At jewellery college you learn photography. For a very good reason. Photographing your work well is so important, especially when you are trying to market your work and sell online. So I have a grasp of the basics of good photography and I know my way around an SLR. I also know how to use a macro lens to show the details of a piece of jewellery.
My iPhone has no macro lens. It doesn't pick up details or show how something works or its connection. I wouldn't dream of taking photos of my jewellery with my iPhone! That was, until I discovered the instagram app.
For those of you who don't use it, its basically like twitter for images. It allows you to apply filters to photos, like hipstamatic, and post them directly to your facebook or twitter profiles. People can also follow you directly, like and comment within the app itself.
The benefit of instagram is not to show exactly what my work looks like, but to give a feel for my work. I still use a proper camera for real pictures! I use instagram to take progress shots while I'm in the studio, or little sneak-previews of something I'm working on. If you use it right, you can convey an aesthetic in a really lovely, personal and direct way. This translates really well into jewellery work, as long as you follow it up with some good, crisp and clear images on your website as well.
Here's a few of my favorite eels instagrams as an example.
Work in progress shots...
Sneak previews of exhibition work...
Concept drawings...
Brand new work snaps, as its made....
If you'd like to follow me on instagram, my user name is eelsjewellery. Otherwise, I regularly post my photos on twitter @eelsjewellery
TE x
Oh my goodness I LOVE the sketches you have made on the eggs! Your work is beautiful.
ReplyDelete