Wow! Well, this is embarrassing that I haven't blogged in nearly 6 months! Let's just chalk it up to a busy life: trying to keep up with two businesses, one household, and a chronically ill husband.
Here's what I've been working on today: 3 new pictures for the website and email newsletter. Doesn't sound like much work? HA!
First, I have to create the gift baskets. They have to be designed "just so" that they photograph well. This means not too big, not too small, bright enough, nothing that will cause much glare, and attractive enough to attract attention! The baskets are NOT wrapped in cellophane, because cellophane is a nightmare to photograph. The basket's bow is attached to a very long pick, put into place atop the gift basket, taped, twisted and tweaked into an acceptable position, so it will look nice in the picture.
OK, now we have to actually TAKE the picture. Today was a nice day, so I could take the pictures outside. Only outdoors creates the best all-over lighting, to create photographs that are acceptable, for an amateur like myself. I set each gift basket on a table against my studio, with a white box underneath. Get the camera settings just right .... and shoot! About 3-4 shots per basket so I can sort through them on the computer and hopefully have one "keeper" per basket.
I did! No reshoot necessary today!
The camera is attached to the computer and the photos are uploaded, sorted through, renamed, resized, cropped, brightness and contrasted adjusted. Then I use "Paintbrush" to manually clear out unwanted background -- this is one of the most time-consuming parts. I use the tools to cut completely around each gift basket. In between bow loops. In between basket weaves. You get the picture!
OK, so now I have my photo just where I want it. Now I move the photos into my FTP file (website), and re-write the website coding so that the new picture and the gift basket's description will show up on the website. Sometimes one picture goes into 2 categories, so I will need to change the coding on two files (for instance, today my "sunny spa" basket went into my 'current' category AND 'luxury/spa' category).
When all the website files are done, I use a special tool to upload all the files to the server (a/k/a "going live"). If all goes well .... great! If not .... tweaking needs to be done. It's not uncommon to have to tweak the picture size to get it to show up with correct proportions.
So now, the website is updated. Now to work on the e-mail newsletter. This isn't too hard once all the above is done. I use Constant Contact for my e-mail marketing. I upload the pictures that I want on the newsletter, and use a template to create the e-mail. After a full day of photo work, I need to be somewhat coherent in my conversational skills to make the newsletter sound "chatty enough, but not too chatty"! The newsletter usually also takes several tries, with changes made to photo size, color scheme, where to place my logo, etc. Once the newsletter seems to be complete, I can do a preview, and then I can send myself a "test" of the newsletter.
If all looks OK, well, then I can schedule it to be sent to my e-mail list. If not, back to the template to try again!
Did I mention that my previous work background is in computer programming and analysis?!
Good night, dear readers! It is 11:38 p.m. and I have been working since about 9 a.m. this morning. You see, being self-employed doesn't mean 9 to 5! But I love what I do, and am thankful for the flexibility of having time off when I need it.
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