when trying to take pictures on a dull day it is easy to get camera shake with slower shutter speeds. It always helps to get the sharpest pictures if you stabilise your camera in some way. A tripod is ideal.

4. When styling the photograph I like to add in flowers and leaves to bring interest and tone in colours. Other items which help to tie in to the card are the products you used to make the card, for example, pens or markers

5. When taking an overhead flat lay style of photograph it can help to soften shadows by raising the card slightly off the Photo Board surface - I use a roll of tape underneath my card.

6. When taking an upright photograph I like to angle the card slightly towards the light as this captures all the dimension in the card.

7. Although taking pictures on a nice bright white background might be thought of as ideal, I prefer to use Photo Boards with a touch more colour to them. It is so difficult to take a picture with true whites that don’t look grey at one extreme or blown out at the other. My personal preference is a softly neutral board, not white but equally not too dark. 

Good Luck! be sure to head to www.photoboards.org to see what you can buy with your £30 and also head over to Debby's gorgeous blog www.limedoodledesigns.com to look at more of her beautiful work.

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