They say CONTENT is a king, but we can’t deny that PRESENTATION is everything. Since most people are visual it is important then to choose an eye-catching photo to draw people to your website. Although not necessary, but it is advantage that a blogger knows how to take a great quality picture at least.
I say not necessary because you can use stock photos. But for creative blogger and seller, it’s a different case especially if you want to showcase your artworks. It is really a struggle especially if photography isn’t your forte. Yes you can learn the art of photography but one easy trick is using mockup photo.
Showcasing My Artwork Using Mockup Photo
I love taking pictures. But I would say my photography and editing skills need to be developed. Apparently I need to enroll a class for this. But for the meantime, I am using my best to capture and staged my artwork in the most artistic way.
Most of the time I rely on my iPhone 6S Plus (thanks to my sister who gave it to me). She also has a DSLR cam that I use from time to time, but I don’t know how to adjust the parameters to take photo. So I settle on my iPhone and edit it on some free photo editor apps. I’ve learned the techniques of iPhoneography through some classes at Lynda.com and Skillshare.
Anyways, when I decided that I am going to sell my 32 coloring pages I spared number of days to take photos of them. I used both my phone and the DSLR camera. The photos look good in my phone and even looking at them in the viewfinder of the DSLR cam. However, it was frustrating to look at the images in the computer. And definitely not editable. Well based on my capacity to edit them. Honestly taking photo is the most daunting task as an artwork seller. Not to mention that you have to get a good source of natural light.
It was the point that I gave up taking pictures of my items and used mock-up photos instead. Just look at the comparison of my own picture and using a mockup photo (first two are my pictures and the third one is a mockup photo).
I noticed that everytime I use mockup images, my number of likes in Instagram to that particular picture skyrocketed compare to my original photos and I gained more followers.
Apparently, quality pictures attracts people.
Where to Get Free Mockup Images?
There are many websites where you can purchase mockup photo. My choice is Etsy and Creative Market. The one I used for my coloring pages were purchased at Etsy. I like how simple the mockup photo and easy to use. But, why purchase when you can get great mockup images for free? Right? So here are my three favorite sources of my free mock-up photo:
- Dawn Nicole Designs – Dawn has a compilation of free mockup photos in her freebie library. It’s password protected so you need to subscribe on her email list. Don’t worry her emails totally rock. Who doesn’t like it when you get reminded of freebies on her happy mail? I always look forward on her emails to get freebies especially the mockup photos.Look at these amazing mockup photos I used from Dawn Nicole Designs. Isn’t it gorgeous? If I only know that I can use it on my Etsy shop, then I should have not purchase from anyone.
- Lucie from White Hart Design Co. Lucie sells mockup images at Etsy and Creative Market. It is where I discovered her beautiful pictures. Luckily she has freebies for her subscribers. And I was able to grab some…. no I lied. All!!! Plus she has mockup photo freebies every month too. Cool, right?
- Creative Market. Yes you can get free mockup photos from that site too. Sometimes it is offered in their freebie goods.
Other than mockup photo, I was able to grab a scene creator. It’s similar to mockups but it’s a drag and drop method. I will be blogging about it separately. But here’s a sample of a pic I made from scene creator . Left is the original photo while the right picture is edited using scene creator.
Using mockup photo requires you to edit it in Photoshop or similar photo editor. You can check Youtube videos on how to do it. Dawn Nicole (yup, she’s my favorite!) has a blog post about how to use mockup photos, check it here. And a video tutorial (credit to Dawn Nicole).
