Part of the fun of working outdoors is to play with the seasonality of our beautiful natural world. I go back to the same location again and again for a multitude of reasons. One is that it’s close to home, and this makes my life infinitely easier. Two is that I’m familiar with the the location so I feel comfortable working there. Three is that even though it’s the same place, it’s different every time I go.
The light is constantly changing. The weather conditions which affect the light are different every day. The time of day is a HUGE factor in the kind of light I have to work with. Mother Nature herself is different every day. Blooms come and go. Greenery and leaves change. The same exact spot is never the same background from morning to night.
It’s the norm in my industry to be constantly looking for new backgrounds and going all over town, and even driving long distances to find a new patch of woods. I just don’t have that kind of time in my life. Spending extra hours in the car to go here or there simply doesn’t fit into my schedule. I have family demands and work demands and all of the super boring real life responsibilities (like cutting the grass and doing the laundry) none of us really want to think about.
That’s part of why we love to take the pictures, isn’t it? For that matter, isn’t this why we knit and craft? It’s a break from reality. Who doesn’t need that?
For this photo session, I made the mitts (of course) as well as the headpiece. Headpieces and flower crowns are pretty popular right now. I’m happy about this, because I love both! Not only are those elements pretty in the pictures, they are super fun to make. This is my first headpiece, and I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process that went into making it. I really had to search for my elements, however. It required internet orders and shopping in the local craft store to complete the creation.
What I’m saying is that I had to really put in some time and effort to make both the headpiece and the mitts. But what fun! I love the look of both pieces for this photography session. Having the right props at the right time can take an average picture and make it other worldly. That’s how I feel about this session.
The light on the day of this session was so difficult to work with. Blazing sun with no clouds. I had worked all day, and frankly did not have the energy to haul the equipment and do a set build to test out the look of the mitts and the headpiece. This was a quick “test shoot” type session. The lovely model is my next door neighbor, and this was her first experience with professional photography. This creates a situation that is difficult for even a seasoned photographer to handle effectively. So what did I do?
I went to my usual forested location, waiting until just before sunset. It was actually getting dark when we took the photos. I had to wait until the sun was just above the horizon to get it soft enough to use. I cranked up my ISO to 2000 and opened my lens to 2.2. This session was done with my Zeiss manual focus lens, so I had to get my focus on a lens that was almost completely wide open in low light conditions. Yes, it was a challenge, but I LOVE the results.
You see, I LIKE grain in the images. I love the ease of digital photography, but I prefer the look and feel of film. I’m working on creating images that are more film-like in their appearance. I sold all my excess digital gear at Christmas to buy this one all manual lens.
But look at this magic we created by putting all those elements together at the right time. The look of this lens and the antler headpiece is certainly not for every body! But for me, the combination is perfection. Yes the ultimate point is to have images to accompany the pattern for the mitts. But why does it have to be the same old cookie cutter set of images? For me, it doesn’t.
The samples are with the tech editor, and she’s writing up the pattern so it’s easy to follow. I sent my notes with her. Explaining the way the thumb goes in is not as easy as one would think. It’s a super simple thumb gusset, but writing out the best instructions on how to do this is not my strong point.
As knitwear designers, we need pictures that tell stories about our crafted objects. We need pictures that will catch the attention of people browsing for something new to try out. Of course showing the details of the object is important, but getting someone to stop and look at your piece for longer than 30 seconds is also important.
My knitwear brand is about creating simple knits that are enjoyable to make and fun to wear. I’m definitely interested in a younger market, because if younger people don’t take up the craft then who’s going to keep it going into the next generation?
This is my rather long winded way of saying that I love ALL aspects of my creative work, and that putting all those elements together at just the right moment creates fun and memorable images. I create knits and pictures with intention, yet strive for an outcome and experience that is both fun and magical. I need magical in my life!
I certainly hope that this article gives you some ideas for your own creative pursuits. I expect to start releasing a flood of patterns over the summer months. I’ve been working towards this moment for a while now. It is not an easy process, but I’m enjoying it so much!
In your own work, find that one special spot that works for you and use it in all seasons and at different times of day. Use your gear in full manual mode and learn to really get your exposures and crops right in camera. Stop the insane idea that post processing is for “fixing” images and understand that it’s true objective is to enhance an already well exposed and composed image file. If your editing time is about fixing poor image quality, then I recommend spending more time of getting images correct in camera. We all make mistakes and everybody has to salvage images at some point in their career. This should be the exception and not the norm. All I’m saying is, to be an artist and a professional is to have already good images at the time of import. Even the simplest setup can create the most incredible images. What you see here is natural light and a manual lens. Basics do not have to be boring. Happy crafting!
