Did you know today is World Photography Day? And if you love photography as much as we do, then we think you should definitely keep reading. World Photography Day is an annual, worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography. One of our favourite things of running our business is being able to create beautiful imagery to show off our beautiful personalised gifts. It’s important for us to achieve the highest quality photos in order for to know everything about our products, because of course, we sell everything online!
We are also extremely lucky to work with our amazing photographer Dave (DIA images photography), and Joanne who has the perfect eye for styling. Our photoshoot journey has come a long way over the years, from running a business out of home and having to use a bedroom for a background; to renting out local function rooms, to now being lucky enough to shoot in our own factory space. We’ve learnt a lot of things along this journey and we thought we’d share our top tips on how to create your own photography studio! It’s easier than you think!
Find your space
This part might be the easiest or hardest part of creating your own studio. If you’re thinking of using a room at home, use a spare room where you have natural light and some space to set up, or you might have to do a bit of furniture moving! If you’d rather not make any space at home, there’s lots of local places like function rooms you’d be able to rent out for a day to take your photos!
Choose your backdrop
If the room you’ve chosen doesn’t have the right look you’re going for, then a backdrop is your next step. You can find some amazing photo backdrops and stands on Amazon, but maybe like us you’d rather a more DIY approach. Here’s an example of some panel backgrounds we had made and then painted! It’s a fun additional project to add to your photography studio experience, and they last for ages!
Use the right camera for you
We have our amazing professional photographer Dave, who knows lots more about cameras and lighting than we do! When we’re taking our website product images we’ll go the full nine yards with proper cameras, lighting and our team. However we’re also constantly just using our phones! Smartphones nowadays have such great quality cameras, so buy a phone tripod and get going! Choose whatever format works best for you.
Stay organised
Because we have so many teddies, bunnies and blankets all waiting for their close up, it can hard to keep track of it all. We like to stay organised and pile products into groups, so we know images we have and what we don’t. If like us you have lots images to capture, make sure you create some sort of plan or system of keeping track. Also, if you are using models, make sure you take those images first so they’re not waiting around!
Your makeshift studio can be a great place to take a nap too!
Use your editing tools wisely
Not all photos need to be edited, but if you decide to edit than use the right editing tools for you. Photoshop is a great tool to be able to use, but also there’s some brilliant editing apps you can download straight to your phone!
We hope this helps you with your photography journey! Happy World Photography Day!
