It's my blogging anniversary this month. So in order to celebrate, I am giving away 3 spots for my next How to Photograph Jewelry Webinar scheduled for 2 pm EST, Sunday January 22. Please do sign up if you definitely want to attend - just email me at pearl@beadinggem.com.  Who knows?  You might just win a free pass.


The importance of good photography for online stores and social media promotion cannot be overstated.  So you need to work at this craft.  Just like anything you tackle, you have to practice. As you can see from my blog posts over time,  I constantly work at improving my jewelry photography.

One thing I have noticed over the years, the quality of photography on sites like Etsy is slowly improving.  That's due to people realizing how good photographs matter so they are either learning how to use dSLR or more likely, ditching small compact cameras in favor of their smartphones.

Smartphone cameras (the better ones) are so good now, some professional photographers like this one have even switched to their iPhones.  They are less bulky and far easier to use. These indispensable devices are not just cameras, but they cover your communication needs and a whole lot more. Indeed as CNET's 10 Ways the iPhone Changed Everything pointed out, a single device now replaced several as you can see in their photo :


If you sell on online, you can not only take smartphone photos, edit, watermark them but you can then go on to manage your store and promote your business - all without going near a computer. My webinar covers how you can do this easily even when you are on the go yourself.

I also see that switch to smartphones with the people who sign up for my webinars. Many, but not all, are  switching to smartphones. Makes sense - why buy a dSLR when you already have a good camera in a device you need?

The majority of people who possessed smartphones have either an iPhone or an Android device. Note that app developers concentrate their efforts in those two main markets. So if you were angling for say, a Windows phone, expect fewer apps in the Microsoft app store.

At the last webinar, this question also came up, "Do you have to upgrade your phone often?" If you had the resources and an abiding interest in technology to do so, go ahead. But no, you do not have to upgrade every year, much as the manufacturers want you to.   I personally stretch it out to 3 years. By then, the changes are significant enough to make it worthwhile.  One person had an iPhone 4. That is several generations too old and improving the photo quality will be harder to achieve.

But when you do upgrade, you can save money by NOT going with the latest model but the previous one as the price would have dropped for that. Last year's iPhone is still a great phone!

Giveaway
If you'd like to win one of 3 spots for my next photography webinar, please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.

See my webinar post for feedback and other important information.

Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments. (The exception is Facebook - just like/comment on the giveaway status there!!)

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, January 16, 2017. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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