Forays into Photography

So I’m working on new photos for Amazon Creations (my Etsy store). I’m a little nervous about it for a couple of reasons, all of which boil down to “I’m not actually a photographer”.
 
See, I have the good fortune of being extended-phamily with a Real Photographer. One who happens to want to learn how to do promotional jewelry photography, so that she can offer it as a service to places like Ten Thousand Villages (where she volunteers on a regular basis). So she offered to take pictures of a bunch of my jewelry.
As in: every single piece listed in my store, plus about half a dozen more… plus pictures of the pieces from those collections that have sold at craft fairs or off the site already.
That’s something like forty professional pictures that I got for the bargain price of “Thanks, hon, you’re awesome!”
 
And now I’m on my own.
On the one hand, this is a good thing, because it means I’m learning a new skill set and I’m not dependant on someone else’s availability/free-time to get pictures of new stock. Which is handy.
However, it does mean that I’m going from professional-quality pictures to, well, MY quality pictures. I may be awesome in front of a camera but… Behind it? Well, that remains to be seen.
Using a tripod (to prevent hand-tremble issues) seems to be helping.
Here’s hoping I get some good pictures of my Honey Month collection, and of the various wintery pieces (made especially for this weekend’s Yule Craft Fair) and Mythical Realms key necklaces (yes, I’ve started making necklaces again, and this time they’re actually working!) that I’ve been creating as well. My goal is to have enough pictures to keep me in regular Etsy updates until the end of February.
 
Wish me luck!
 
 
TTFN,
Meliad the Birch Maiden.