Wednesday, March 9, 2011

New Creations, Photography Question, and a Recommendation

A new pin in my etsy shop

I built a new photo-taking set-up to help me capture light better and create more neutral backdrops (which I will soon post about in detail), and took some great photos of some of my newest creations. This one is ready to find a new home!


I really like this picture, and I have no idea how I captured the lightness of the layers of the pin. Photography is still kind of magic to me.  Do you all think this is light and bright enough to be attractive to buyers? I lightened the exposure and brightened the colors a little; on my macbook it still looks kind of dim, but I don't want to slam it with everything photoshop offers for fear I might bleach it out entirely or fry it in neon.

The book serving as a prop is a very very awesome issue of McSweeney's Quarterly  that I picked up used on Clement St in San Francisco at Green Apple Books -- aka one of my top ten independent bookstores -- and it has two spines (!) . . . basically, there are two front covers and one back cover, and I love that book design and presentation can be so inventive.

I used to be kind of dismissive of McSweeney's because A) it was started by Dave Eggers, whose memoir title annoyed me, 2) it seemed kind of twee and precious, and iii) because I interned for a different San Francisco publisher and was miffed that Eggers's imprint got what I saw as outsized attention while the publisher I worked for did not (at the time, anyway).  But, McSweeney's Internet Tendency totally changed my attitude, because that shit is funny (especially this one -- warning: a LOT of obscenity deployed hilariously ahead), and mockery such as it dishes out soothed my ruffled feathers. I still am sort of "meh" about Eggers, but his projects have really had staying power and have actually made substantial impacts on his community and on publishing. And McSweeney's Quarterly is a seriously great literary journal, in my opinion.

Fellowship applications are due Friday and my dissertation is begging for attention, so I have had to reduce my time spent on such fun things as blogging and creating. Ah well, so it goes.

5 comments:

Kristin Aquariann said...

Pretty pin! The photograph looks great, too. I'd prefer to see a more interesting background behind the book, though. I am a sucker for using subtle scrapbook papers as backdrops in product shots.

Anonymous said...

The photo looks good to me! I like the pin, it's very pretty. Nice job!

MDS said...

Thank you Aquariann! I hadn't even thought of using a more interesting paper.... something with more texture, perhaps?

Thanks for the compliment on the pin too, Ms. Faery!

Anonymous said...

You're very welcome! :)

Orangies Attic said...

Lovely! I think the pic is perfect... looking forward to your post about the set-up for your picture taking. Following you (from the UEF), come visit me... http://orangiesattic.blogspot.com/

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