Yesterday I was looking at Pinterest, and noticed that someone had pinned the very first buffet we overhauled, 2.5 years ago. With it being one of our very first furniture transformations, I was sooooo proud of this piece… and honestly I still am!
BUT, I cringe when I look back at my furniture-photographing-skills. YIKES!
There are so many things wrong with this photo. It’s no secret that I’m NOT a photographer… but I do have extensive experience photographing furniture over the years. And I’ve learned a lot. Here are the two most important things I want to address:
1) Use natural light whenever possible. Photographing at night (no matter how many lights you pull out) will never look as good as daytime photos.
2) Let the furniture be the star. At the time, I thought it was really important to accessorize and put pictures and flowers and lamps on my furniture… but through experience I learned that it’s just distracting and looks cluttered. You live and you learn, right?
Here is an example of doing things RIGHT!
This is my Joel Dewberry hand painted dresser. Can you see how the lighting is bright and pure? It brings out all the best features of the furniture. Now scroll back up and have a gander at the first photo again. It assaults you eyes, huh?
I know I still have lots to learn, and it’s fun trying out new angles and whatnot. If you’re a photographer and want to add anything that I forgot… or even correct me (I know I’m an amateur!), feel free to leave a comment! Let’s discuss!
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Great tip, and I agree–no matter what you do, a picture will nearly always look best when shown off with the beautiful natural light!
i have a Canon SLR with various lenses that were crazy expensive but honestly you don’t need an expensive camera to have great photos. all of my photos i take of my jewelry are taken with a tiny Sony point-and-shoot but it’s the editing that makes the difference (as well as GOOD lighting) so don’t worry if you don’t have a good, expensive camera. sometimes the little guy gets the job done just as well. 🙂
love your stuff bethany. i am dying to try the stencil thingy out that you did in your upstairs hallway. totally awesome. 🙂
I’ve been struggling with this. My projects look great when they’re finished but I feel like the photos just dont do them justice. I hinted at a new fancy camera but I will try it out in better light next time. I think after working on something all day its just SOOOO hard not to take pictures when you’re done! Even if it is dark out. Patience is a virtue for sure.
Yeah, still working on taking photos of room arrangements that I don’t have to drag through Photoshop first to make look even reasonable. Just this week, the camera seems to have given up on focusing clearly. *sigh*
I love pinning your work, dreaming of the day when I too will take my dresser and turn it into a masterpiece like yours!
I LOVE that second dresser. Gorgeous! And because of that dresser, I think I am going to paint my children’s toy cabinet that color of blue. Do you happen to know the color information? Thanks!!
The blue base color is Krylon Peek-a-boo!