Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Quilt Photography Workshop


There is less than one week until the first monthly Quilt Photography Workshop link up.  If you want to add the button to your blog, you can find the code on my sidebar.  As a reminder, the first link up challenge is to pick some fabric(s) and take lots of pictures of it.  Remember the point of the post is the photos, not the fabric - try different angles, different lighting, and/or different ways of displaying the fabrics (not strange or unusual, just workable.)   And then write a post about it - your post will probably be more photos than words but you could maybe write about what worked, what didn't, what you want to try next time, and/or advice and questions for others.  Then come back here on August 25th to link up your post and see what everyone else did. 

And one suggestion I have for your post:  make sure we can see your photos.  For reference, I save my photos at 600px which seems to be the size I see on lots of other blogs.


This photography workshop is open to everyone who likes to take photos of handmade items - whether you take pics with a DSLR, a point and shoot, or even your phone.  The main point of the link up is to improve your blog photos and composition and variety, which can be worked on no matter what you are using to take pictures, are a big part of that.



As I mentioned in my earlier post, I bought my "fancy" camera early this year.  I am still learning how to use it through lots of trial and error but I did set two main goals for myself:  (1) use it only in manual mode and (2) try to avoid having to do a lot of post-editing.   By strictly using my camera in manual mode, I forced myself to learn the meaning of words like aperture and ISO and I took A LOT of awful pics - overexposed, underexposed, blurred - but it has been totally worth it.  I can definitely see a huge improvement in my photos - including photos of quilts, food, and people.  It seemed daunting at first to learn how aperture, ISO, and shutter speed worked together but now, while I still make plenty of mistakes and take lots of bad photos, I can say I understand it (which means you can too!!!)  I am still learning - I still am envious at the amazing photography I see on other blogs - but I think I am at least moving in the right direction.


My second goal was to avoid having to spend a lot of time editing my photos. I already spend too much time on the computer - I would much rather be taking photos or making things to photograph or spending time with the people in my photos - not cropping or adding brightness!  Again, this is definitely a work in progress but I have really been able to reduce the number of photos that need any post-processing.  Especially cropping - I think that is what I used to spend the most time on but I hardly ever need to crop photos now.


For me, photography is an important part of the blogging experience.  I think when I first started blogging, I tended to rush the photo part so that I could get my post published but now I think of taking pictures as part of the process.  Sometimes, this means having to wait to post until I can get better pics - whether that means waiting for daylight, better weather, or for someone older than 2 to hold the quilt for me!  Actually, I guess my third goal would be to work on taking photos using indoor lighting (not flash.)  I'll write about my other photography goals in a later post - they include using props and adding variety to my photos.

So, what do you think?  What are your goals?  What are your thoughts about the importance of blog photography?

For more info about the quilts in these photos, see this post.  The patchwork-y one is the back of this quilt.

15 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to this workshop!

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  2. I am definitely looking forward to this workshop! My pictures need all the help that I can get!

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  3. Manual mode scares the sh*t out of me! I've started taking pics in "av" mode on my camera which I think is the aperture? And that has helped a lot so far. I've read and read tons of photography tutorials trying to learn more and I understand the majority of it but putting it into action is what scares me! I'm looking forward to this workshop and learning more about my camera, even tho the manual part doesn't like me!!!!

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  4. My brother is a very keen photographer and I thought I would get the same DSLR camera as he has so that I could take equally excellent photographs. I soon found out that the camera is only a small part of it and that I am fairly clueless about taking photographs! I would love to improve and I think you're right, it needs me to sit down and learn some terms and theory and take lots of practice shots. Roll on pre-school so that I can have some time to do this! Your shots are looking fab - will watch your progress with interest!

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  5. I would love to learn more about how to improve my photos too - sounds great!

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  6. I'm looking forward to it Beth! Now...I guess I better start actually taking some pictures of fabric, huh?

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  7. oooh, I love this idea! what a great link up. I agree 100% about trying to get it right while shooting rather than spending more time fixing. definitely the way I work. and sometimes that means accepting less than perfect photos. =) it'll be great learning from everyone else. thanks, beth!

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  8. Thanks for staring this! I am really looking forward to learning more!!

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  9. Good for you for taking the leap to a serious camera! I actually got into photography before I got into quilting; I still have a ton to learn, but it is nice to be able to take decent photos of what I make. I am a big believer in manual mode. I try to have my only post processing be white balance. I live in an apartment building that is shaded on every side by taller apartment buildings, so all photos taken in and around my apartment are too blue. But I do try to keep post processing to under a minute and I always sharpen up photos before I post them too.

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  10. Thanks for the reminder, must get some photos this week. Irish weather makes good photography of projects a real challenge in winter in particular because the light is so poor.

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  11. I think good photos are pretty important to blogging - particularly an artistic/craft blog. Let's be honest, most artsy people are visual people so the pictures are what draw us in initially. Plus, it's hard to explain to readers about the fabric, quilting, etc. when the picture used to show that is not good.

    I haven't thought too much about my photography goals. I guess I would like to focus more on taking a variety of shots. I've found a few "go to" set ups that tend to work and repeat, repeat. I'd like to take better photographs of finished quilts and I guess lastly, I'd like to use more of the manual features on my point and shoot. Right now, I play with them and shoot in manual, but I rarely stray from the settings I know.

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  12. This sounds great - love all the helpful hints in your post & the comments. I'd just like to take better pics and also develop my own 'style'.

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  13. Ohh! Count me in! Flipping from automatic to manual will be a dream come true.

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  14. So scared to come off auto, so here goes,...... Deep breath ladies!

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  15. Again, this is such a great idea, Beth! There's always more room to learn in this area I think!

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