LA Meet-Up and Photo Tips

A small group of us met up at Heather's of PalleikoDesigns house to get photo tips, talk shop, share ideas, drink wine, and whatever else we felt like talking about. L to R Sandy/SandySimone, Heather/PalleikoDesigns, Deidre/Blackbird72, and Amanda/AmandaKLockrowJewels.

We forgot to take photos while everyone was there. So missing from the pictures are Miriam/MiriamDema, Joanne/CrazyArtDolls.

Anyway here are the basic photo tips. For me changing my iso setting from 1600 to 400 made all the difference in the world. So check this out and see if it helps you out too. Then have fun being creative.

CCCOE Product Photography Hints

Familiarize yourself with your camera; this may mean sitting down with the manual. Where can you find your camera settings? How do you get to each setting... etc. These guidlines are for small "pocket" digital cameras; though the same concepts apply to SLR cameras and larger digital cameras. Most digital cameras have these settings or similar terminology associated with little icons. You can find the legend for these in your camera manual: MENU FOLDER Color - set to natural or normal Focus - multi AF is the best setting to use until you get more familiar with settings Light Metering - Multi is the best setting to use until you get more familiar with settings White Balance - THIS IS IMPORTANT Set to daylight or cloudy for shooting outdoors. When shooting indoors you can use the incandescent (or flourescent if you have flourescent) setting but your colors still may not come out properly. ALWAYS shoot with natural lighting if you can. Even with cloudy skies you can get beautiful photographs. ISO Setting - 400 Keep your camera set at 400 for most photography -- indoors or outdoors Picture Quality - standard Contrast - normal or increase slightly Sharpness - normal Smart Zoom - on KNOW HOW TO USE THE MACRO LENS OPTION!!!!! When using your macro setting do NOT use the zoom option. Simply move your camera closer to the product and focus. Now that you know how to use your camera... Photographing your product (things to think about): location lighting - outdoors, indirect props framing the subject how to feature texture, color, how the product is used, do you need a model draw the viewer into the piece and/or around the subject. Post software cropping color balance brightness and contrast levels and curves adjustment Written By: H. Palleiko Designs Contemporary Wearable Art http://www.palleikodesigns.com