Photographing Quilts

I began blogging in 2010 and one of my early posts was on this very topic (click here to read that post). I’ve changed my technique a bit since then, but the basics remain the same. This won’t be a lesson for professionals, but I hope it will be helpful for many of you who want to enter your work in juried shows, or just want to keep a record of the quilts you make. If your latest project is full size or larger, and you’re not entering it in a show, you may want to simply photograph it on the bed.

For smaller quilts these are tips that hopefully will be helpful:

*Most of us use our phones as our cameras now (quite a change from 2010), and they have built in the “magic” that keeps photos clear without the steadying help of a tripod ~ amazing! But it is still important to hold your phone/camera as still as possible.

*Set your camera for the highest quality because you can always make a photo smaller, but you can’t enlarge it without losing quality.

*Choose a plain background ~ charcoal gray is the best in order to keep the colors true, as in the fabric covering my design wall (this photo is from that original post and it’s a bit fuzzy because the file was too small – duh).

Recently I’ve found I like to lay small quilts on the ground for photographing. The concrete outside or the flooring in my studio are both neutral.

But note the difference the color of the background makes. The gray concrete photo was taken in the shade on a bright, sunny day. While the indoor photo was taken with my new “daylight” fixtures. The gray of the concrete gives me truer color. the warmer flooring color causes my quilt to look a bit yellower.

So what will happen if I take the photo on the concrete in full sun?

The photo has a slight yellow cast, but still looks good. So sometimes direct sunlight is OK.

Another way I use sunlight to my advantage is when I want my quilting to show, especially when taking detail shots to enter in competition. Laying the quilt on the ground, with the sun at an angle (morning or late afternoon) can help accomplish this.

*Keeping the quilt framed square in the photo is another important skill. This requires holding the phone/camera so that the spacing is equal all the way around. The following photo is a good example. Note the edges of the quilt are parallel to the edges of the photo all the way around. This photo can now be cropped to make all the spaces the same size.

It is easy to have the phone/camera rotated a bit, and the result is uneven background spaces:

More often the problem is that the phone/camera is not parallel to the piece being photographed. This results in what’s called keystoning:

And can be fixed by simply holding the front of the phone/camera parallel to the quilt. The image on the left is incorrect, while the one on the right will result in a good photo.

So what is the point? The easiest way I’ve found to get good photos of small quilts is to lay them outside on concrete in a shady area on a sunny day, and hold the camera/phone square and parallel to the quilt.

This can work for larger quilts too – if you can climb a ladder or get on a deck above the quilt so that the photo is taken straight down. Hanging a large quilt from a railing or deck has worked for me too, even though the background is usually busy, and it’s harder to get the lighting correct.

*And one last comment. Watch that your arm or body are not causing shadows across the quilt, especially when taking photos indoors. Be careful not to have the light directly over the quilt or shadows are almost unavoidable. I find it helpful to place the quilt on the floor between two ceiling lights in my studio. That way I get even lighting and no shadowing.

I hope you find this helpful. None of these things is difficult, but they can make a big difference.

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And one more thing…

The Watertown Arts Council is holding a show at our public library. Local artists will have work on display from August 10-17, and I’m pleased to be a part of it. As people enter the main door from the parking lot they’ll be greeted by Lady Liberty:

I have a number of other pieces on display, along with artists who work in a variety of mediums. There will be a reception on Thursday, August 17th from 5-7. Please stop by if you’re in the area.