Sunday, February 17, 2008

C's February Heart Ornament and a question

Here's my February ornament. The design comes from Peace, Love, and Joy: A Southwest Ornament Collection by Lorraine Koester of Redbird Designs. I stitched it over one on a scrap of linen, using whatever threads I had handy. I finished it using the whipstitch technique.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to get a good picture of my needlework using my digital camera. It's really difficult for me to get the focus right. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi C!
That's such a cute ornament, and very southwestern ;)

I find that taking a picture without flash makes the colors look more lifelike, but runs the risk of having an unfocused picture. Using the flash close up though washes out the colors. I've discovered that holding the camera 2-3 feet above/away from the piece, zooming in, and then using the flash usually gives me the best results... but my pictures aren't so great either, so I'm curious to see what everyone else suggests!

LindaM said...

I think you did a great job on this. The picture is clear too. I think you might want to try the manual settings on the camera if you haven't already. You can control so much more that way. But what trouble are you having specifically? Is it lighting? As in natural vs. flash? I will ask some artist friends about that again but I was told previously to put the object on a black background because it absorbs the cast shadows and reflected light too. I will ask again.
Seriously thinking about creating a white box platform and then using artificial lighting. I saw a tutorial on it somewhere. IF I find it again or any other answers, I will post on your blog or mine but will alert you.Otherwise, beautiful work.

Jennifer said...

If you have a macro setting on your camera, try playing around with that. I have NO idea how to work ours, but my DH has gotten some great close-up pictures of small objects like flowers and bugs using the macro setting.

Ginger said...

Those were all good suggestions - having a plain background was mine; being further away and using the macro all are things I have learned just fooling around...
Hugs,
Ginger

Olga said...

I like your ornament, great job! But I liked your question even more. Thanks to it my husband and I studied the User's Manual to the camera which we bought last summer. I also "Gooled" a little and here is what I found out about taking good pictures: 1.The background is black or darker than your object, better to have a space between the object and the background. 2.Choose Close Up mode and unable the flash if you have enough light or use Auto flash mode. 3. Zoom in completely.
4.Frame your picture by moving the camera not zooming!
5. Press the shutter-reale button halfway - let the camera to focus and then take a picture.
Step 6 is the most important one - Send us a picture to enjoy your masterpiece!
Good Luck!

Sandy said...

very pretty

Ruth said...

I love your ornie -- and thanks so much for getting all the great stitching photo tips! I could use them too! lol