Product photography or grunge?

Change is in the air. I know, I know – New Year, resolutions and all, but that’s not it. This one has been coming for quite a long time now: I will be quitting Etsy. I believe none of you who read this blog (with one exception, plus David, who mostly does not read my blog too closely) have not really seen how active I have been on Etsy over the past three years. But I really think it is time to move on. Things change. I have a full time job, and therefore way less time for other things important to me. Etsy with their ever changing rules and emphasis on the buyer, quite frankly gives me the shits, at times. And it just seems to be a lot more trouble than it is worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love it when somebody buys one of my prints. I love and appreciate it. A lot. But the little money I make from one sale is not worth the hassle I have with another. Which, unfortunately has been the case. But it was only the icing on the cake – in the negative way.

Christmas time 2014 gave us a long time off work. Days to reflect, ponder and think. What am I personally taking away from all of it? I’ll be putting more emphasis on what is really important to me. Selling prints of my photos seemed like a way to earn money, back in 2011 when I came to the US. But selling prints on Etsy will not pay the rent. At least not for me. There are those who are successful on there and they put a lot of work into it. But – so did I. Yet, apparently not enough and more likely my photos are just not what people on that platform are looking for right now.

You may have seen in my last post a somewhat dark composite picture. Very grungy looking. I am not sure if that is where my art is pulling me, but it is definitely something I am going to explore more and will be sharing here with you. Another direction that I enjoyed, kind of casually so far, is product photography. Every now and then I did a a few of those. Remember the coffee beans and the red wine gif  that I made? Along that line, I got a Christmas present, a table top lighting studio for product photography. These photos here are the very first ones I took after I assembled it. What do you think? Maybe I should offer to Etsy sellers taking their product photos?! Yeah, right, I didn’t think so either.

But seriously, it is a little weird with me. On the one hand I just love these clear, crisp product photos and then there are the grungy, textured and dark pictures I am creating. I guess I am a little confused and not sure where this will be leading me. But I sure know that I do want to spend a lot more time on creating my images. Rather than just taking them.

 

Oh, and by the way, if you are wondering what this drink is, I have been taking photos of? It is a Gibson. In it’s simplest form 1 part of dry Vermouth and 2 parts of Gin (or Vodka if you prefer) just like a Martini. I like it on ice and I even like the pickled cocktail onions I found. Way more so than olives in a Martini. These are called ‘tipsy vermouth onions’ – pretty fitting, huh?

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