Photographing Hand Embroidery

[StitchT]

Hi

I design and stitch hand embroidery. I want to buy a new camera and was wondering what would be the most suitable for taking close up pictures of hand embroidery as well as macro pictures of the stitches.

At the moment I am using a cheap canon power shot A590. I take work-in-progress photographs of pictures of the embroidery as I stitch it. I do not use flash but have set the camera to Manuel and use the following settings ISO 200 1/320 F4.0, evaluative, Super fine and fluorescent H, I have four daylight bulbs with silver lamp shades positioned on two metal rods focused on what I an photographing. I use a table with a white wall as a backdrop.

Design sizes are as small as 2 1/2 inches and I am working on a piece 14 inches by 11 inches. Background fabric for the embroidery is usually off white.
I like to photograph the embroidery as a whole and then focus in on small areas. On larger pieces I am having an issue of shadows around the embroidery edges as the light that is focusing on the embroidery is do not spread wide enough or evenly enough.

Here are a couple examples of the embroidery I want to photograph.

Work in Progress - Hand Embroidery Designs as an Alternative to Cross-stitch.

I would love some tips on what type of camera to get and if there is a better way for lighting so I don't get any shadows on the edge. Also to focus in on the stitches so they look more dimensional. There is no information on the internet that I can find for this type of photography, hand embroidery is such a small field.

Tanja

 

[tirediron]

The pictures don't seem bad to me, but of course everything can be improved. Start by setting your white balance to match your light source (you say you're using fluoursecent, but have daylight bulbs), so set your camera's white balance to daylight (often a little 'sun' symbol) and that should improve the colours. Next, diffuse the lights. Even something as simple as placing a piece of tissue-paper in front of the light will help a lot, but you will have to increase your exposure time somewhat to compensate. Additionally, moving your lights closer (and reducing the output as necessary) will help. It often seems counter-intuitive, but the closer the light source, the softer it appears.

 

[StitchT]

The pictures don't seem bad to me, but of course everything can be improved. Start by setting your white balance to match your light source (you say you're using fluoursecent, but have daylight bulbs), so set your camera's white balance to daylight (often a little 'sun' symbol) and that should improve the colours. Next, diffuse the lights. Even something as simple as placing a piece of tissue-paper in front of the light will help a lot, but you will have to increase your exposure time somewhat to compensate. Additionally, moving your lights closer (and reducing the output as necessary) will help. It often seems counter-intuitive, but the closer the light source, the softer it appears.

Thank you for your feedback.

I checked the bulb I am using and it is the fluorescent 23w 120v. I had played around with the white balance, the other ones gave a very blue tinge to the photo.
What is the best type of bulb for lighting the subject to get a natural look or does it matter if you can change the white balance on the camera?
I will try the tissue paper diffusion, great tip thank you and I think I need more lights to get more even spread.

I will probably still get a new camera but don't know if there is a better camera for this type of photography than the canon I amusing.

 

[tirediron]

The best type of lighting is actually strobed (flash) lighting, but that can get expensive. I would look for daylight balanced (~5500K) incandescent bulbs, 100 watts, and just use old lamp fixtures or something like that.

 

[Designer]

On larger pieces I am having an issue of shadows around the embroidery edges as the light that is focusing on the embroidery is do not spread wide enough or evenly enough.

I would love some tips on what type of camera to get and if there is a better way for lighting so I don't get any shadows on the edge. Also to focus in on the stitches so they look more dimensional.

You do excellent embroidery work!

Aside from getting better light, you can also reflect the light onto the work piece. Get a large sheet of white foamcore and suspend it above the table. Shine the lights up toward the reflector. This will make the light very even. You can even experiment with them, by positioning two or three sheets of it and separate lights on each one. Kind of like a house roof, sloped two ways. I have some large sheets about 42 inches by 60 inches. They are not much money.

As to what camera, if you are considering a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) you can get one for anywhere between $200 (cheap, used) to LOT$. The lens you probably want is one that is called "macro" or "micro" (same thing, just different brands). The Nikon D5200 sells for about $650 new and a 105mm micro lens for it going for about$700.

Amazon.com: Nikon D5200 24.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera Body Only (Black): NIKON: Electronics

Amazon.com: Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens: NIKON: Electronics

And, of course there are less expensive ones, and also used of the same as I mentioned.

Look at used here:

Buy & Sell New & Used Cameras ? Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Leica & More - KEH.com

and here:

http://www.adorama.com/?gclid=CPrm9Nv3sL0CFa07MgodDksA5g

or here:

B&H Photo Video Digital Cameras, Photography, Camcorders

Personally, I don't recommend e-bay, but some others have found good deals, but you have to know what you're looking at.

 

[StitchT]

You do excellent embroidery work!

Aside from getting better light, you can also reflect the light onto the work piece. Get a large sheet of white foamcore and suspend it above the table. Shine the lights up toward the reflector. This will make the light very even. You can even experiment with them, by positioning two or three sheets of it and separate lights on each one. Kind of like a house roof, sloped two ways. I have some large sheets about 42 inches by 60 inches. They are not much money.

Thank you, I am a perfectionist in stitching so also want to do the photography well, just don't have as much time to invest in to it.

Thanks for the tips of the foam core, I can get easily get some of these from an art store.

Tanja

 

[Scatterbrained]

You can get clamp lights really cheap at a hardware store (lights in a reflector dish with a squeeze clamp in the back). With two of them and a piece of foamcore you should be able to get good lighting that will show the detail and texture of your work. A light from the side across the work will bring out the texture and detail but create dark, hard shadows. A second, soft light from above (you can simply mount a piece of foamcore over the work and bounce a light off of it) will provide even light across the work while softening the shadows created by the first light so that you have clear detail in the shadow areas. Granted you'll have to tune the distances to get the lighting ratios right, or use dimmers and dimmable bulbs.