LBC application! Lavenders, akoyas and 'Biwas,' oh my :)

[laurenb]

This time last year, I don't think I even owned a strand of pearls. The conversation here has helped me turn my interest into a full-fledged... preoccupation.

I'm not completely happy with my photography setup, but I wanted to show some of the pieces I've made for ETSY. My personal tastes run towards very simple presentation of pearls that are inherently interesting in some way. The design part is very straightforward, but the shopping, sampling and whatnot has taken a few months.

Let me know what you think of the prices-- I'm trying to hit a range people can cope with in this economy and is on the low side, but knowing what the strands cost messes up my sense of what they're worth as jewelry and what people want/expect to pay so they can feel the piece is valuable.

I have a fun idea for a "line" of sorts, but I don't think I'll have the time and fundage to get it out for a few months. Hope you like what I've got so far!

[laurenb]

Why-oh-why is orient so camera-shy? Does it think it has put on a few pounds, or something? ETSY's compression seems to be reducing what little rainbow-orient-effect I was able to catch on camera. I may be able to do better if I adjust the light, do a little daytime photography, get my sister's D200 out of the shop, etc. It's a work in progress.

I know my 'Biwa sticks' aren't technically Biwas, nor is my 'Keishi' really keishi, so I put the colloquial terms for these baroque freshwaters in quotes in my listings. On one hand, I hate to perpetuate the myth, but on the other, that's how plenty of folks reckon their nomenclature and I don't want to make these harder to find.

[Amrita]

Lovely pieces, Lauren! Taking photos in daylight will definitely do justice to the beauty of these pearls!

[Cathybear]

I find daylight the best for photographing pearls too. I've just retaken pics of almost all my pearls in my front porch as I discovered it seems to be the best place at my house.. bit hot there for the photographer though. Try different places around your home, different times of day and different weather and see what you come up with
Cathy

[Cathybear]

I forgot, I still find whites a pain, use lavenders to practice with, they usually seem to have marvellous overtones that comes out to play in indirect daylight.