Photography Tips For Sewing

Have you ever sewn a gorgeous garment and wanted to take pictures of it to show it off? Maybe you’d like to get better pictures of your children or yourself in the beautiful clothes you sew? Today, we’re going to go over some photography tips for sewing, to help you get the best photos you can of your projects!

General Photography Tips

The best time of day to go outside for photos is right at sunrise or about an hour before sunset. However, we know how hard it is to get out exactly at these times! If you go out in the middle of the day, pick a shaded spot to get photographs in, and try to stay away from direct sun. Just make sure there aren’t any funny shadows on your model’s face.

Make sure your model is facing with their back to the sun, and not looking into the sun.

Take photos from your model’s level. For kids, this may mean sitting or kneeling down. Photos from their perspective showcase the garments better than photographing from above.

Try to avoid distracting backgrounds such as trash bins, people and cars. If you only have access to places with busier backgrounds, crop the image so it is mainly your model/the garment and less background.

Keep the background objects in mind when taking the photos. Try to avoid objects such as trees and posts from “sprouting” from the middle of your model’s head.

Make sure the garment is properly laying on your model. For example, shoulder straps should be on the shoulders and hem lines should not be flipped up.

Make sure your garment is pressed.

Try not to cut off appendages (feet, hands). If this isn’t possible, then crop the photos.

We know how hard it is to keep a child still for long enough to snap a photo, but fully clear photos are the best. Try giving your model something to hold to concentrate on or try going near to a tree or bush to let them touch the leaves or flowers. You can also try using some of the prompt phrases in the next section to help them stay still for just a second to snap a photo.

Your child does NOT have to be smiling or even looking at the camera! Candid shots are just as great as posed ones!

Props & accessories such as hats can add a lot of fun and keep your model interested. Just make sure the prop doesn’t block the garment.

Take a lot of photos during the session. You will be bound to get one or two that work!

Top Tip: Get on their level!

When photographing your child in one of your sews, taking your photos from their level will give a much better perspective on the garment. Don’t be afraid to get low!

Things To Watch Out For

Posing Help For Kids

We know firsthand how difficult it can be to convince your kiddo to stand still or in a certain way. Try these ideas that work for our admin team:

Sing a silly song or ask your model to sing a silly song.

Try balancing random things on your head while you take the photo – it can get some good laughs!

If your model is starting to look too rigid or “posed”, try shaking it out. Do the shake out with them – you may look funny for a bit, but it can work!

If you are photographing two models together, get them to talk to each other or make a silly face to make the other laugh.

Just let them do their thing. Not all photos need to be posed. If your model isn’t wanting to stop and pose, just let them walk around and take candid shots.

Try giving them an accessory prop such as a hat, sunglasses, bracelet, basket, umbrella or flowers that they don’t normally have to let them focus on something other than just the photos.

Point up at the sky or at a tree and say “what is that over there” to get them to look up or to the side.

Try making silly faces at them or saying silly words.

Let them take some photos of you during the shoot. Do the poses or actions you want them to do.

Have them describe what was happening in the last TV show they watched or the book they read or have them tell you about their favorite Pokemon, barbie, etc. When kids are explaining something they are excited about, they look more natural and have real fun.

Ask them to make a silly face at you and be ready to click when they laugh after doing so

Have a sibling, cousin, friend or partner with you to do silly dances or make silly faces behind you.

Rubber band or tie a small toy to the top of your lens so they focus on that.

Post Processing

No matter if you use your cell phone, point and shoot or professional camera, post processing your photos can make a big difference! You can use a program like Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or even the free “photos” app that comes with Windows or your phone. Here are some tips for post processing.

Cropping a photo is a great way to take a photo to the next level. Use the guide below to help determine where is a good place to crop. The green lines are points where it is generally OK to crop where the red lines can look odd if cropped at those points.

Photos that are sharp are easier to see the details of your beautiful work. Try using the sharpening feature in your photo editing software.

Lightroom presets are great to use if you aren’t comfortable with manually adjusting photos. There are a lot of free ones available online.

You can use the heal and clone tool in Photoshop or Lightroom (or even the AI Background Generator new in Photoshop Beta) to remove unwanted background elements. There are also some free apps available online.