A Fresh Start

Hello, I’m Shirley, a life-long crafter who has tried most crafts at one time or another, hated some, loved others, occasionally won prizes for craftwork, and now making beaded jewellery for sale under the brand name Ffigys Designs. You probably haven’t heard of my brand, not many people have. Yet. And I bet you can’t spell ffigys if you look away from the screen. Ffigys is a Welsh word (it means figs, as in the fruit) which I’ve taken from the name of my Victorian cottage in the South Wales valleys.

So why am I here, and what is the fresh start in the title about?

I make jewellery to sell in my online shops, so I need really good photographs to show potential customers what they can buy from me. This is where it gets a bit tricky. I’ve never been much good with a camera, and product photography is a lot harder than you’d think. I’ve practised and practised, but the results can still be pretty awful. Sometimes I’m lucky and get a few good shots. Other times, the camera gods decide not to play nice and nothing that I try gets me a good photo.  And, of course, there is only so much that Photoshop can fix……

After weeks of deliberation, I finally signed up to a 24-week photography course to learn exactly how to get beautiful product shots every single time. The course has just started so I thought it would be fun to write a blog about my adventures with a camera as my photographs gradually transform from ugly ducklings into beautiful swans.

So here I am. 🙂