Thursday, May 15, 2014

Photographing Your Quilts

At the SAQA conference, Gregory Case gave a presentation on photographing your quilts. It's not quite as simple as it may seem. Yes, it can be done at home with your iPhone, but that will not give you the results you want. 

Gregory emphasized that if you're sending this photo to a show to be looked at by the judges, this is your quilt's wedding photo - you want it to look it's absolute best.

He showed us examples of photos of quilts taken with an iPhone vs using a SLR in RAW mode. Not too surprisingly, there was a huge difference. Even using a SLR in jpg mode vs RAW mode was not as accurate in color or texture. So, first you need a camera that takes pictures in RAW mode. Yes, this is like giving a mouse a cookie.

If you get a camera that takes pictures in RAW, then you need software that processes RAW. Photoshop Elements is great for processing jpgs, but you need the full Photoshop deal for RAW. 

Now that you have your camera and software, you need to learn to set your camera to take accurate color, rather than the "pleasing" color it was designed to take. Cameras are designed for less colors, but oversaturated ones, so you lose a lot of detail. 

Since every step of the process requires a different device (camera, computer, printer) and each of those devices use a different way to read color. So if you want it to print the way it looks on your screen, or you want the judge to see it on their screen the way it looks on your screen, you need a color monitor which calibrates color between devices. And then there's the whole studio set up which needs a good amount of space and lighting.

There was a lot more detail in the talk, but to sum it up, if you want your photos to look professional, find a professional who knows specifically how to photograph quilts. You can get serviceable photos on your own, but it will take some practice, an investment in equipment and space. Sarah Ann Smith has a great tutorial for her set up. For me, though, as much as I love my camera, and even fiddling with Photoshop (Elements), I'd rather be spending that time on my art!

Speaking of Elements, that was the theme for the SAQA exhibit that we went to see during the convention, which highlighted SAQA's change for the definition of an art quilt. In the curator's essay, Jill Werner states, "Each artist was asked to interpret a chemical element from the periodic table. However, there was an additional twist. The artists were asked not to use the traditional quilt-making materials of fabric and thread (or at least to use them as little as possible)."
Here are a few of the pieces:

Wen Redmond, Lighter Than Air (Helium)
Trisha Hassler, The Irony Of It All Was Not Lost On Her (Iron)

Marian Zielinski, Beckoning Of The Night (Neon)

Mary Vaneeke, Samarium 62: No Relation (Samarium)


Kathy York, Seeking: A White Mitten In A Blizzard (Technetium)

Cynthia St. Charles, Zinc

Diane Melms, Chromium

1 comment:

  1. Fantastic information Michelle but like you, I'd rather spend my time MAKING the art and hire the professional when I need to!

    Being able to see some of the Elements artists and their creations was an unexpected pleasure... who knew the Periodic Table held so much art within its confines. Thanks.

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