learning to take a picture

I made a new little book yesterday... 31/4x41/2 inches. Covered in black paper, decorated with a stamped copper piece, stitched and beaded.

I've been reading some photo tips on Etsy... heaven knows I need photo tips.
This photo used a manual setting where I set the f-stop and used a flash, finally because everything was coming out too dark. Next time I will take the time to really set up a light box situation, with no background noise.

This is a shot from the top-down... The papers inside are recycled from a discard book that looked as if it had been chewed by Fido... or maybe baby brother. I gave each page a coat of gesso to blur the writing and make it ready for pencil and paint.

The book is an open spine construction. Black waxed linen was used to sew it all together... this shot is too dark, and once again the background sucks the form into oblivion. I might, gulp! have to read the directions to get this camera to do what I want. And I need a tripod. That was one of the tips on etsy... tripod or set it on the table.

this pic was taken before I read the etsy photo article... on my cutting board. I kind of like the background and it is easy to see that the book is made of recycled printed material... but it is too dark and grainy....

last is this view... which I like, although I know it is too grainy and the back light from the window, the end of the cutting board detract.

Problem. This is a beautiful little book. The black paper has an incredibly soft, almost fabric-like feel. The copper bird and the beaded stitching look great on the black ground. The pages inside have a nice texture. It is a book that does so much better in person... but in-person is not the way I get to show it off.

More practice is needed.