When you have an online shop reliant on its imagery to sell what you are selling, photography timing is everything. And quite honestly, not an easy thing. I mean, it is not hard in the physical sense, but rather it is all about natural lighting. And quite honestly, sometimes the weather does not play fair.
Where to Photograph
Photographing my French silk scarves in particular is a little tricky. I used to photograph them outside, but that simply got too cold at times. Or too hot. Or too… And there always seemed to be a breeze. Silk scarf photography and breezes is tricky.
So I prefer to do my silk photography inside. I set up an area on one wall that received the best diffused natural light from my office window. (The only natural light source in the room.) The wall was painted white for contrast and simplicity. A wire was strung in place, at just the right height for hanging the scarves and taking photos, and voila, I have my photographic studio area.
When to Photograph
The trouble is that in the darker months there is a very small window of opportunity. When I am in the office, I actually have an alarm set for mid day to look up from my desk and see if the sun is shining. If it is, all stops and I get to work photographing.
In these darker months of shorter day light I can manage about 6 scarves maximum, before the sun disappears behind next doors rooftop opposite and thus the light dims. Such is my approaching winter photography timing. So each day that offers up sun is a precious day not to be squandered.
It’s all in the Timing
Preparation is key. With each batch of photographs I take, I then prep the next batch of scarves. This means pressing them in readiness and listing their details and measurements in my stock list. Then they are hung up, so they do not wrinkle, awaiting the next opportunity of sunlight.
Even when the days start to get longer, there are still limitations on my photography timing. Because the sun travels from one side of my house to the other, where my office is, I am never able to photograph in the morning. It is always afternoon.
Limitations
Come summer time, I do end up with a very hot office consequently. In the heat of summer, when the sun is at its zenith, the shutters will be closed to keep out the heat of the afternoon. Not very conducive to photography.
And such, as it is, it is however never a chore. I actually like the limitations. It adds a sort of zing. I never know quite when I will be able to photograph so I spend a lot of time in readiness. I work at my desk and simply enjoy the ever changing artwork on my wall. Wearable artwork. And in a sort of strange way, it incentivises me to look forward to the next photography session.
My French Silk Scarves
Now that you know some of the effort, if you would like to see the results, do visit my French Silk Scarf shop on Etsy. I actually just managed a photography session as we have had some sunny days. So now work commences on getting them listed, so I hope you come and check out my shop over the next few weeks and months as I work to get the hundreds of scarves I have purchased over the past year, cleaned, pressed, photographed and finally listed. Oh, and then wrapped. As each scarf is uniquely and individually wrapped as a gift.
The scarves I search for are all vintage, silk and unique. No two are alike, with some truly unusual designs, particularly from the 1950s and 1960s. I like to include information on the scarves with any purchase, too. As well, you can find more write ups on scarves, silk and much more in my French Silk Scarves posts here on my site.
Here’s a sample of some of my scarves through the ages. You can hover over the image to see the timeframe:
Simply click on the image to be taken to scarves from that decade.
And if you like what you read or find it helpful, please do check out my Nourishing Pumpjack & Piddlewick page.