Techniques for photographing your work

[tiedyejudy]

We had a discussion going awhile back, but it hasn't been posted to for quite awhile, so I thought I would start a new thread.  For the majority of my dyeing career, I have taken photos of my work hanging from a nail on the wall, on a clothing hanger of course!  That gave a picture of the design, but didn't really show how the piece would look on the human form.  Well, I recently had some money to invest in my biz, and have a friend who restores and repairs mannequins, so I bought a torso from her, and voila!  My shirts and scarves have taken on a new life!  If I had a human I could use, I would definitely go that route too, but for me the mannequin is a great step forward in the absence of a real life model!  So little by little, I am taking new photos.  Oh, and I am also using my gooseneck lamps hung in strange contortions to enhance the lighting.  I think k. taltre posted on the other thread about using 'daylight' bulbs... will have to check that out for the future!
Any other ideas about how to take good-quality photos of your work?  I am very interested in backdrops, lighting, etc.
Judy   

[deb]

Oh, man, I am AWFUL at this! And my camera doesn't focus right half the time anyway, and I do NOT understand all the settings - when I think I have them right, my pics still look yellow or pink or dim or blurry. *sob* So I'm marking my spot on this one to pick up info!

[fiberartist219]

I have a tripod, two clip on lamps from the hardware store, and a wall that is painted grey in an eggshell finish.

I used to use a grey paper backdrop, but it kept falling down and wrinkling, tearing, etc. I decided to paint the wall instead. I also used to use a professional quality light bulb that was supposed to resemble daylight, but it was very hot, high voltage, and it seemed like a fire hazard. I switched to CFL bulbs, and I find that the color quality is almost the same, but the bulbs are much cooler and less scary to use.

I try to clamp the lights in places in the room so that they create as few shadows as possible. I put the garment on a dress form in front of my grey wall, and then I take the picture, without using any flash. The flash creates horrible shadows, and I find that the clamp lights are plenty.

It's quite an ordeal for me to photograph my work, so I tend to only photograph when I have a lot to do. If it's only one or two pieces, I don't bother.

[digitalcanvasimages]

I photograph on a molded torso in natural, indirect light, using an slr and a tripod. I then use GIMP to remove the background,

[tiedyejudy]

Nice!  But what is "GIMP"?

[2D4]

Very nice.....I too have difficulty in photographing my garments....
Do you hang the torso or lay it down?

I try to use natural, (but the weather doesn't always cooperate)
indirect light as well but I still get shadows so
I try to fill with a shop light. I use Photoshop to take the backgrounds out
and to color correct from time to time.

I really like your use of the torso. Adds some life to the shot.
Do you have the occasion to photograph "BIG" shirts or dresses?
If so, what do you do with those?

Thanks for any info you can share....love your results.

Jo

[digitalcanvasimages]

@Judy> GIMP is a free image manipulation program made by users of the Free Software Foundation. It was made for Linux, but there are also Windows versions too. It's like Photoshop. You can download it at http://www.gimp.org. Photoshop users use it pretty easily, but if you are not familiar with this kind of photo editing, there IS a learning curve.

@Jo>I prop the form on a chair. I have a female molded torso that I can hang for dresses. But it takes small dresses. I do it in my living room with the shades drawn and the light directed at the floor.

All the shirts I photograph are small or medium. The big ones just 'hang' on the forms. For big shirts I hang them on a piece of PVC pipe.



I should have let the wrinkles hang out before photographing it. My bad.

Here's one with the sleeves pulled out straight. This photo was taken in my store, and the window is to the far left in relation to where the shirt was hanging. Also I didn't have the camera directly in front of the subject. That is why one sleeve looks smaller than the other.



The torsos are great. They are cheap, light and really go a long way in selling the item. I take six to markets with me, nested within each other with the clothing still on them.

[tiedyejudy]

I just got a new torso at our local Salvation Army for cheap!  And I also have a friend who restores them, so I got one last year from her that I just sold to another friend.
If I am photographing larger garments than the torso, I use a clothes pin to gather some of the fabric in back... you could use an alligator clip or spring clamp just as well.  And someone recommended that if I am displaying a men's shirt, I could wrap the torso with something (like quilt batting) to minimize the bustline... haven't tried that yet.  But for larger shirts, I have used a wooden dowel like you do with pvc... same results. 
Thanks for the info on "GIMP" ... I'll check that out! 

[digitalcanvasimages]

I do the clothespin trick when I display shirts on a torso in the store. I like the batting idea.