Photographing Your Work

I try to take focused, well lit photos of my work.  However, I'm not aware of all the variables when it comes to professional photography because - simply put - I am not a professional photographer.  I read the manual for my sewing machine, but not for my camera.  I decided that enough is enough.  Photos are getting SO good out there.  How can I do the same when it comes to photographing product or craft or art?  I really suck at reading books end to end.  I get bored with too many words.  So I went to trusty ol' Youtube.  After all, I learned how to do basic crochet that way in five minutes!  Surely someone can give me professional direction in photography as well.  Sure enough - I watched one video and tada!  I was able to take a much better photo of my work.

After the Storm, 2012 (sold) 4x6" framed

Most of the things I knew about lighting and angle, but the ISO and timer made all the difference for me.  You can watch his video too, right here.  Get a pencil & paper first!  He's my kind of teacher.  Direct - to the point.  No fuss, no fluff.  Just tell me how and let me do my thing.  I want to properly catalogue my work.  Thank you sir.

P.S. if you have tips for me that were not mentioned in the short video, I would love to hear them!

Tips on Tuesdays! - > Picture Perfect

Welcome to Tips on Tuesdays!  This is a sharing post, so feel free to leave tips or helpful links in the comments section at the end of this post.  The red button in the left sidebar links to all Tips on Tuesdays posts if you feel like staying a while and looking around.  The topic this week is all about taking photos of your work.

I am not a professional photographer, but I have learned a lot about getting good photos of my quilts and art through trial and error (mostly error).  Everyone will tell you that lighting is important.  It's true.  I don't even bother snapping pictures for you to see after the sun has gone down.  Any amount of color & lighting correction doesn't seem to help.  It always looks orange.

The same goes for daytime photos.  There is such thing as bad daytime lighting.  When it's too dim, my photos always seem to look a icy blueish, and I end up having to warm them up a bit after I load them onto my computer.

Lately I've become really good at taking photos that require no post editing, which is a HUGE time saver.  My camera has a brightness adjuster, and a blue/red color adjuster that I can manually set before I snap the photo.  Even my phone can do that.  I use it all the time now, and watch closely in the camera monitor to ensure the color looks true to life.

I never use a flash because it makes artificial and harsh shadows.  I put my smaller work on a light surface in a naturally lit room (but not in direct sunlight), with white sheer curtains that diffuse the light well, and white walls nearby.  So far it seems to really work good.  I also use a tripod or set the camera on something stable.

Those tips can make the difference between this:

night / artificial lighting.  Blurry & orange.

things look blue on a cloudy day

and this:

diffused sunlight, daytime shot, true to original color

By the way, THANK YOU JO in Nova Scotia for this lovely postcard!!  

It is always a favorite everywhere I take it.  : )  

Another tip - I take all my blog pics on the smallest resolution possible, so I can blog longer.  'Big' photos eat up space fast, and some people's home computers might not be able to load your blog at all (my mother in-law, case in point).  As far as I can see, PC mode looks just the same on the blog as a 1200 megapixel shot.  Now if you are photographing your work to submit to magazines, they'll tell you what size they want, but for printing purposes, go with the higher settings always.

Have you ever snapped a photo of something square, and it comes out ballooned, like it's in a fish-eye-lens?  The trick to taking square photos is to stand back and then zoom in if you need to.  I do this with postcards and quilts alike.  It isn't an issue with my new camera, but it was with my five yr old camera.

Finally, when photographing stitchery, do it BEFORE you add the glass.  ; )  Again - I learned this through trial and error (but mostly error).  lol  Otherwise, your reflection will be in the photo... or your stack of dirty dishes behind you...  or your kids fighting over Lego.  You get the picture.

Got any tips!??  See any great links or posts?  Please share!

~Monika

Sunday Snapshops #11

Happy Halloween!  (Or if you are from down south, Happy Hollaween : )  Need some spooky pics today?  OMG  Trapped faeries!

They live in my herb garden throughout the summer.  Poor things.  Now they have to wait in the windowsil until spring comes.  But wait! Do you want to see something REALLY scary!?

My goodness, what a mess.  And that's only about a quarter of it.  I have so much organizing to do. I did finish the binding on my owl boxes quilt this morning.  Looks good!  

I originally auditioned chocolate brown fabric which matched a lot of the owls.  It gave a nice earthy feel to it.  I went with a mixed scrap binding in brights instead.  It is a pretty fun quilt.  I thought I should keep it that way.  My favorite sections are the diagonal plaids.

I guess I'll put this on Etsy.  I would love to hear if anyone locally can suggest a good market to sell at.   I gift a few each Christmas to children's shelters.  (I love doing that).

By the way - do you try to photograph your quilts / art / postcards and they always look like they are through a fish-eye lens, all rounded?  Back up as for as you can and then zoom in.  That will keep your work looking perfectly square.  Neat hey?

pretty teeny leaves on the crisp snow

I'm off to check out how the neighbors are coming along with their Halloween decorating.  My kids love to watch the teenagers up the street while they spook-up the front yards : ).  Everyone have fun tonight!  We're handing out potato chips and toothbrushes : )

the spider in my sewing room window

~Monika

ps- one day left to put your name in the runnings for the Angelina Fibres! ; )