Photographing beadwork is a tricky task

Teeny, tiny, little shiny seed beads can be so hard to photograph.

I know to use the macro setting for small objects. After taking scores of photos by the light of my living room lamp, I've come to realize that taking photos outdoors on a sunny day will result in better, more true color. (If you scroll back through my previous posts and you spot a photo with an orange hue, it was probably shot in my living room.) I've read about, watched videos on and visited web pages that cover framing. And yet somehow, my photos still seem to often be off balance.

But I'm a firm believer in the power of practicing tasks you want to get better at doing. So this past Sunday, I hauled a small table out onto my back patio, got a black handkerchief I bought specifically to serve as a background, and tried to get some photos of a pair of feather earrings I made. 

Three versions (of many) that I took of feather earrings I made. The two
on the left are too blurry. Only the one on the right is sharp enough that the beads
are still well defined when viewed at 100 percent.

I had to fight the wind, which blew the handkerchief and the earrings on top right off the table more than once, but I finally was able to get 15 or so photos. I figured at least one had to be sharp enough to work. And that's what I got exactly -- just one photo that was in focus enough that I could zoom in and still see each bead sharply.

So I turned to Google to find tips on taking photos of beads, which led me to a page I'm pretty sure I'd read before years ago on the Fire Mountain Gems website* titled "Photo tips." Parts of it seemed vaguely familiar, though I don't remember finding so many good tips about setting up your own home studio (indoors, so no more battling wind gusts).

I'm going to get me one of those daylight lamps (though likely not the one the article links to. I cannot afford to spend $90 on a lamp), and try all of those tips for the studio and camera settings.

I'll revisit this topic once I have a chance to experiment and practice.

Have you had trouble taking photos of seed bead project? Please share in the comments below.

*I'd forgotten how good a resource Fire Mountain Gems can be. To see all of the website's jewelry making tips, visit its Jewelry Making Articles page.