Card Pictures?

[charmedvixen]

I seem to be struggling with how to take photos of my cards. In person they are quite cute, but my pictures don't do them justice. My question is what do you all do?

I am thinking of investing in a photo light box, but don't want to put the money into it if the issue is me and not the lighting. I would love to hear how all you creative crafters take such gorgeous pictures of your works of art! Do you use a photo light box? What do you use to take your pictures?


Thanks in advance for the help/advice!


Mercedes

[UnderstandBlue]

There's a great thread here with tips: HTDT? 7.22.09 Photographing Your Papercrafting Projects by PickleTree at Splitcoaststampers

But it's really all about lighting. My best card photos are taken outside in natural light. But next best is a Foldio light tent. Folds totally flat and the lighting is good without it being bulky.

[CreativeCardsea]

I have a big window in my dining room that gets a lot of natural light. Because of the position of our house, the light doesn't shine directly on the window, so I get a lovely diffused light without any effort. All I have to do is set up a pretty background for my card and take a picture on a sunny day.

I also use an art program to edit my images. I don't generally have to do much more than crop and add a watermark, but sometimes I also increase the contrast or equalize the colors to have the card look more like it does in person.

[charmedvixen]

Ladies thank you for the info and the link!

- Mercedes

[Ellibelle]

My pictures aren't perfect but they are good enough for me. I take photos on the kitchen table, and use the natural outdoor light. Camera on closeup setting and no flash, and I make sure to turn any indoor lights off. For most of my cards I use white paper as a background - I feel like this keeps the focus on the card.
Then I use a free software (photoscape) to crop the edges, add watermark and click on "auto level" which usually helps brighten it up a bit more.
But I've been wanting to get a light tent for a long time, it's just not a priority so I haven't purchased one yet.