Natural light product photography and Christmas stockings

Confused by the title? Hopefully not for long! My mom and I run an Etsy shop, Little Buddy Designs, selling hand knit Christmas stockings. We've had the shop for 4 years. She knits the stockings, and I do the finishing work, photography for the listings and handle customer service. All year my mom knits stockings to build our inventory. She hands them over to me, and I prep them for sale. This is our busiest time of year. You might catch me in carline duplicate stitching names onto stockings ;). 

Here is an inside look at how I photograph them using natural light.

I use white seamless paper and lay it across my dining room table.

I set up in front of a window to get the most natural light.

I use a reflector to bounce the light back onto the stocking, so the lighting is even. I balance the reflector against our light fixture (you can see it in the mirror). I could also use my backdrop stand and hang the paper from it, but I find it quicker and easier to use my reflector. I make sure I'm not standing directly in front of the window when I'm photographing the stockings, so that I'm not blocking the light.

I lightly edit all of the photos by adjusting the white balance, adding brightness and adding contrast.  I do all of this in Adobe Camera Raw. The edit is subtle, as I find it important to get it right in camera.

Have an Etsy shop too? Make sure you're using the Etsy iPhone app - it makes a fun cash register sound whenever there's a sale!