Photo Editing

Probably one of the most challenging parts of listing new jewelry is capturing quality photographs. Viewing items online is not as personal as shopping in stores, and having beautiful photographs can often tip the scale, to really capture the attention of a client and entice them to buy.

I have no professional training with photography, and have basically been lucky to have a really brilliant camera. I have learned, over time, some techniques that help capture the colors and give a photo an eye catching angle. However, editing seems to be the tool that truly differentiates a fabulous photo from an average one.

Often for one piece I can take up to 40 to 50 shots to get just a couple good ones to work with. This is a lot of work! I have recently started playing around with Photoshop, to be able to perfect color and hue, and today I stabbed at altering one photograph to suit a listing for 5 different colors. I have a pair of Czech glass poppy earrings, available in a multitude of colors, I literally took 30 different shot of me wearing each color, and came up with only ONE outstanding shot.



Here is the original photo. I like the feel of this photograph, but wasn't sure I could reproduce it for each color, as it is difficult to photograph myself with my DSLR camera. So I turned to Photoshop for some editing help. Below you can see that I have switched to black and white, increased the brightness and and contrast, and then adjusted the hue to match each color that I have to offer.







I have only attempted this because these earrings are all identical in size and proportions. I have also been very careful to modify the hue to resemble the color I have available, to make it an honest interpretation.

My Poor Blog;)

My poor neglected blog! I always think of great things to write about, but somehow never make it there. OY;) I am full of ideas, but never fully prepared, LOL.

Last weekend, for example, I went to my very first Gem Show! So excited to go. I packed my daughter up to go with me (she's 4, but already obsessed with jewelry). We took a 4 hour drive to Seattle, and had a super great time. I found lots of stunning, beautiful gems, although many were still just too pricey for me, YIKES $800/strand made me scared;).

I had great plans to document the whole adventure and write about it here on the blog, but....I forgot my camera at home! Me! The lady who basically has a camera attached to her body 24/7, forgot the camera. seriously, i need more sleep, lol.

I got a few after the show, in the Seattle Center Fountain, with my daughter, but failed to take any cell phone shots inside. Sometimes I wonder about myself, lol!


Adyson at the Fountain. At first she was terrified of falling down into the pit.



But eventually, I couldn't keep her out of it;)

and to not disappoint, here are a few shots of the gems I did get.



AA grade Peach, White, and Grey Moonstone: So lovely!



AAA grade Mystic Mandarin Quartz: OMG!



Moss Amethyst

The rest is viewable on my Facebook Fanpage. Stop by there, become a fan, and take a look! :)

Clowning around with Kidlets;)

I had just wanted a photo of me wearing my snazzy newly embroidered jacket, but somehow it turned into the fam clowning around with my camera. I nearly had a heart attack a couple of times, but my 3 year old loved taking pictures of the rest of us;)


Here are the kids and I together, we set the 10 second timer for this one. Obviously 10 seconds has surpassed my daughters patience threshold;) either that or she's competing with Zoolander for model of the year;)


Adyson took this one;) She wanted to take one of Daddy, so I am not in this picture because I'm having a mini panic attack standing next to her, since she's less than careful with my camera;)


Just the girls;)

Gemstones, gemstones, gemstones!!

Ok, it FEELS like I have waited FOREVER for these gemstones, but oh boy was it worth it! If you follow me on facebook, you have already seen them, but I just can't help myself;), I have to give you a view of them here too!

Black Spinel
Mookaite Jasper
Amethyst
Moonstone
Green Onyx
Garnet

It's going to take me days to get to each of these, and make beautiful new items, but if you see something you like, you are welcome to send me an email, I would love to create a custom order for you! Checkout my facebook fanpage for more gemstones, even though I wanted to, I have not listed them all here;)

Giveaway...drawing...freebies!

Its time for another DRAWING! To be entered become a fan on Fable Bay's Facebook fan page and leave a comment on my wall to be entered into a drawing for a free pair of Gemstone Earrings!

Lutescent Earrings by FableBay.etsy.com


All fans who comment on the fan page until Feb 28th will be entered.

HeartsforHaiti.etsy.com

I wanted to get the word our about HeartsforHaiti.etsy.com. I have donated to this shop, and hope to draw attention and raise money for Haiti Disaster Relief.

This is an Etsy shop of donated items from hundreds of Etsy shops to raise money to rebuild Haiti. 100% of the proceeds from this shop (minus Etsy fees and Paypal fees) go directly to DoctorsWithoutBorders (http://doctorswithoutborders.org ) in bi-monthly increments. This shop has permission to use the DoctorsWithoutBorders name and a separate bank account and Paypal account have been opened to maintain the integrity of this shop.

Items have been donated from many individual shops; each shop has included their particulars ( country, shipping time) in each listing. All items include seller-donated free shipping (most worldwide, see individual listing) because the need is SO great, HeartsforHaiti wants you to buy and help support Etsians helping Haiti. The theme for the next few weeks is on heart items but we have more than just that. Please browse our sections and know that your purchase in this shop not only gets you a great Etsy item but it also helps alleviate the needs in Haiti through donations to DoctorsWithoutBorders (MedicinesSansFrontiers ).

If you would like to donate an item to HeartsForHaiti.etsy.com, please send an email to etsyforhaiti@gmail.com for a copy of the donation guidelines.

We can make a difference, together :)

HeartsForHaiti.etsy.com