Category — Photography

… just one : stunning.

This great shot of Oklahoma dancer Arastya with her “Mythical” silk veil is brought to you by photographer Ryan Potter of Lrn2Go.Photo.

There is nothing quite like a good camera.

I know I bitch and moan a lot about not being able to take pictures that truly reflect what I see with the naked eye, but I really shouldn’t complain so much, considering my whole set-up is very homemade. I could use some better lighting; this I know, but today, I’m quite happy with my old Nikon.

Happy trails, my friends. Some of you I will see tomorrow at the Bazaar, hopefully.

I’m obsessed with beautiful hand dyed silk, so even when I’m taking a break, I don’t veer off too far from my original obsession. Getting the chance to touch, stitch and play with a little kit for making a beautiful hand dyed silk arashi shibori ribbon flower from Glennis Dolce (aka Shibori Girl) was a real kick. You can find the link to her blog in my textile links on the right side bar.

I had a fun time even just taking pictures of the resulting flower. The resilient pleating makes the fabric so sculpturally fascinating! I could have honestly spent hours making a picture study of close ups of the play between its various folds, ridges and silky, milky texture. Delicious.

I finally figured out how to use the macro on my camera. I think so, at least. It could have been an accident. Really. There’s so many buttons on this thing, you’d swear it’s more video game controller than an actual camera. The instruction manual makes the mind spin.

This is one of my blooming pretties.

The closer I look at it, the more it has to become a veil.

If you’re wondering why I seem to take so many pictures, it’s to keep, not just a record of what I made on a certain day but, somewhat of a memory aid. Sometimes people will contact me and refer to a piece by name that I might have made several years back. It could get embarassing if you don’t know what they’re talking about.

I use the pictures as well as sale tags on the rack; there is a lot less folding and re-folding of each item necessary when the potential buyer sees a picture of the whole thing in the first place. I also add price, size and silk weight to the tags; obviously, not all pieces can be priced alike as they are not created alike. This picture shows tie-dye, by the way. Not all forms of hand-dyeing should be called tie-dye. Just a pet peeve of mine I suppose.

And why are my pictures so static? Isn’t silk that’s meant to fly more beautiful if you show it in flight? I suppose it is. I love looking at pictures of moving silk. It’s glorious to behold, but could also hide an infinite number of sins. I like people to see exactly the pattern they’re buying. It prevents a whole lot of potential grief if you sell anything from a website to a client who hasn’t had the chance to see the item up close first.

They’re not perfect pictures, but I’m working on it. I only have a very small space where “Bambi” the mannequin stands at attention at all times — very convenient as long as one is willing to forget ever using a certain part of their dwelling ever again — but the lighting is less than perfect.

It’s on my to-do list, really. But I’d rather be dyeing. Which is what’s going to happen right now.