A Blog Photography Update

I wrote a post about photography and me in December 2013. After someone mentioned the post at Carriage Corner Sew Camp, then someone left a comment about it in the comments on my Saldana Dress, so I've been gathering my thoughts to post here.

First, I've had to up my photography game. No matter how much I complained about it in the original post, I had to get better. Okay I guess I didn't really have to but I wanted to. Admittedly my photos aren't on the same level as some other bloggers but they have gotten better.

I've learned to use my camera. I understand more of the functions and can manipulate it now knowing which settings will get me what look. I'm definitely not a pro and wouldn't be able to give lessons but I can get a decent photo out of my camera. It also doesn't hurt that I bought a better DSL and stop using the point and shoot.  

I bought a tripod and a remote so that I could try taking my own photos. I've gotten comfortable with these items and use them inconjunction with my camera in my living room, no problem. I'm just getting up enough courage to take the camera and tripod onto my deck to take photos.

The most important change though is my own. When sewing a dress or when it's done, I think of how I want to frame the shot. This was the creative sense that needed the most developing. When shooting inside, I stick to the fireplace backdrop because it's white with some interesting dimension and works with the lighting. To get that lighting, I only shoot during the day, either early morning or late afternoon and all the windows in my living room are open so that light floods the room.

When shooting outside, I've now taken enough pics on my balcony that I know what looks best. In the Saldana picture, I knew the tree was blooming and that the purple on the tree would work with the purplish hues in my dress. So I shot there.
  

When my daughter takes the pictures, we use the greenest areas in the complex to get interesting shots.  Sometimes, we venture to the playground but I hate shooting there when a lot of kids are present. For the McCalls 7542 dress, she picked a square and wouldn't let me move from there because she liked the flowering tree in the background.

Finally I take a lot of pictures.  You wouldn't believe how miniscule movements can ruin a shot - okay maybe you can! *LOL* I take about 100 photos. My camera is automatically set to shoot anywhere between 2-5 pictures at once. My daughter takes 100s. She picks up the camera and starts shooting from the time I move out of the house, catching some very interesting aspects of the garment and me.

I also find that I don't like the posed pictures as much as the sponteous ones...easier with my daughter than myself.  However, allowing the camera to shoot several times, gives me the opportunity to get more sponteous pictures. It takes a while though to wade through all those pictures cause I'm vain and I delete ALOT of pictures.

Although a lot of sewists use PhotoShop, I still haven't taken the time to learn it. I use the photo software that is included with my desktop to crop and change exposure on pictures. Again the pictures taken by my daughter aren't cropped as much as the ones I take inside. But that's because I'm trying to exclude everything else but me and the backdrop. It also depends on how I feel on whether you see more of the garment or more closeups of my face. Many times I want to emphasize the garment and not me so I will use longer range photos.

My newest learning curve is taking pictures with the timer on my iPad. This is becoming quite an adventure! But no daughter means that I need not only photos for my blog posts but one or two for Instagram also. Using the timer on my iPad means that I can take them without assistance now.

This is my photography update. I can definitely see the difference in the blog pictures in the last three years. I hope you can too.

Next on the blog is my latest garment - another button down shirt which is not on my sewing list. I went a bit rogue. I'm presently working on a garment that is from the list, a newly issued pattern with more fabric from the collection.

...as always more later!