Tips on Getting More of Your Photos Accepted on Craftgawker

Craftgawker is an awesome craft feature website that can get your blog more traffic, but it can also be frustrating as you try to get your project photos accepted. I am definitely no expert on getting my photos accepted, but I have learned a few things as my photos have gotten accepted or declined (mostly declined!), so hopefully these tips can help you.

1. Size and quality –
This is an easy one to fix. Your photo needs to be at least 500 pixels, and no more than 500 kb. I will usually keep the original quality of the photo, but simply resize or crop it to 500 x 500 pixels, and it will usually be less then 500 kb.

2. Lighting-
Lighting is very important. Make sure you take your photos with lots of natural light, or use a photo box. Never use a flash. If you are taking a photo of a still object, consider using a tripod. You can adjust your shutter speed without getting a blurry effect.

3. White balance-
Make sure the white in your photo is actually white, not yellowish, pinkish or bluish. Adjust your camera settings accordingly. Sometimes, you can easily adjust this in editing software, but try to get it right on your camera first.

4. Wide shots-
Your photo will automatically be cropped down to a square for the thumbnail, so make sure that your photo can be nicely cropped without cutting off anything from your subject. If it’s too tight of a shot, they won’t accept it. Better yet, crop your photo into a square first, and then upload it.

5. Content-
Even if your photo is absolutely gorgeous and perfect, Craftgawker will still decline it if your post isn’t informative or doesn’t contain a tutorial of some kind. Make sure your post has great content!

6. Angle-
I tend to take my pictures directly in front, especially if it’s food or a small craft item. It gets a nice bokeh, which I like, however, these pictures will mostly get declined because the photo needs to be a clear shot of the subject. Try to shoot from a higher angle if you tend to shoot like me. You want a nice, informative representation of your subject. (This was rejected from Foodgawker)

7. Showcase the Subject-
This may be a no-brainer, but make sure that the subject of your post is the subject of your photo. For example, if your post is about a cute chair you built out of wood, make sure it’s a good shot of the chair. If your post is about the crackle paint job on the chair, get a good shot of the paint job, the chair itself isn’t as important.