As a curator and exhibition administrator, I often (constantly!) see poor images that detract from the impression of the applicant’s artwork. As I reported in my post The Living Colour Selection Process:
Approximately 30% of entries were let down by their presentation including: poor lighting; excessive cropping so I could not see the edges of the work; distracting backgrounds including beds, floors, lattice, shoes and trees; crookedness and “keyholing”. Every textile artist should ban keyholed photos from their portfolio!
For the artist seeking to improve their photography and photo-editing skills, the good news is that there are many valuable resources and tutorials available online including:
- How to Photograph Textile Art
- Digital Photography for Textile Artists
- Seven Easy Ways to Resize Images
- Watermark Your Image to Protect Your Work Online
Everyone processes and learns new information in different ways and questions often arise. Here are some interactive classes that have recently come to my attention that have a particular focus on quilt photography:
- How to Photograph Your Quilts: a one-day hands-on workshop in Canberra, Australia (14 March 2015) on how to take the best photographs possible, of your beautiful quilts, in order to show off your skills and creativity; and
- Adobe Photoshop Elements: Essentials I January 12 – February 1, 2015 (3 weeks) and Adobe Photoshop Elements: Essentials II February 9 – March 1, 2015 (3 weeks) offered by the Pixeladies, Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki.
Investing in learning new skills to enhance and complement your creative practice really pays dividends!
Ms Lottie says
The article that you’ve linked to about watermarking is great. I’ve been looking for some ways to watermark and tried a couple of apps that I wasn’t happy with so really helpful to have some recommendations. Thanks!
Brenda Gael Smith says
When I am out and about, I like to use the resizing and watermarking functions on Photogene app for iPad (look under the Export tab).