Camera advise

[DB]

I need advise on taking good quilt pictures and am hoping some of you guys who post the fabulous pictures on this site will answer. Can anyone recommend a good digital camera, hints on lighting or focusing? I have taken close up pictures of some of my work, it looks ok on the camera viewing screen but then when I down load it to the computer I end up losing detail. Sometimes I can't capture most of the quilting which is what I'm frequently after. I have tried flash on and off. The flash off is generally better to get the quilting to show up but I still lose alot of it. DB

[LynnQuilts]

Yes, it is better to have the flash off. Then you also need side lighting, this is what makes your quilting show up. Lights from each side shining across your quilt. Or you can take the pictures outside, on a windless and cloudy day. I wait until the sun has gone behind my house and no longer shines on the area where I\'m taking the pictures. You just don\'t want to be in the sun. It\'s good to use a tripod if you have one. I make biggish quilts and don\'t have room in my house to set them up to photograph them, so I always take mine outdoors when there\'s no breeze and no sun.

[sewingupastorm]

Lynn if I were gonna wait for no breeze (much less wind) to take my photos outside I would be waiting for a long, long time

The absolute best way to photograph a quilt (I need to get the quiltstand and lights to be able to do this but know what is needed) is in a dark room. Hang your quilt and have the camera on a tripod straight on. You also want to have two lights each comming for one of the two sides so that you can see the quilting...................in other words shadows are created where the quilting is.

The most important of these things is the side lighting. Never direct light or you will not really see the quilting.

[AnnHenry]

The best time to photograph quilts outdoors is mid morning. Morning sunlight is "whiter" than afternoon sunlight, which is more yellow. Mid day sun is too bright.

The light source cannot be "straight on" but must be at an angle or else you won\'t get the shadowing that quilting requires to show it off. You will need to experiment because the sunlight on June 1 is different from the sunlight on November 1.

If you have the luxury of a helper (or two, depending upon the size of the quilt) to hold the quilt, start off with the quilt facing the sun and then the camera (you with your back to the sun) stands still while they rotate the quilt a few degrees, you take a shot, rotate, shoot, repeat ad finitum rotating the quilt in both directions. One of those pictures should be satisfactory. I take several pictures from several angles and several different distances before downloading. Sometimes I take these pictures every 10 minutes as the sun moves. Sometimes it takes me all morning to get the perfect picture. . . . . sometimes I drive myself crazy.

For a "blowing in the wind" problem, the quilt can be weighed down at the lower edges by sticking a bar of soap in a nylon stocking and pinning it to the bottom corners. If the bottom edge buckles, pin a long (4-5 \') thin wooden dowel to the bottom back.

When trying to take a closeup, I take several pictures at various distances and one is always better than the rest. I usually can\'t keep track of which distance worked best, but it\'s quicker than doing it one at a time and downloading each separately.

When taking pictures indoors, the same rules apply as far as using the available daylight, and when using flash, the angle again is crucial. You will never get the quality of picture with a generic flash that a professional gets with his lighting, and surprisingly, flash off is often better. There are settings on the camera which address fluorescent lights . . . I think it is always best to turn off fluorescent lights, although this cannot be done if you are taking pictures at a quilt show.

My sister had a camera she was very happy with, and so I bought one exactly like it on E-bay. It was around $100 and serves my simple needs. (Then I thought I had lost it, and I bought another exactly like it on E-bay. Then I found the first -- amazing things happen when one cleans house--so now I have a camera and a backup). I have had good luck with E-bay. It seems that "camera nuts" (descended from the same line as "quilt nuts") need to change cameras every year or so, and they sell the old ones on E-bay.

I did go online to the mfgr and bought the lens attachments so I could take closeups, and have never regretted that little additional expense. That was 4-5 years ago so they will be a little more now, but I\'m thinking you should be able to get what you need as a beginner around that price range. Then, it\'s practice, practice, practice! Then it\'s re-read the manual and practice some more. The manual is so much more understandable after I have worked with something for a while.

I have been happy with my (Kodak) camera and would hate to have to shop for another one because there are so many different cameras to choose from. The digital camera is so wonderful because you can see your pictures immediately, and all the pictures you waste don\'t cost anything. My recommendation for you as a beginner would be to choose the camera with the fewest bells and whistles. You do want automatic focus.

I knew nothing when I bought my first digital camera. It\'s just the same old story--practice and learn by doing.

Good luck!

[DB]

OK, so if I take the quilt outside on a cloudy day, midmorning, do I still need the side lights? Should I try and position the quilt so the sun is hitting it from the side and not use artifical lights? I will probably take most of my pictures indoors, especially now that it\'s getting cold out, but in the spring it might be nice to bring a few of them outside. I had never thought of side lighting, thanks for the tips. I\'m guessing that a regular lamp will do, or am I mistaken and need something else? DB

[LynnQuilts]

If you take your picture outside, you do not need the side lighting. Sun from any angle is too bright and won\'t create the shadows you want. I tried it and it just washed out my quilt picture. A regular lamp should work if it is the kind that you can direct the light across the quilt. I usually take mine outside because I don\'t have space to photograph my big quilts inside, so I am not overly knowledgeable about it. I just know that for indoor quilt photography the side lighting is necessary and no flash.

[AnnHenry]

It should probably be noted that Lynn is from Texas, where the outdoors sunlight may indeed always be too bright for good photographs, but DB is from "Ma" - is that Massachusetts? - and the sunlight is completely different there, both in the angle the sun hits the earth and the intensity of the rays, and as I said before, the time of year.

Regarding the cloudy days or under a dense shade tree on a bright day - - these are variables you just have to experiment with. Flash outdoors in the shade or on a cloudy day may work when flash indoors doesn\'t.

For indoor photography, try to use available morning sunlight as much as you can. Incandescent light is yellow - notice on photographs where there is a lamp lit in the background. Fluorescent I thinks turns pictures "beigish". You just have to experiment with what works for your geographical location, the location within your house, and the time of year.