Miracles of Modern Technology
A long time ago at the well-known Georgetown fleamarket here in Washington, D.C., I fell in love with an antique dress form with a bosomy shape and little cast iron claw feet. I wasn't that I was much of a seamstress, but I just had to have it. I used it over the years to hang interesting clothes and hats on, but then it sat in storage for more than thirteen years. When I retrieved it, I found that had it remained the same, but I had changed a lot, and I discovered a wonderful new use for it: photographing necklaces. To my mind, photographing a necklace on a flat surface, while perhaps giving useful information about the detail and the construction, is insufficient. One has to see how the necklace hangs. I suppose I could use myself as a photographer's dummy, but that seemed awkward, and this old dressmaker's form seemed just the thing.
And I was happy with it "as is" for quite a while. Then one day, a dear friend mentioned how she uses the "cloning" tool on her photo software to "disappear" the hooks upon which she hangs her bags in order to photograph them. The hooks, she felt, were distracting. A little lightbulb switched on over my head, as I realized how unsightly the division lines on the movable plates on the form were. Aha!, I thought, I can "disappear" them as well, and so I did. I find it to be a strangely enjoyable, almost meditative, and certainly miraculous process, as if I were "stitching" the plates on the form together. I thought about the women who had used the form in the past, and how utterly astonished they would be at all of this: online shops; digital photographs; cloning. It is good to keep in mind those small miracles of modern technology. Given the difference between the two photos, I think it is pretty amazing! Hmmm....now if only I could use the cloning tool to "iron" the tshirt!
And I was happy with it "as is" for quite a while. Then one day, a dear friend mentioned how she uses the "cloning" tool on her photo software to "disappear" the hooks upon which she hangs her bags in order to photograph them. The hooks, she felt, were distracting. A little lightbulb switched on over my head, as I realized how unsightly the division lines on the movable plates on the form were. Aha!, I thought, I can "disappear" them as well, and so I did. I find it to be a strangely enjoyable, almost meditative, and certainly miraculous process, as if I were "stitching" the plates on the form together. I thought about the women who had used the form in the past, and how utterly astonished they would be at all of this: online shops; digital photographs; cloning. It is good to keep in mind those small miracles of modern technology. Given the difference between the two photos, I think it is pretty amazing! Hmmm....now if only I could use the cloning tool to "iron" the tshirt!
Here is a link to more great tips on taking photographs:http://enthral-enthral.blogspot.com/2007/05/photography-tips-for-posting-on-etsy.html
2 comments:
Looks great to me. Thanks:)
Thank you, enthral!
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