Michael's Motorcycle or Shoot the Blocks (Block Photography)

This would be a good time to talk about the art of quilt block photography. LOL!

This Dear Jane block, H5 - Michael's Motorcycle, was made long ago. The photo was taken a few years ago. I thought the wonkiness was due to my beginner photography skills (or lack thereof), but when I tried to reshoot this block I realized it's hopelessly wonky (and I'm in the midst of deciding if I need to remake it.)

Anyway, over the years I've learned a few tricks for successfully shooting quilt blocks. Here they are.

1. Never forget, the camera sees everything. Is the full image inside the frame? Is anything wonky? Look for stray threads. Look for shadows, and remember, you may be what's casting the shadow.  If you don't look for these things before you shoot you will see them after!. Look before you shoot -- it will  save you time. I find I make these mistakes either if I'm in a hurry or if I'm feeling emotional about what I'm shooting, such as a beautiful tree.
2. Iron the block carefully. If your block is wonky, this is your best chance to unwonk it -- aside from doing some major seam revisions, etc.
3. Iron freezer paper to the back of the block. Thank you, Tazzie, for this tip! This will hold everything in place and provide a nice white background for light fabrics. I shoot my blocks in front of an open window. If it's breezy, the freezer paper helps keep the block from blowing away or a corner flipping over. Cut the freezer paper the same size as the block or just a hair smaller, otherwise, you will end up with wax on your iron or ironing pad. This square of freezer paper can be used over and over again. After you finish taking your pictures, peel off the paper.
4. Stack up a bunch of plain white paper. This will be your backdrop and will help reflect light back at the camera lens and that helps with light fabrics in particular. I used to shoot my blocks on my off-white carpet but even that background was contributing to muddy colors.
5. Turn off the flash and use available light. For my Dear Jane blocks, I only use natural light which means I have to shoot them in the daylight. Most of my construction shots are also done without a flash; I just use the light from my fluorescent lamp.

6. Avoid blazing sunlight coming in at a low angle. It creates shadows on your seams, as shown in this pink Dear Jane block, B4 - Chris' Soccer Field. The first photo is with lots of shadows, the second was done on a different day, with better lighting.
7. I used to shoot my blocks on the floor of my sewing room but I would get weird shadows and moire patterns on the fabric from the light filtering through the window screen. Now I use the floor near my slider. Right before I shoot my pictures, I open the slider so I don't get that screen pattern on my blocks.

8. Line everything up -- the stack of paper (see step 4 above) with the edge of the slider track, then, I line up the edge of my block with the edge of the paper and the slider track. When I'm ready to shoot, I line up the following with the top and bottom of my viewfinder -- the slider track, the stack of paper, the top and bottom edges of my blocks. Make sure everything is parallel or perpendicular to the edges of the viewfinder.
9. Take 2 - 6 shots of the same block. Sometimes, a shot is wonky but you won't see it until you try to crop the shot. Taking multiple shots, saves me having to do multiple downloads when I discover my first shot was wonky.
10. Download the multiple photos into your computer.

11. Crop your photos. I use IrfanView (free software). This is when you will find out if the photo is wonky. If it is, try the next shot to see if it's any better. Repeat until you find one that works. I used to crop to the edges of my blocks; now, I crop to the seam line so I can see how the block will look when it is set into the sashing. It's all personal preference how close you crop your photos. I have found that cropping away the seam allowance can accentuate just how wonky your photo is. Just click on this photo to see what I mean! Look at the small triangles in the corners.
12. Save and label the photo. I get a bit fanatical about this. The pay off is that I can easily find my photos.

13. Do a "save as" and use IrfanView (or your favorite software) to reduce the image width from 1,100+ pixels to 72 pixels. I preserve the aspect ratio, so I only need to change the width or the length. I consistently change the width. I save these smaller images to a separate folder and use them to create my quilt progress photos by making a contact sheet on IrfanView.
14. Peel the paper off the block and put the block away. The paper can be reused many times.

I can only wonder what my father, the photographer, would think of this posting.Some of my tips come from him, some from other bloggers, and some I made up. If you have a question, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer. I hope this helps!

PS. After writing this lengthy posting on how to photograph blocks so they are straight and plumb, and going back and reshooting this block, I have come to the conclusion that this block is hopelessly out of whack. For now, I'm keeping it however, it's going on the list of blocks that may get redone. I also plan to go back and see if I cut it off-grain, because I want to understand how such a simple block could be so warped. At least I'm amused -- a far better place to be than angry!