Join the Pop of Color Challenge for April (B'Sue Boutiques)
I made this necklace for the April Challenge hosted by B'Sue Boutiques. This month's theme is "pop of color." You have until April 30, 2014 to share your necklace or bracelet using materials from B'Sue Boutiques and any bit of color you like. You'll need to share a photo in the Facebook group; just ask on the group's page if you need assistance. People there are friendly and willing to help. To be clear, I'm not eligible to win since I'm on the design team. I just made an entry to inspire you to enter yourself!
You might also check out the B'Sue Boutiques Creative Group Challenge Board on Pinterest to see designs that have been submitted to past challenges.
About This Necklace
To create this necklace, I used nine of these brass wire spirals and wired them together with cobalt blue melon glass rounds, green shell rounds, and pink glass rounds to form a large pendant. The chain is made with jump rings and filigree connectors. As I was taking photos of this design, I thought about why I always take close-up photos of my work.
Why You Need at Least One Close-Up Photo of Your Jewelry
- You can see detail that you can't see from a typical shot. If you sell your work, potential customers can see the quality of your work: how neatly you wrap your wire, the texture of the beads you chose to use, the quality of your materials.
A great close-up shot can be a major selling point, a way to separate yourself from the competition. As a customer, I'm always suspicious of online shops that don't want me to get a close look. It makes me wonder what they are trying to hide!
In this close-up, it's easier to see the texture of the cobalt blue beads than it would be with a typical shot showing the whole necklace.
- You can catch errors in your own work that you can't always see with the naked eye: a jump ring that's not quite closed, a bit of stray wire poking out, or a stray spot of paint. It's better that you catch those errors and fix them yourself before someone else notices.
In this close-up, I noticed that one of the wires was not quite tucked in. I didn't see it or feel it when handing the necklace for photos; it was only after viewing the zoomed in photos that I saw it. (Now it's fixed, of course!)
Do you take close-up photos of your jewelry? Why or why not?