Making crafts is super fun, but photographing can be quite a challenge at first. This post is a pile of information I have picked up in photographing my crafts. Even if your only camera is an iPhone, you can still take super fabulous photos worthy of being on pinterest without million-dollar props.
What you will need
- Grass
- Sunlight
- Cloth of some sort
- Table
- Random assortment of things from around the house like spoons, coasters, and even stuffed animals
End the Terrible Potato Lighting
Alright, so let’s talk about those photos you like to take at night at your craft table. Have you ever really zoomed in and examined them closely? Notice how it looks almost pixelated? That means your pictures have a disease known as potato lighting. No worries, this is easily fixable by something called… Sunlight. I know it seems absolutely ridiculous, but if you craft in front of a nice window that can provide a bit of light from this ancient burning orb in the sky, your projects will look much better. This is not ideal for your final amazing shot of your art, but for the tutorial purposes it will do just fine. Try really hard to keep your craft table clear as possible. My table has a nice top surface and a keyboard tray, so I work on the keyboard tray and keep the mess below the camera.
Learning how to Focus to Take Good Pictures with your IPhone 8
Sometimes your phone’s camera will not focus for the life of it, no matter how much you violently tap the screen. Generally, this is a sign of terrible lighting as well, but if your device is just acting out, you can try playing with the zoom, the angle, or tapping slightly less violently. I have found that sometimes it is a good idea to pull the phone back and forward in front of the thing you are photographing to make it refocus.
Why Taking Pictures at Night with an IPhone is a Horrible Idea
Not only is the lighting awful, you also have the issue of not thinking as clearly. This can lead to the attempt of percussive maintenance, which will only wind up with you at the apple store to buy a new iPhone tomorrow. The best thing to do in this situation is to just go to bed and take your photos in the morning. Waiting for the craft to do its thing is usually best before moving anyway, so potato lighting and your half melted brain is honestly doing you a favor.
Setting up
An important part of photographing your crafts is to use props. Props can range anywhere from shoes to wine bottles to antiques, or even old crafts from previous posts. Recently I took some good pictures using the front door with a doily propped against it for a seamless background. Get creative, not every prop has to be expensive. Some high quality spray paint and cheap little things from the dollar store can make good background pieces
Taking Multiple Good Pictures with an iPhone 8
Sometimes your camera will refuse to focus in one photo, but the second shot will be amazing, even if you hardly move. Always take more than one picture with slightly different angles to give yourself plenty of pictures to choose from. If you think you have too many photos, take one more just to be sure. Photos can be deleted; however, you’d have to wait 24 more hours to get that same lighting, assuming the weather is identical.
Good Ways to Practice Photography
Take pictures of absolutely everything at all times of the day. This can mean an interesting beetle, a butterfly, a lizard, a weirdly shaped rock or even a pile of dirt. Maybe take pictures of yourself or others around you. My personal favorite thing to practice with is roses, since they are gorgeous and no two flowers are the same. Sometimes I’ll be looking back through my photos and see something I missed, like a tiny little spider friend hiding in the petals of a flower. I hope this post helped you get some ideas on how to up your photography game, and happy crafting!