Today we’re excited to feature Click Love Grow Grad Vicki, who is the owner and creator at Vicki Elle, an online business selling beautiful handmade bags and accessories for children.

 

 

Vicki Elle.. gorgeous handmade pieces

Vicki Elle is an online business that specialises in beautiful handmade bags and accessories for children, mostly for little girls but you will also find some pieces for boys and adults as well.

Each product is individually made (by me) from start to finish in Brisbane, Australia.

I’ve always loved the specialness of handmade items, so my aim is to create products that will be treasured and adored by their new owners.

 

Product Photography – The Key Elements

Definitely the most important element to me is good natural lighting.

I aim for a soft, pretty look for my images and having good natural lighting helps achieve that. Most of my photos are taken in my living room where I have some large windows and a simple set up of a white roller blind draped over some dining chairs.

I choose the time of day carefully so that the light filtering through the windows isn’t too dull or too harsh.

The blind draped over the chairs allows me to get a seamless white background, making my products really stand out. I take a series of shots, usually one showing the whole product on its own, then some others from different angles to highlight its features.

I also like to include some with props to show the product in use and its size.

Now that I have done the Click Love Grow Photography Course and know what to do, I always shoot in manual so I can adjust the settings to get the shot to look exactly how I want, normally starting with the aperture and adjusting the other settings to suit.

 

Using Images in Business & Social Media

I’m still learning and experimenting with this, but so far I have used my photos a few different ways.

Usually it’s just a single product shot to show off a new creation, other times I show a little behind the scenes by sharing a snap from my phone of work in progress or some new fabric, and occasionally I share something interesting, but relevant to my business like a photo I took earlier this year of some very old cotton reels.

I also quite often make a collage of an individual product, using the photos that I took from different angles and with props so that people can see and learn as much as possible about it at a glance.

I think this is especially important when selling online as customers can’t touch or feel a product so they have to rely on photos to show them.

 

Top Tips to Improve Product Photography

Two things that instantly come to mind are lighting and backgrounds.

Definitely put some thought into where and what time of day you take your photos to make the most of natural lighting without having to use a harsh flash. Use soft lighting, so in the shade outdoors or filtered through a window indoors.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of experimenting to find the right spot but it’s worth it.

Use plain, uncluttered backgrounds so your product really stands out and keep styling simple so the focus stays on your product, not on everything around it.

What is your favourite piece of equipment or trick that you rely on for creating fabulous looking shots?

I would have to say my 50mm lens. It’s great for when I really want to highlight an individual feature of a product, by having that section in focus with the rest beautifully blurred in the background.

 

About Vicki

Vicki is the owner and creator at Vicki Elle – an online business selling beautiful handmade bags and accessories for children. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with her husband and their three wonderful boys.

Vicki has always had a passion for both creating and photography and started Vicki Elle as a way to combine the two. She absolutely loves sewing all the products she sells and says that taking photos of them for her online stores is just as much fun!

 

Find Vicki Elle online…

Website – www.vickielle.com.au
Facebook – www.facebook.com/vickiellehandmade
Instagram – www.instagram.com/vickiellehandmade

 

Want to improve your own product photography?

Check out our Business Photography Course available now!