Tip Tuesday: Backgrounds for Etsy Photography

I have been inspired to do a theme day every week. We'll see how it goes!

Yesterday, for the first time in months, I photographed an item to sell on Etsy. It took me a minute to shoot, about 10 more seconds to scoot my chair two inches towards my Mac, 15 seconds to load the pics into IPhoto, and then finally 35 seconds to upload into Etsy. What is that? 2 minutes!!!

What do I credit? Not my lovely Mac, not my camera with its wonderful macro setting, but my background and location. More specifically, my placemats placed strategically infront of a double window.

I went through a lot of different backgrounds. Some were good, some were horrible, some pissed me off. I finally found "the one" passing through the aisle of Target. A cream-colored textured placemat. Beyond forces that I do not get, it worked. Now, they may not be the best pictures on Etsy (actually, I'm sure of it) but they are the best I've produced.

Here's a comprehensive list of all materials I've tried as backgrounds before finding "the one": (Please note: I am absolutely not saying that these do not work as backgrounds because I have seen fabulous pictures including most of these on Etsy. They just didn't float my boat. That's all)

Backgrounds:
Placemats
White paper
White tetured paper
Colored paper
Colored textured paper
Mirrors
Reflective black surfaces
Kitchen cutting board
Windowsill
Wood
Fabric
Ribbons (Glued nicely next to eachother)
Screening (the kind from a sliding screen door)
Foam
Carpet
Tile samples
Linoleum
Paper towels
Bottom part of wicker baskets

So my tip for the day, if you haven't found "the one" already, maybe try some of the above background ideas in your next item photoshoot. And, if what you use is not listed up there, please share your "the one"?

Don't forget! 3 days left in my giveaway. Participate here!!!

Good luck & Happy Tuesday!