Friday Fun Tips: Product Photography!

If you sell items online, you know just how important it is to capture your product in the best way for online viewing. Since a potential customer doesn't have the benefit of viewing your product in person, you want to give them as much visual information as possible, and in the most appealing way. You don't want them to take a split second glance at your item and move on. You want to invite them to take a longer look. Here are some tips for getting better product photography for your Etsy shop, eBay listings, website, etc!


Be accurate!
Learn how to utilize your EV balance on your camera, or make adjustments using photo editing software to make sure that your colors are accurate. Your home lighting will usually cast a yellow glow - learn how to use your white balance. Imagine a UT alum thinking they are getting a burnt orange scarf and it arrives maroon! No bueno!

De-clutter!
Be careful about your backgrounds. Remove distracting items and don't photograph your product atop a table with a busy pattern. You don't want to distract your customer with too much going on in your photo.

Be informative!
Help your customer get an idea of the real size of your product. Use mannequins and props when appropriate to help show how something hangs or lays. A snapshot of a scarf laying flat on a white counter top is pretty boring and not very informative. Photographing your product from multiple angles is also helpful. Using a macro lens can be helpful when shooting a closeup detail shot (another great view to include).



Let there be light!
One of the very most important parts of product photography is lighting. Whether you choose to use natural light or studio lights, you want to be sure your lighting does not wash out details or textures of your item. You generally want to steer clear of using your built-in flash, if possible. There are even many free/cheap options for making at-home lighting props, using items like cardboard and tin foil to reflect window light. Do a google search for homemade light boxes and reflectors and you will find a ton of options to work with.

Hold steady!
If you aren't using a tripod, let me encourage you now to do so. Even an inexpensive one will do just fine. Blurry images are just not acceptable for product photography. To get crystal clear closeups of your items, you can't beat the steady stability a tripod provides.

You don't need a pricey camera or expensive accessories to get good images. Need some trouble-shooting help for your images? Or if you'd rather hire a pro to make sure your products look their best online... Post here or drop me an email! jenn@jenniferjurek.com

Happy shooting and good luck with your sales!



{ check out Cordova Studios on Etsy for handspun and hand-dyed yarns, hand-painted rovings, and hand-carded artsy fiber batts }

Friday Fun Tips: Getting your home ready for real estate photos

1. Make a good first impression with cleaning up outside. Mow the lawn, rake leaves, clear out dead plants, add florals. If you don't take care of your lawn and landscaping, people are likely to assume you don't take care of the inside, either.

2. De-clutter! Clear the counter tops, coffee tables, dining table. Put away children's toys (in the backyard, too). Make sure shoes and coats are cleared out of the foyer.

3. De-personalize! Put away the picture frames. People want to be able to picture their own families in a potential new home.

4. Park cars in the garage or across the street.

5. Tidy up hoses, pool accessories, lawn tools. Skim the pool.

6. Make sure all lights have working bulbs. All lights will typically be on during a photo shoot.

7. Hide your valuables. Remember that photos placed onto MLS will be available online for public view.

8. Clean mirrors, oven doors, etc. Gleaming surfaces photograph much better!

9. Corral the animals. Love them as I do, they don't belong in real estate photos and tend to follow me around from room to room. Despite the fact that you may be super clean, you don't want someone to see a pet in your photos and wonder if the house smells like cat litter.

10. Open all the blinds and curtains for the exterior photo. You want a home to appear inviting, not closed off to the world!

Bonus tip: Hire a stager! They know how to make a space look brighter, bigger, and better!

Real Estate Photography with Team Sastoque

In 2008 I got married, and in 2009, my husband and I were ready for the next big step. No, not kids yet - we wanted to purchase our first house! This is when I first met Bettina and Juan Sastoque. They were so patient with my 5,000 questions, and really cared about finding us a new home that we would be happy with. Seeing how passionate they are about what they do, I am honored to be a part of their team, and would love for you to get to know them as I have!

JJP: What do you love most about what you do?

Bettina Sastoque: The reason we love our job is two-fold. First, we love working as Realtors because it allows us to work together as a family and as a team towards one common goal. Second, we love the opportunity to be a part of one of the most important ventures in most peoples lives. For most of our friends, the most impactful time of their lives is getting married, having a baby and purchasing a family home. It's a great honor when someone allows us to be a part of that.

JJP: You were definitely an important part of a huge step for us as newlyweds looking for our first home. We feel so lucky to have had you there to lead us through it. What do you think sets you apart from other real estate agents?

BS: There are a lot of great real estate agents that we get to work with, but the thing that sets us apart is that we both work actively together in real estate. I think that there is really something special about a husband and wife team. In this business, you really need the support at home, so that you can support your clients as they go through their selling/buying experience. We are able to tag team and make sure that our clients are well taken care of. More importantly, outside of the two of us, we have a phenomenal support team, including lenders, title company, escrow officers, stager, photographer, and more that help us successfully take care of our clients... I guess, in answer to your question about what sets us apart from other great Realtors, we have each other and a great team to help our clients reach their house selling and purchasing goal.

JJP: How has having a real estate photographer on your team helped your listings?
BS: Oh my goodness! Changing to using you as our photographer has definitely increased the number of times someone looks at our properties online. Plus, we have more showings on our properties than the average property listed. The reason photography is so important is because over 90% of homes are previewed online. Buyers first input the criteria of the property they are looking for, typical criteria include price, location, and square footage. From there, they check out the picture(s) online to decide whether to view the property or not. I know, from working with buyers, that they will more likely look at a house with great photos than a house with yucky photos. Also, Realtors take more seriously properties that have 25 photos than properties that only have a few photos.


JJP: If you are in the Collin County area and looking to buy or sell a home, I highly encourage you to give them a call. I find the challenges of real estate photography to be incredibly fun and interesting. If you know any other motivated real estate agents or someone selling their home, I would love to hear from them.

Click here to read about my current $99 Real Estate Photography Special Offer!

Friday Fun Tips: Photographing Fireworks

As many of us will be heading out to 4th of July celebrations this weekend, I thought I would share a few tips on how to get better photographs of fireworks.

• Turn off your flash!
• Do most of your photography during the first part of the show. Smoke builds up from the fireworks, and can make pictures hazy as it gets later. Try to avoid being downwind of the display for the same reason.
• Consider your location before the show. Do you want the skyline as a backdrop? Or do you want to be close and shooting up toward the sky?
• Shoot frequently! It's the digital age and those shots don't cost you a dime. You never know what is coming next that might be dazzlingly awesome. And once you've seen it, it may be too late for your camera to catch it.
• Bring a tripod if you can. This will help with using slower shutter speeds to capture the nighttime color.
• Play with shutter speed. Try slowing it down and opening the shutter just before the firework explodes.
• Shoot in landscape or infinity focus mode. Some cameras will have difficulty auto focusing on fireworks and you may need to manually focus if you have the option.

Have fun, be safe, bring mosquito repellant!

Dog Days of Summer!

If you know me, you know my love for dogs. Our rescue, Giselle, is pretty much our child. (I promise we don't push her in a stroller.) So, whenever I am with a family or on a job and there is a dog nearby, I cannot resist taking a moment to capture the canine members of the family.

Stay tuned for new Pet Portrait Packages. Meanwhile, take a glance at some of the new friends I've made.....

And, of course, Giselle......

Going Gluten-Free with Alta Mantsch

I was introduced to Alta last year when we both participated in the Fall Gift Market at Jacob's Reward Farm. I was first drawn to her blog by her food photography - she does a pretty great job! I don't have gluten-free needs, personally, and let's face it - I'm not much of a cook. Her blog Tasty Eats at Home, however, continues to captivate my interest and inspires me to try new foods. (This is saying a lot, you have no idea....)

She invited me into her kitchen, where I got to photograph her family dinner preparation, and pick her brain about the birth of a food blog. Read it in her own words, below. -JJP

AM: I have been blogging since July 2008. I decided I wanted to start keeping track of all of my recipes, and share them with family and friends, so I started my own blog! Little did I know what it would become. In June 2009, I went gluten-free because of some worsening health issues, and that's when I really started to gain a niche for my blog and my writing. I knew there were people out there that struggled with how to start a gluten-free diet, what to eat, how to cook, etc. and I wanted to share my experiences, cooking and recipes, and let people know that having to eat gluten-free doesn't mean living a life of deprivation. In fact, quite the opposite. Since I went gluten-free (and later on, dairy-free), my world has been opened to so many more culinary options than I ever thought possible.

fresh yellow zucchini dressing

JJP: How has your blog changed the way you approach cooking and eating?
AM: Immensely! It's funny how you tend to go the extra mile in the kitchen, even when you might not feel like it, because it's "for the blog". It's a living thing, it seems. It must be fed! But beyond that, I started to really challenge myself to try new cuisines, techniques, and recipes as I started to connect with other bloggers. My eyes were opened to a whole world of possibility, and I wanted to experience as much as I could. If I pulled off something pretty spectacular, I was eager to share! This intensified when I went gluten-free. I was determined to satisfy those cravings for certain long-lost food favorites - pizza, rolls, bread, cake, etc. without sacrificing taste.

The first time I successfully baked something gluten-free from scratch, I felt like I was in that scene in the movie Cast Away - where Tom Hanks screams "I have made fire!" (only mine was "I have made banana bread!") It's kind of a crazy high, if that makes sense.

JJP: What has been the most challenging part of living gluten-free?
AM: Most of the time, living gluten-free is easy for me. Most everything we eat is naturally gluten-free - lots of fresh vegetables, meats, eggs, nuts, rice, potatoes, etc. I don't like to eat a lot of processed foods - gluten-free or otherwise. They're full of preservatives, refined sugars, refined starches - things your body doesn't need. And processed gluten-free food is really expensive. So I opt to go the easy route and eat naturally gluten-free, healthy foods. The difficult part comes when I try to eat out at restaurants. I have a handful of restaurants that I trust, but even then, I have to explain my food restrictions and stress the importance of ensuring my meal is safe.



JJP: How has your blog connected you with others?
AM:My blog has connected me with a whole community! There are a lot of food bloggers out there, and you might be surprised, but there are also a LOT of gluten-free food bloggers! It's an incredible support system to say the least. These connections are key to what keeps my blog going. Of course, connecting with others has it's tangible perks too - I've talked with others enough to get the "guts" to start my own book (coming soon), and as a result of my blogging, I am speaking at the upcoming Gluten-Free Expo here in Dallas in October. But truly, it's the personal relationships/connections that I've made that are the golden nuggets and what makes blogging so fulfilling.

I couldn't agree more! It was wonderful getting to connect with a local food blogger. Many thanks to Alta Mantsch! Know someone in the Dallas area who should be featured in the PhotoBlog Spotlight? Drop me a line!

Need photographs for your own blog, website or business? I can help! -JJP

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Dinner:
Garden salad with mixed baby greens, carrots, radishes, orange bell pepper, tomatoes, and cucumbers, topped with a fresh yellow zucchini dressing (zucchini, tomato, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and cumin, blended until smooth) and roasted turkey breast. With a sprinkling of hemp seeds. The radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini were all local finds at the Chestnut Square Farmer's Market in McKinney.

Dessert:
Fudgy chocolate brownies with a peanut butter swirl

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Getting Portrait-Ready with Melody Jurick!

Have you ever had a portrait taken only to get them back and see that you had a super shiny face? Or that your eyes look tiny? Most people don't realize that what you see in the mirror is not the same as what the camera sees. I enlisted an expert to get some advice on polishing up your portrait-ready look.

Melody Jurick is an independent consultant with Arbonne International. I love love love their products and have been using their cosmetics and skincare line.

Melody believes the most common mistake made when applying make-up for portraits comes down to eye colors. "People only use one or two colors of eye shadows. For best results, you want to create shading of colors. The rule is four colors."

My sister, Traci, agreed to be our model for the day. Thanks, Traci!

She has two items that she wouldn't do without when getting ready for her close-up. "The first is the Fabulous 10 Precision Brush Set for your tools. The second is the greatest product - Mattifying Powder. Translucent oil-absorbing powder that takes away unwanted shine while reducing the appearance of redness. For a perfect, matte finish, dust on lightly over or under moisturizer or make-up. This is great for both men and women."


Everyone wants to look their best in a portrait, but don't realize just how much you can do with make-up. Melody says that "you need to create dimension and contrast by using bronzer, cream concealer, and brow color is the icing on the cake." Take some time to play with color and learn how to use your brushes. If you are booking an important portrait session, like bridal portraits or senior portraits - enlist in the help of a professional like Melody. They can show you how to let the camera capture you at your best!

Many thanks to Melody Jurick for sharing her brilliant ideas and masterful techniques with us. I highly recommend both Melody and Arbonne!