Wednesday 13 May 2015

Photographing my crochet work

This is a Knit & Crochet Blog Week Post, hosted by Eskimimi Makes
- all about experimental photography and image handling - 

I'm not really one for gimmicks and props and my photos tend to be simple. A previous post for this blog week series indicated recurring themes in the way I photograph my work. 

The last year or so I have noticed more bloggers resorting to the all-white background, which makes for a crisp, clear photo, beautifully showing off the detail of the work, the colours and must allow for great fun when you like playing around with styling and such. 

I tried it once or twice...The white cardboard promptly disappeared and was rediscovered as a Transformers-decorated poster in the boys' room! But...I'm also not that crazy about the stark white-out :-)  So I just resort to the nearest surface at that stage:

A darkish wooden background would either be my kitchen table or worktop of the kitchen island...

Both might be Rhodesian teak


A lighter wood is the 3m stoep table...

This one is made of reclaimed Oregon floor planks

Smaller items I would often put on an old tray or aluminium plate (that seemed to have disappeared this morning)...

The 2nd hand tray with broken handle that I need to fix!

(All my things are old, mainly from a second hand shop in Pretoria.  The kitchen table used to be a police desk - I also have a large cupboard, office cabinet, another desk and lab trolley with police origins :-) - the kitchen island was an old shop counter. The matching wall shelves have been customised now to fit above the stove. The stoep table is made of 3m long old floor planks...it's sagging a bit, I might need to get it reinforced!)

And sometimes there's the crumpled duvet, taken on a weekend morning :-D

White enough background, but softer


For more blog posts on this theme, use the tag 6KCBWDAY3.

8 comments:

Elza said...

Love your style!

Happy in red said...

I also have a big old wooden tablet (that my husband used to use for soldering) as a background for my pics. I recently discovered the purple-brown bricks of our building make for an awesome industrial-urban background that I've grown to love.

Annalize said...

Ek hou van al die ou goeters en is ook nie een vir 'n wit agtergrond nie, maar jou komposisies is altyd interessant en inspirerend!

Unknown said...

Lovely pictures! The basket is beautiful!

Quazar said...

Very pretty pictures. I love old wood, or anything with a story behind it. Love, love love all of these!

homemade@myplace said...

I love your photo settings : simple and great!!!
xxxxx Ale

Amy Putkonen said...

This is cool. It makes me want to experiment more. My lighting was terrible this morning for my "what's in your bag" post. Ahem. Looks like I have some great ideas now to step it up a notch!

Jodiebodie said...

I like the way the knit & crochet blog week challenges us to rethink what we do and how we do it. (I am not participating this year..yet..as I have little time).
Your post has made me think more purposefully about the backdrops of my photographs and the possibilities. I am guilty of the stark white background but it depends on what is being photographed. Putting your backdrop item in an inset photo is very effective. It is almost like a puzzle - see the backdrop in the large photo, try to guess what it might be and then the answer is revealed in your corner photos! :-)
Have fun with the knit & crochet blog week!