Best Backgrounds for Jewelery Photos

Experienced online jewellery sellers will tell you that the quality of your photos is the key to selling lots and lots of jewellery.  It's not necessary to have an expensive camera or to be a professional photog to get great pics of your work.  My photos really sucked when I first started out, but with a little research, and a LOT of trial and error, my photography skills have improved, and so have my photos.  Check out these before photos of my Trinkets bracelet.

Before

Before

        

These pictures are too dark.  The one on the left has uneven light that is unflattering, and there are too many things going on, which makes it distracting.  The background colour takes away from the colours in the bracelet.  Now here's the after photo.

This picture was taken outside, on an overcast day. I zoomed in, used the macro lens, and took several shots at different angles.  The background is a piece of driftwood that I found on the beach while camping last summer.  It doesn't distract from the bracelet, and it reflects the natural theme that I am trying to make part of my branding.

A Store is Born

Hello, blogreaders.  Just got home from work, where I spent twelve hours moving my classroom, organizing my stuff, and setting up for the first day of school.  I don't understand why, despite the fact that I've been doing this for fifteen years, this process never gets any easier or quicker.  I must be working hard, but not working smart, as they say. 

Last I blogged, I had just done a business name search and chosen the name Bead Planet.  I paid for and received my Master Business License, Business Registration number, and Vendor Permit.  Now everything felt official.  The next step was to figure out sales tax.  Before July, 2010, Ontario businesses had to collect and remit 8% sales tax as well as 5% GST on taxable goods, such as jewellery.  If your annual sales will be less than $30 000.00, (ha, ha) you are exempt from the hassle of collecting and remitting GST, but not PST.