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Photographing Your Work, Spotlight: Becky of TortillaGirl

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Tuileries Sleeveless Linen Dress
Tuileries Sleeveless Linen Dress

by LaTouchables

This week’s artist in a bi-weekly series on artists photographing their work is Becky of TortillaGirl, an independent fashion designer in France. Becky, in your own words…

Thank you to Dawn for inviting me to this interview!

My pleasure, Becky! How important are photos in representing an online shop?
It’s as important as a front window to a brick and mortar store. What is displayed in that front window is what may attract a customer to come in and take a better look.

Becky, what’s your approach to shooting your work?
I stick to what works for me and that is summarized in one short sentence: simple and straightforward. Light is important: windows are my best friends. I’m lucky to live on a high point in the city, so the light I get is clear. With the exception of dark, stormy days nearly every day gives decent light, even snow days. (I’ve gotten some pure, bright light thanks to the snow.) For the darker days when I have to take photos, I use a whiter background for certain items. I prefer not to use styling or props in my photos, but I would definitely do so if it gently enhanced instead of overpowered.

As a clothes designer, and designer of knitwear, what particular challenges do you face in representing your work with a photo image?
My main thought when I take photos is to make sure that I’m accurately representing my work, so my pragmatic side takes over when I pull out the camera. My buyers can’t feel or try on my shop items so I try to remain true to them by photographing them straight on, as they are, taking multiple photos at different angles. If my photos don’t give a proper representation of my work the first time, I’ll re-photograph at a different time of day or on another day altogether. I’m more interested in ensuring that my photos give an honest depiction of my items than anything else because in the end I want a happy buyer, not one who might be a little let down because the photo made my work look like something it really isn’t.

What inspires your image-making? (music, a particular artist, film, idea?)
For my design work I am often inspired by paintings, particularly impressionist, en plein air or pre-raphaelite paintings, so my image making uses a lot of light.

What qualities do you wish to convey?
Just a soft and light ambiance that is accessible to everyone.

Is it possible to get a good photo from a point and shoot?
I think so. But it depends on the photographer. Photography is all about composition, angles and capturing the light. The one who really sees all of that is the person operating the camera, not the camera itself.

Do you have any tips for us?
Experiment.

Don’t over-edit. If the photo doesn’t look good when it’s initially downloaded from the camera, retake it.

Look outside of your genre if you need inspiration and be your own creative by not trying to do what the shop owner next door is doing.

Any last words of wisdom?
Be nice to your camera :)

Can you give us the name of two etsy shops whose way of photographing you find inspiring (a. someone you know b. someone new)
kathiroussel.etsy.com. She has such a strong individual aesthetic and keen artistic eye that she’s inimitable. Every photo is a work of art. If I were her, I’d sell prints!

Roselabiche.etsy.com. She’s extremely creative and knows how to uniquely style and use the right backgrounds for her items while giving a true depiction of them. Each photo is like a picture postcard from her personal world.

I recently discovered MaaPstudio.etsy.com and was instantly blown away. I want to live in that shop.

I also like malam.etsy.com. Her boyfriend, yannpendaries.etsy.com (another inspiring shop) is a professional photographer who does most of her photos. What her buyers see is what they will get because her spunky personality and finely crafted clothing are exactly the way they are portrayed in her shop. P.S. I once saw Yann take photos at a meetup and I commented about how he’s such a pro, patiently snapping two consecutive shots of the same pose. That’s something I’ve started doing myself and he gets full credit for it :)

pont neuf
Representation of earlier work, Pont Neuf Painter Dress.

marie
Photo of a current design, Marie Linen Mini Dress.

bubble_beigestripe3_before
Seersucker Bubble Dress before editing…

bubble_beigestripe3
…and after editing.

madeleine
Environment of the photo-shoot, using natural light.

05.11.2010_atwork
The designer at work.

Thank you, Becky!


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