Sunday 25 August 2013

The Quilt Photograph Workshop

Ok here it comes...task for August was photographing fabric:

The photos were taken with a simple digital camera that by now is a few years old...no bells, no whistles...just takes pictures. Could not even tell you what this camera does...it's a Sony with some optical zoom capacity. I got this one when my daughter got a newer and better model when she went to Europe with her school.

This was taken in the evening - no natural light
I tried to take pictures a couple of times at night, but quickly realised that just does not work, so nowadays I wait for daylight to do my pictures.

Much better, taken in the daytime, but enclosed by white box
Here I experimented with a white box but as you can see this produced a shadow.
 

Taken in the same spot without the white box on white background


Taken in a different room in front of the window
It is currently winter in Australia so the light is not that great and photographing outside was not an option last week as it rained non-stop. Usually I take my pictures in front of the window in my sewing room. While I do get a bit of a shadow this usually works fine. Another good spot is on top of my sewing cabinet, however then I do get the TV in the background. I would like my photos to look blurry in the background, but have no idea of how to do that or whether this camera is indeed capable of this.

I quite like the photo of the coloured fabric on the white background. Probably should cover my background with a white sheet or something. That spot on top of my sewing table has the best light for photographing small things like fabric or single blocks.

So the main issues for me are:
- natural light and  a consistent spot to shoot my photos
- editing...I use Picaso which is easy enough, but I do spent a lot of time editing due to my poor shooting


Also wondering how many people use their phone to take pictures. I certainly have taken a few photos with my phone and must say, the phone almost does better pictures than the camera. Maybe I should experiment with the phone a bit more.

Linking up to Plum and June's Quilt Photography Workshop to have a look at how other people went about shooting their fabric.

Plum and June



Karin

11 comments:

  1. Regarding your comment about using smart phone cameras... there is a popular saying these days and it goes like this: "You know what the very best camera is? The one you have with you!" They actually have improved the technology a lot, fortunately.

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  2. I agree, lighting is your friend or foe. I take things outside when I can. I also bought a work light from a home improvement store with the metal shade and a clamp on it. I clamp that to a chair when I need more light, you can direct the light to the best angle easier, and get the light straight on, instead of over top where shadows creep in!

    Nini~

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  3. You can really see the difference in colors between the nighttime and daytime pics - is the daytime pic more accurate? I think you can get some background blur with a point and shoot by using some of the presets -I'm not sure which one but maybe you can experiment with it and report back next month? Thanks for joining in.

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  4. I also think day is better than night for lighting. But I think Nini has a great idea with clamp light. As for the phone. I am even further behind the times with that. But have recently joined Instagram and hope I improve on the photos there too. A little at a time!!!

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  5. lovely pics! I always take photos with my phone. It does mean that I don't have all of the camera options, but it works for me! As long as you have good lighting and smart editing, a phone can take great pictures!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  6. I usually take my pics with my phone but this time I used my point and shoot - natural light is always the key

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  7. I love the photograph on the white background - it really shows up the colours very nicely.

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  8. I love the photograph on the white background - it really shows up the colours very nicely.

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  9. I love the photograph on the white background - it really shows up the colours very nicely.

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  10. I took pictures at Quiltcon entirely with my phone and they came out great because the lighting indoors was so great! But now I have a nicer camera and need to learn how to use it!

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  11. the selection taken in front of the window is my favorite. =)
    one way to get a blurred background is to use your camera lens zoomed out as far as possible (you will probably have to back up) and make sure you focus on your subject. it may or may not work with your camera, but it's worth a shot to see how it does! good luck.

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