Wednesday 12 December 2012

Capturing The Beauty of My Jewelry: Lessons Learnt

Whenever I finish any piece of jewelry, I'm always happy and amazed at the sheer beauty! The colours, the feel, the design and the over all look makes me smile and fulfilled. Sometimes, they look so beautiful, I wonder how to transfer this from reality to pictures for my website and social network page.

Fulfill Jewelry
This was a big challenge for me sometimes ago. This is why I have decided to share my journey of photography...transferring beauty from reality to pictures.  Still improving and learning, but have also improved quite well considering the fact that I didn't train or attend any photography class.

The first camera I really ever used for my jewelries was a Nikon D 60 digital camera. My husband bought it on one of his numerous trips. It is an expensive camera and a bit big for me to handle.

Another thing, there were so many features to learn and understand. I'm not a photographer! I just want to get good pictures of my jewelries for upload! The early pictures I took with is camera were terrible! They were blurry, dark and ugly no thanks to the many features I had to learn and adjust.

Lesson 1:  Get a camera that is portable with high mega pixel, with simple features/setting and more importantly affordable. You don't have to break the bank because of a camera. I came to know from experience, that I don't really need a professional or expensive camera to get excellent results.

When I finish any piece of jewelry, I always take the photograph before delivery. However, I noticed any picture I took in the evening do not really capture the piece as it is. The colours, the brilliance and the entire beauty of the jewelry is understated and sometimes even ugly!

I struggled with this for a while and tried lighting up the room (still learning about it), used the flash in the camera, changed the settings...the outcome did not give me satisfaction. So I changed my strategy...
Fulfill Jewelry

Lesson 2: Take your pictures during the day when the sun is out. Anytime I finish a piece of jewelry in the evening or night, I wait till morning to take the pictures. And do you know the result? Stunning beautiful pictures!

After capturing your jewelries, you need to prepare for upload. You need a computer or laptop to transfer these pictures. So what next? You edit them. How? I use Picasa to edit my pictures.
It's free and the quality is perfect.

Lesson 3: If you have to edit your pictures for free, then use Picasa. Just download into your computer or laptop for free and you are ready to go!

Finally, know that "Rome wasn't built in a day".So you need to learn and get better at doing this. You have to be patient with yourself and your camera.

Lesson 4: Be patient, practice and you would get better and get it right.

It's been a wonderful journey because, I can get to capture the same beauty of my jewelries into pictures without feeling less happy with the result.
                             
                                      Beautiful Jewelries + Camera = Beautiful Pictures
I can't ask for more!

Let me know the outcome of your experience and possibly, share any new tips.

Interested in my jewelries?  Please check out:   http://fulfilljewelry.com/
https://www.facebook.com/FulfillJewelry

"For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge"- Eccl. 2:26

"People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves" - Paulo Coelho

                                                           Linda Aliogo

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Being Passionate About What You Do

As I yawned away tiredly, I knew I had worked hard today. I have been making jewelries since 12 noon. And its already past 7 pm. I told myself I had to pack up and close for the day.

I got ready to exercise. As this is essential for this type of job where you get to sit for several hours in a spot, only using your hands! I yawned once more and I looked at the table. The display of jewelries I just completed made me smile. I felt good inside. I felt happy and fulfilled!

The best of that night was when my teenage son walked in and screamed "Waoh! mummy, which of these is mine?"
"They are so beautiful! "  His statement crowned it all and I felt so good for the time spent in creating these jewelries. This is just a typical day though the time may vary. Sometimes, I have to do school runs and of course family related activities.

This is simply because I love what I do! No matter how many hours spent, the mistakes, the challenges, I still get fulfilled immediately I'm done! I still smile even with the aches and pains.. I simply just love what I do! And I'm grateful to God for this!

Fulfill Jewelry
Sometimes, its even difficult to express myself when I finish certain pieces. I wonder how I made such! It's so much work (you may not realize it) but at the end of the day, even when I'm dog tired, I still manage to have a big smile and satisfaction only my job gives me. I know this what I want to do. It is my call. It is my business. It's my job and I love it. It's not about the money but about the fulfillment I derive from it. It even feels better when I hear complements about any of my piece. This encourages me to improve and get better in what I love doing.

As we know, our jobs take up a substantial part of our lives. We spent a lot of time there hence the need to really love and enjoy what we do.

I'm thankful to God again because there are a lot of people who just work to pay bills and not because they LOVE their jobs. There are a lot of people who are yet to find their purpose- that job, business or career that give them such fulfillment. They are still searching...

I know I'm lucky to have found what I'm passionate about; to be my job, business or whatever you wish to call it...designing and making beautiful jewelries.

For those of you out there still searching for that right business or job, I just want you to keep looking and don't give up. You would definitely find it sooner than expected. Pray about it and you would find it.

Just to apologize for not writing for a while...Thanks.

"Commit your work to the LORD, and then your plans will succeed" -Prov.16:3

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle" - Steve Jobs

Linda Aliogo

Crying

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