When I cluelessly stumbled into small business-ownership in 2005, one of the many, many things I didn't know was how important photography would be to making my love for designing jewelry into a viable enterprise. But I soon realized that if I wanted to sell jewelry, I needed photos, not only to make my work available online but also to show interested store owners and send to press.
Although jewelry is often photographed alone against a white background, I prefer showing it on a model so that prospective customers can see what it looks like on. But as a new business owner I couldn't afford expensive photographers and found that the photos I tried to take myself using my non-existent photography skills and my reluctant daughter as a model were so bad as to be unusable.
I was lucky enough to meet Michelle Hayes of Sweet Lime Portrait Design in Arlington, VA, when I wandered into her small studio located in a strip mall near my home to have a family holiday photo taken. We got to talking, and it occurred to me that she might be able to help. I told her about my needs, and, miraculously, she was interested and offered me a rate I could afford. That was 4 years ago, and we've done many shoots together since. Like me, Michelle is a mom of two, and I feel like our businesses have grown together. Although Michelle mostly does portrait photography for families and children, she's always ready to take on any challenge, and she's done a great job photographing my work. And she now also owns a large selection of my jewelry!
The most recent shoot I did was the first one where I used a professional stylist. I met Cathy Phillips Starnes, a stylist and wardrobe consultant, when she used a couple of my necklaces in a shoot she was styling for FW magazine's holiday 2012 issue. We hit it off, and I asked her if she would help me. She said yes! Having her professional eye and astute suggestions made a huge difference, and I feel like our shoot of my spring 2013 collection (see photos above) is the best one yet.
Last but not least came selecting a model. I've learned from experience that when you hear designers say that a model's personality is just as important as her appearance, it's actually true. Enter my friend and fellow jewelry lover Sara Gill Golden. I had a hunch that Sara's beauty combined with her bubbly, confident personality would make her a great model, and I was right, don't you think? She looks natural and happy in the photos, and, cliche though it may be, her personality really does shine through!
I have so much more to learn about photography, not to mention many other things connected to owning a small business, but with a few friends in my corner, I feel like each new shoot is going to be better than the last.
Now, time to start planning to shoot my fall 2013 collection!
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