The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos – the best techniques for showcasing your handmade creations by Heidi Adnum; Interweave Press, 2011. ISBN978-1-59668-626-7

I recently hosted a meeting with fellow textile artists and the importance of photographing work successfully came into focus. The entire group ventured into the city that same day to attend a free seminar on how to take professional photos of ones art work.

It became clear quickly that everyone was at a different place when it comes to capturing images of our art work. As a result I decided to order  a copy of The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos. It finally arrived a few days ago and I made it a priority to read it cover to cover.

Here is my review of this affordable resource for those who cannot afford to employ a professional photographer every time we complete work.(- This includes me!)

The book is well organized and covers a variety of media. 16 chapters range from Getting Started to Image Handling and Business Advice. This may be a detriment if the reader is looking for concise and sound advice when photographing their work only.

With this said, the author begins by discussing camera equipment, how to tell one’s story, and several  DYI accessories tutorials. The book soon moves into the Photo Fundamentals section which is well thought out. Each sub chapter includes a Practitioner Spotlight which takes the form of an interview. It features an artist who has successfully bridged the gap between creating, capturing their work in images and is actively selling this work. Chapters include Fashion & Fabrics, Bags, Purses & Accessories, Knitting & Needlecraft, Jewelry, Dolls & Toys, Ceramics & Pottery, Art, Books, Magazines & Stationary and Home Accessories.

Part 3 of the 192 page resource focuses on editing tutorials, image handling, optimization and, as mentioned above, business advice.

I gladly admit that this book is not specific to textile artists and quilters. However, it offers a wealth of information to those that use a simple camera, want to explore alternative lighting options and are not sure how to set their camera to specific image sizes and/or has not devoted much time to resizing images for submission or to upload to the internet.

Do you feel you want to get a better grasp on your images? Consider this book! Check your local library and if you find it has information you would benefit from to create better photographs pick up your very own copy!

Happy “shooting”!

26 Apr This entry was published on April 26, 2012 at 6:03 am. It’s filed under Art, Book Review, Design, Photography & Events and tagged book review, Heidi Adnum, photographing your artwork, Simple steps to successful fine craft photography, The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.