Photographing quilts
 

I'm wondering how you all manage to get good pictures of your quilts. Do you use a camera or your phone? How do you hang them or show them to best advantage? Although my quilting room has a double bed, it isn't always light enough to take good pictures in. I can't always find tall enough people to hold my quilts, either. I don't have a clothes line or fence to hang them from and live in a condo so floor space is at a premium. Looking for some new ideas!

I use my phone since it has a great camera. My donation quilts are not large. I live in an apartment building. The hallways have bright light. I lay the quilt in the hallway and use my step stool to get high enough for the entire quilt. For larger quilts, I have hung them from the shower curtain clipping it onto the rings. Since I belong to a couple of guilds, I can always have someone there hold them.

With my vision issues I don't have a smart phone, my emergency flip phone can take pictures but I don't really know how/have never done it. We have an older digital camera with a card that I can insert into a USB drive holder, it isn't a direct USB connection.

I have a small house and no really good way to take pictures of completed large quilts. So I use my large workspace which is also my queen sized bed. Gives consistency as well when you look at the multiple pictures but always the same headboard. Always end up chopping off part of the quilts in the pictures, but the smaller ones work pretty well. Still, I'm not such a fan of the distortion that comes from taking the picture at the foot of the bed.

I will frequently drape my quilts over the love seat in my living room. The fire place makes a nice backdrop, the quilts that are on the wall add to the final picture. When I am showing the progress of the quilt I will usually take pics on the floor as I am trying to show a bit of the detailed progress. My avatar is a prime example.

I will lay them on the floor and then get up on a chair to take a picture from above.
I use a digital camera and use a free editing programme called Ribbet on the net and I use the "straighten" function to get them as square as possible.
I've seen people use pants hangers with the clips to hang quilts from to photograph and I think that's a great idea.

Watson

I use my iPad usually. My iPhone takes good pictures also. I have double doors on my sewing room, and some quilt holders on the top of the doors to hold the quilt. My husband has a big light he uses for his band. The extra light really helps. Putting a quilt on a bed usually doesn’t work for me because I can’t get the right angle for taking the picture showing the whole quilt. I know people that take them outside and lay them on the lawn or over a fence.

I love taking pictures outside if possible. the best ones are in sunlight. but if not that, i try to place them where ever i have good over head light. they look good draped over a sofa or bench or bed. it's not always possible to find a tall person to hold the quilt up for you. I"ve even draped quilts over my fence.
and i use my little camera. load onto my computer, resize and save. they load fine in here. Not sure how to do that on my new style phone but my camera works fine for me.

I love to see photos on this forum of completed quilts on a bed. Seeing them in a room really seems to set them off.

I no longer take photos of my quilts.

I don't have a phone with a camera and I don't like the quality of the pics from my tablet so I used my Nikon DSL. The quality is always great with it.

I use my phone... on a couch. But its really nice if I can get my niece and nephew to hold them up on the porches

I use my camera and have my grandchildren stand on the fire place and hold the quilts. If the quilt is too big I just lay it on my living room floor and I stand on a chair so I can get a good angle.

I have a set of three clip hangers that I keep in my quilt room. I use these across the top of my quilt then take it outside to my little patio. I hang the quilt over the window of my slider window/door to the patio. I like the natural light and the flat surface makes a good "wall" for the quilt. Here is a photo where you can see my "method". I use both my phone camera feature and a regular camera. Both have different advantages. From time to time, such as in the winter, I will do the same process but hook the hangers over the trim of my double closet door. (Hook them on the trim.) I also have a set of concrete steps that make a good location for photos of smaller quilts. On occasion I will shoot photos with my quilts on a grassy hill, but that is always dicey because of dampness and possible soiling of the quilt.

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We have a trailer with a back gate I use. I also try to take pictures in the early morning while the sun is softer.
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After sizing and trimming in Paint.
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I use a digital camera because I don't have a smart phone. I will either put the quilt down on my queen bed and stand on a step ladder and shoot from above. The other way I do it (if the quilt is small enough) is that I pin the quilt to a blank wall (hallway) and shoot it directly on. Decent photos - not professional grade, but then again neither are my quilts! LOL

Any photos are better in natural light. If you can put a large chair by a window and take a draped shot, that is your main shot. For detail, you can then lay it out on the floor and get a full shot. Then fold over a corner so you can get the back (if plain). If you have done extra work to the back or your quilting shows better, be sure and get a full back shot. For you last shot, go close for a block, a quilting pattern or something else that is special for the quilt. These 4 shots should be done for each quilt. When I load them into the file, I then include a notation with date, any special techniques or fabrics, approximately what the materials cost, how long it took (roughly) and if sold - how much, if gifted - to whom. This may seem like a bit of work, but it only takes a few minutes and I can guarantee you won't remember these details later.

Use hangers. The metal ones that you can twist the hook to hang over a curtain rod, and clothes pins to pin the quilt to the hanger. Use several to support the width. I got free hangers from Academy that are plastic but have the clips to hold pants, etc. and a swivel hanger hook.

I love the idea about using hangers with clips to hold a quilt for photos and also draping the quilt over a sofa or loveseat. Thanks for the inspirations.