Tell them that you’ll show them the photo before you use it and that you won’t use it unless they say it is okay to do so.

Tell them that you can cut the photo off around the neck or the chin-line. Depending what the item is. This will usually do the trick. They might agree to that.

You can even make the face area fuzzy or even erase the face out in the photos when using Photoshop, too. I took some FREE lessons from Adobe on the Internet where I learned how to do some of these photo tricks.

You can even use yourself, if standing in front of a mirror. Do not use the camera’s flash when doing it this way. Here, you can block your face if using the larger digital DSL camera or the 35mm SLR camera. Putting them in the automatic mode is helpful.

Or, if you have the self-portrait delayed timmer/setting, can even use yourself as the model, too. Be sure to snap off a couple of photos, with facing in diferent directions, etc.

If it’s a handmade item that you make several of, offer to let the friend or relative keep the one that you used in the photo. That’s another way of possibly getting them to pose for you.

There’s inexpensive half/quarter manikins that have tops like clothes hangers that can be used. I use one of them alot for photographing things that I make both clothing and non-clothing items.

hang the manakin off of the curtain rod of my shower curtain with using my shower curtain for a backdrop. Sometimes you’ll see these in use in clothing stores. I purchased mine on eBay. They come in both woman’s regular and plus sizes along with men’s and children’s sizes.

Might I suggest taking dozens and dozens of digital photos when you first get involved with taking your own photos.

Try different locations, different backgrounds, and different angles. Also different lightings. Then upload your photos to a program like Adobe Photoshop. Here, you can do some cropping and cut the excess off of the photos. You can also adjust the color, the lighting, and, a lot, lot more. Even masking your photos with different background frames and shapes, etc.

Over 25 years ago, I had taken some NYI of Photography courses. To me, the most valuable one one seemed to be “The Eye of the Photographer.” In that one, it suggests that you check the background area and remove any unwanted item from same, or change the angle you are shooting from, etc. Some high schools even have inexpensive adult ed photo courses to learn more about photography, too.

Yes, I’ve been dabbling in photography for well over 30 years and have been putting some of the tricks I learned over the years to use when snapping off photos of the items I have listed in my shop here. Learned how to do both film print and digital photography.

I’m located in San Diego, CA and could schedule a casual consult if you live in Southern California.

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