@EmyjaneWild I think your photos are great, I like the clean white backgrounds with your items- they don’t look clinical because the items themselves are colourful and have irregular shapes. (I am very envious that you manage to get a consistent white, makes your shop look coherent and professional, I can never get the same white twice)
@teabreaks - thanks for all the faving, I’ll do the same with you, might take me longer though! I’m beginning to lose heart with Folksy, I know it’s a bad time of year, but I haven’t had any sales at all, yet on the E side, plenty!
@DeborahJonesJewellery - thank you for taking the time to have a look. I tweak them all on photoshop, there’s a ‘white balance’ number which I put in every time and it makes the white the same - takes me a long time! So if it’s not the photography, is it the prices which are putting people off? I’m trying to work out why I’m not selling - I mean, yes, Jan & Feb are bad months, but I’m selling ok on the other side (the E one with a Y at the end)…
@LouiseJonesArt - it’s hard to tell, as they’re all framed pictures, I like the set up, but I fear it’s a bit of the same each time, apart from the last one where you have photographed it at a different angle, which I prefer - why a cactus? Maybe some Spring flowers instead? Change it round in the seasons. And list more… are you going to sell cards or just framed prints? 
If you are selling on the other side, then you know it isn’t your prices.
Folksy doesn’t really have much passing trade, it is more of a shop front to send your customers to.
Where as E…y is big enough to generate sales without promotion.
Brenda - the images on our shop fronts and in search results are displayed as square because of the grid layout that gets used, every image gets re jigged to be the same size and shape because it looks better in the grid (nearly all shopping sites display photos as square on grid layouts). You don’t need to pre crop your photos to square but it really does help if they look good as a square. So using this set up
that’s 3 a4 pieces of card (but thick white paper would work), 2 propped up on books at right angles to each other, on the coffee table in front of a south facing window on a fairly gloomy day, I took this (uncropped) photo (the postit was the closest thing I had to aceo size at 3 by 4 inches)
which when cropped to square looks like
Having the postit at a slight angle reduces the ‘border’ like effect of the surrounding space and the props (I went for things I figured you would already have) also help fill the extra space and provide scale whilst being relevant to the subject. You can then have an additional photo in the listing of just the painting with no props taken straight on to the camera.
So as someone who does get to be a ‘folksy favourite’ on occasion I hope you find that helpful.
Sasha
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thank you Sasha…so I personally don’t need to square the picture, as long as I have enough of a surround so that when Admin square it off it is still ok?
Makes me feel a bit dizzy looking at a picture on an angle, so I need to think about that one…lol…I think my paintings would not look good tilted like that…but I will certainly have a think and I certainly appreciate everyone’s help x
The folksy website automatically does the cropping of any image that isn’t square - there isn’t a human involved checking to make sure that the cropped image makes sense - but this is only for our shop fronts, search results and when things appear in gift guides. The images in the listing can be any size/ shape you like and will be displayed as that size/ shape within the listing. Because of the lack of human involvement with the cropping I prefer to pre crop then I have the control over the final image but so long as there is sufficient surround you don’t need to do it yourself. If something is being featured on facebook, in the weekly emails etc then admin probably do double check it for resolution/ crop etc.
If you don’t like the picture at an angle you could always use a paint brush and paint under a landscape orientation picture to make the main image more square. Styling is all about making the overall image hang together - you work out the composition of the elements in your paintings, now you need to consider your painting as a single element within its product shot and work out the best composition of items around it so that it appeals to folksy AND your artistic sensibilities.
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What lovely descriptions and photographs of how to photograph work and what happens to it once you put it on Folksy Sasha @SashaGarrett I don’t think anyone could have explained it better. Folksy should use this to get more people to show better photographs! In my humble opinion anyway 
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Brenda, I had this ACEO featured as a Folksy Favourite once. I’m not saying it’s a perfect photo, but it must have been good enough!
It’s on a tiny easel I got from a shop called Tiger (though I’m sure they’re available elsewhere) and the background is blue tracing paper that’s curved up against a box or something that’s behind it.
All photographed in a window, though not in direct sunlight. I think I may have held up some white card to reflect some light as well.
The big difference between your paintings and mine, though, is that you’ve sold lots and I haven’t sold any!
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thanks Sasha…I read that four times and still couldn’t really understand it…Paint under a landscape orientation picture?..sorry but I don’t get that…I DO leave surround and have been told that this isn’t good but if I crop just down to the edges of the painting, then it is distorted on the front page of my shop and makes the painting look dreadful.I also have a problem in my shop because my paintings, being so tiny, are distorted and not as clear as they are in reality. (enlarging them by folksy in my shop can make them blurred) I know of other aceo artists that have commented on this as well. …a bit like if you take a photo of someone and enlarge it…it becomes blurred.
I shall plod on as I always have…I still get sales, it is just never being featured that has always baffled me…I can live with that…
Christine…I am amazed at your lack of sales, your work is awesome…I will go and fave your shop and as many items as I can…hope that helps. managed to get you on the front page for a few minutes…YAY!
I have dozens of those tiny easels…but having arthritis also causes complications with photography…I don’t have anything high enough for me to stand and take pictures on…if I ever had to get down to a lower level I could be stuck there and need help…ha ha.
I am not complaining about lack of sales…mind you I checked and I have been here for heading towards 8 years…it might be longer…so although I have over 300 sales, it has taken years…lol…
at the end of the day, I just love to paint and hopefully sell…so I am not unhappy with my lot…
If you have a landscape orientation aceo you could add the props in like this
whilst for a portrait orientation aceo you could add the props like
substituting a small tube of paint or something for the tube of lip balm that was all I had. The postit is no longer at an angle (so hopefully you are no longer feeling dizzy looking at it) and the props help reduce the border like effect of the surroundings. Hopefully that better explains what I was on about.
To lessen the blurring and distortion of the image when it is blown up you need to zoom in as much as your camera can using both the camera’s zoom function and physically getting close to the piece but depending on your camera this still might not be enough. I use a macro lens on my camera as some of my stuff is smaller than your aceos, they are an expensive option but you can (apparently) achieve a similar result by taping the lens from some reading glasses over the lens of your camera. If you fancy giving that a go have a look at https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/how-to/5-simple-ways-add-macro-lens-your-smartphone-0139123/
(they also have tips for making macro lenses for smart phones if anyone else needs to take close up photos of small objects)
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Thanks so much, Brenda! I love your work, too, it looks so spontaneous and uninhibited. I think the light techniques you use in your landscapes are so clever. I shall go and favourite some of yours now!
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@EmyjaneWild Thanks for your feedback, I will have a look at changing some of the front images, at the moment I am just selling mounted prints of my paintings, hadn’t really thought about selling cards, something I may look at.
Does anyone else have a moment to take a look at my photographs and see what you think?
Lou
I’m with Emily, I prefer the angle of the shot in the last picture, I also think that trying a diffuser (a piece of tracing paper works well or very thin muslin) over the light source might be a good idea as some of the shadows are quite harsh. I like the cactus as its a bit different but it doesn’t fit themically with the coastal views - maybe raid the local garden centre for a seaside plant that you can keep in a pot to bring indoors for photo sessions.
Sasha
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@SashaGarrett Thanks sasha, my lighting in my house is terrible so I had quite a bit of difficulty photographing them. I think I may rethink the cactus, it was the only small plant I had at home at the time, all my others are like trees, I will maybe take a trip to the garden centre 
The last picture is of 20 x 16" framed print but all the others are smaller sizes and looked really small when I hung them on the wall hence I put them on the shelf. Thank you both for your feedback, I may just go away and start again
Lou
@EmyjaneWild and @SashaGarrett the boyfriend is very impressed that his cactus is causing controversy 
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Showcasing Half Aprons at the moment ,taking more pics today ,I have these two advertised already ,on the model or on the table ? Opinions welcome ,gonna try different things today .Uploading… Uploading… Uploading… Uploading…
You could still have the smaller prints standing on the shelf but drop the height of the camera so that it is more inline with the shelf rather than looking down on it. Could turn into a bit of a thigh work out if you are not using a tripod and have to do lots of squats instead but they are good for you (allegedly) just make sure your exposure isn’t so long you get thigh shake!
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Thank you Sasha…I have come to the conclusion that you are very clever…all this is too much for me…lol…especially when I read about doing squats…ha ha…at 70 with arthritis I could make the headlines…haha. I feel one of my cartoons coming on !!
I really do appreciate everyone’s help and the problem is just mostly with my aceos because they are rectangles…today I listed a MOUNTED watercolour and didn’t need to square it up because any squaring done by folksy was just swallowed up by the mount and therefore didn’t affect my painting in any way.
.
If I had the time perhaps I should just sell mounted pictures, it would make life a lot easier…
I already use the macro function on my camera but reading your very helpful ideas which I DO appreciate, I feel I would be better to plod on in my inimitable way…it doesn’t really seem to affect my sales…just the NOT being featured…but I can live with that…
To me, the pleasure is in the painting and if I have to get too technical, then for me personally, I feel it not only takes up too much of my valuable time, but also the pleasure.
However, I am grateful for everyone’s input,…everyone on folksy is SO nice…
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That looks fabulous Brenda! @teabreaks (as does your painting!)
P.s I’m 47 and have osteo arthritis in my knees, you should see me trying to take some of my photos! I have, ahem, rather large ‘assets’, which also come in useful for resting the top of my arms on, to stop the camera shaking when I take photo’s! 
Natalie xx
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