I did have some chairs not sure if I still have one in the loft or not, I like your ideas especially the cup of tea, I will look online for some dolls furniture perhaps pots and pans for a child’s toy kitchen would suffice, by the way I actually think a photograph of a long haired bear with the lint roller might make a good pic lol …
oooh just had a thought, I have a little China tea set boxed up in the loft, it was mine when I was a little girl (yes it’s an antique, I thought I heard you ask lol) , that might be a great prop and I would never have thought to use it if you hadn’t mentioned the cup of tea…yay thank you Sasha x
@Bearlescent let’s run with the lint roller idea - behind the scenes shots of one of the older bears helping a new bear get ready for their photo shoot by lint rollering them! Got to get that fur looking pristine.
@Bearlescent I’ve seen some of your customers’ photos with bears on shelves, have you got a nice bit of shelf/bookshelf that you could sit a bear on the end of? It might help give the idea of them being display/collectible bears rather than toys, and being next to something like books, a vase or a photo frame might help give some scale.
I think because you want them to look lovely and soft, the contrast of them being against a hard flat surface might work well to emphasise that too.
Hi kim thats a great idea, my furniture in my lounge is very rustic in style, I have my own bear and my items from Rags and Tatters displayed on a shelf alongside witchcraft and embroidery books. It is a perfect setting but…a dark room. I need to find a way of getting the lighting right as it’s quite a dark corner but will give it a go. My mantel piece would be lovely as well as it’s really heavy wood. The wall behind is a deep mustard yellow so will need ro lighten it somehow. I do have a light box but its not big enough and changes the colour of the fur but wonder whether the lights from it may work…thank you very much i like this idea x
Hi @konyskiw , am i right in thinking these would be lifestyle shots? And are these the images that Folksy look for rather than plain ones like I normally take, would this be best used as the first image then perhaps some of the bear on its own as subsequent ones. Sorry question and more questions I know.
Your help is really appreciated…I am going to try taking some this week and will share them to see what you think, just need to get the light right.
Yes they would be lifestyle shots, and as you mention that’s how you have your own, it seems very true to life!
Although saying whether they’re the ones Folksy look for are hard to say, it can go either way and the bigger factor is probably as you mention, getting good lighting. I know that lifestyle shots can perform well on the site, but that’s going to be if they’re well lit, uncluttered ones. If they’re dark and have a lot of mess in the background (that’s going to be my struggle ) then a plain photo might be the one that’s more likely to be selected (whether that’s by Folksy or buyers). And in some circumstances plain is better, like press tend to like photos with no background, and for the summer exhibition the plainer photos were often the ones that seemed a better fit.
As you’re going to give it a try, it might be worth trying a few different things out with one bear (plain and lifestyle) and post them here. Then we can all pick which would make us most likely to click to see if it helps decide the first photo.
Thank you Kim again for your help. I will try to have a play with the lighting and background this week and will post here, hubster got the lightbox down for me to look at the lighting that came with it, fingers crossed x
Hi @Bearlescent What you are doing already seems to be working sales-wise!
I personally favour lifestyle shots, even though this thread is all about doing the white cut-out stuff supposedly favoured by the press. If you’ve got time, take a look at the Folksy Favourites on the front page, and on the Tumblr link at the top of this thread, and see how many are NOT white cut-outs. The trend seems to have changed over the last few years. That’s not to say don’t do them if you have the time and the inclination, but keep them for the day someone should ask, not necessarily the first image on your listing.
Thank you very much @rosesworkshop They have changed, when I first joined folksy I took my photos against a red brick wall and it was suggested I might be better using plain white background, which I did for a while, then I started theowing a fleece over the whiteboards to give a softer affect. Recently I have noticed that lifestyle shots seem popular wiht Folksy. I can’t keep up lol, the items chosen for the exhibition were mainly plain backgrounds but then Folksy chose one of my bears for the Fringe and they chose the only one taken outside so it got me thinking again. I agree sales wise the photos are working but I rarley have an item chosen by Folksy for favourites etc so worth trying new things. Apologies if I have added this to the wrong thread, i just looked back and realised it was about cut outs.
I have spent today taking photos of my bear with flowers and books and changed the backgrounds on some of them, I have added them to another photography thread but I do like some of them better than my usual photos. She is a good bear to work with as she is large so i need to find bits for the smaller bears, not sure what yet but i do agree they look far better with something else in the image.
I couldnt take them in my rustic settings in the lounge as no amount of editing gave me a good picture but it has been helpful trying different things as suggested by yourself and Kim @kimfolksy
