It took two solid days to narrow down my 1000+ photos down to ten, but I did it. And after that was done, I spent another three days obsessively tweaking the contrast, exposure, whites, blacks, highlights, and shadows using Lightroom. For someone who's detail-oriented and has a perfectionist streak, I could have easily just disappeared down the rabbit hole. But! It's time to post the photos and move on with my life. I have things to make!
Here's a before-and-after example of the kind of photo editing I was doing:
Pretty amazing how some basic adjustments can bring a dull photo to life.
And without further ado, here are the final photos!
I still don't feel like the photos are perfect yet -- feel free comment if you have suggestions or advice! -- but they're good enough for now. I still have a lot to learn about product photography and photo editing, but I'm excited to have added both abilities to my skill set! If anyone is interested in doing the same, I highly recommend the online tutorials on Lynda. Thanks, Jen and Phil, for the tip!