Improving the Etsy Shop, Part 3

So I'm at day 3 of improvements already. Tonight's is easy:

Update your sections.

I'm going to keep it standard, based upon the products that I have, which are necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. But, I want to add something clever to the categories, just to make them a little different than these one-word descriptors. So, I'll be using the following:

• Adorn my neck with marvelous!
• Decorate my wrist with spectacular!
• Embellish my ears with dazzling!

There, that should do it. I'm sure there will be much more difficult tasks to come.

In other news, I have to travel to D.C. next week for work, so that puts a damper on the shop opening. Sigh. Oh well, more to look forward to when I return. Last night and tonight I started taking some pics and working out the settings for my new camera. I put a few of the pics here; let me know your likes/dislikes.

Canyon Drops Earrings

Warmth Earrings

Festival Earrings



Reloj Necklace

Funny how a new piece of equipment can totally mess up a whole process. With the old Kodak camera ("the brick"), I had everything all set--lighting, settings, exposure, etc. With the new Canon, I had to go through the process all over again. Plus, because of all of the new and improved settings and adjustments that can be made, it took me twice as long (please note that I'm not complaining about my new camera, I love it!).

The photos are still coming out a little bit gray, but I attribute it to the fact that I only have one lamp shining in the lightbox. My Photoshop skills can handle this for now. I need to get two more lamps, but I just haven't been to the store yet to find the ones that I need. In addition, I also need to get full spectrum bulbs, which I think will make a world of difference.

Anyway, that's all for the night. Long day tomorrow, as I have a deliverable that's due for my day job.

Hugs 'n stuff,

Chelsea

New Camera!

Well, I finally did it. I finally made the leap and purchased a new digital camera for myself. I went to my favorite online retailer, Amazon.com, and completed the transaction (the camera has been sitting in my cart for over a month). It will be here on Wednesday!

If you'd see the one that I have right now, you would know that I am LOOOOOOONG overdue. My brother has even told me that he's embarassed to go anywhere with me if I take my old one. We call it "The Brick." It's a Kodak DC3400 Zoom, which my husband bought for me for my birthday in December of 1999. Now, granted it's old and it's huge and it's definitely outdated; however, it's done the job for me quite proper, so I can't complain. Aside from the size, however, the LCD screen is about shot, it's a battery hog, and soon I don't think I'll be able to purchase the type of Compact Flash cards it needs anymore. Regardless, I'm still going to hold on to it as our "beater" camera.

So, let's get back to the new purchase. Oh, the new purchase. I'm quite pleased with it: The Canon PowerShot A720IS 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. I am drooling over it for many reasons (visit Canon for the full spec). First, at one of my old jobs we worked on a marketing piece for Canon, and we had the opportunity to interview several well-known photographers (Greg Gorman and Barbara Bordnick, to name a few). I didn't do the interviews myself, but I did get to hear them and transcribe them, which eventually transformed into training materials that taught photographers how to make the transition from film to digital. Because of the testimonials these folks gave about Canons, I was sold immediately (granted, they were using the very high-end series at the time, but still...it didn't take much convincing). Second, Canon products continue to receive excellent ratings, and some of my favorite photos I see on Flickr are shot with a Canon (check out my friend's stream of GORGEOUS macro shots here).

So, I'm looking forward to doing shots of my jewelry for my shop, and testing out this little fella just to see what he can do. In the next few weeks, I anticipate posting some strange and random moments in time, courtesy of my Canon, but I doubt anyone will mind. You can probably anticipate dogs, cats, backyard bird scenes, and the wonderful, wonderful colors of fall. Have a beautiful evening folks.

Peace, love, and thousands of camera clicks,
Chelsea

p.s. Also arriving with my camera will be Mark Lareau's new book, Getting Started Making Metal Jewelry. Yeehaw I'm gonna be having some fun in the very near future!