What's involved?
Our first images were passable. They hardly supported a brand image and rarely helped sell an item. Everyone said antiques were moving online but we weren't seeing any of the benefits. After years of incremental improvement through education and experimentation, we finally arrived at a system that in our opinion produces images that rival the quality of some of the biggest auction houses.
If you're a stickler for the details you can read about some of our techniques below. If you're sold and want to know the numbers, you can find our packages in the menu.
Macro Photography
We've all cursed the tiny French hallmarks on our jewels or god forbid attempted to use the zoom function on our Iphone to capture a maker's mark. One of the most important pieces of equipment for our team is the macro lens allowing us to capture tiny details with clarity and precision.
Focus Stacking
The secret sauce to really elevate a product photo is using the technique of Focus Stacking. Essentially this allows us to have the entire piece in sharp focus from front to back with no blurred edges. We achieve this by taking up to 70 photos at different focal lengths and then combining them to create just one image.
Camera RAW Editing
Without nerding out too much, each photograph we take and edit is in the Camera RAW format. This allows us to dial in the lighting with the most flexibility and accuracy. The files are huge but we will deliver them to you in a much smaller and more manageable format like JPEG or PNG.
Background Etching
There's a reason almost all online platforms require item photos with white or plain backgrounds. Scrolling through pages of jewels can be either visually overstimulating or, with a plain background, like a private viewing appointment in-store with you.
Description Copywriting
You've transferred the details from the valuation to the item description successfully but now find yourself lost for words. Leave the copywriting to us. We'll take that dry but necessary jargon, make it easy and enjoyable for your clients to read, and hopefully help sell them on the desirable qualities of your stock before they even walk through your door.
Multi-Platform Uploads
Uploading images and information across a website, Ebay, Etsy, 1stDibs, and Ruby Lane is obviously an important task in today's market but is time consuming and tedious at the best of times. Wait until you've experienced your first online sale that took zero time away from running your shop.