I've spent the better part of 2 days

trying to get my quilts to smile pretty for the camera. I take quick shot of my work as it is in progress and  shots of it to show what I am up to  on this blog, but that  kind of photography is what i'd call casual point and shot.
Over the last several months I have finished 6 pieces of which  I didn't have any entry quality images  and or close no up detail shots.  So with several deadlines looming I set up for a photo session on the balcony.  One after another I pinned and straightened each piece and took multiple shots at different camera settings.
But the natural light was too bright and the images looked washed out.  If only I had read my camera manual, I would have learned how to resolve that issue, but there went a few hours of my life.
If I wasn't on a deadline to get the images done (one exhibit has a 9/8 post mark deadline) I would have put it off and  waited for an overcast day, but around here, overcast can also mean, get ready, it's going to rain.  Which is what did happen later that day. And yesterday it not only rained, it poured and the wind blew, really blew.
I tried setting up inside yesterday.  Brought in lights, but that didn't help.  Then I found the manual for my camera, read it and set up again for shooting on my design wall only to look and see that one of the spot lights in the ceiling was burned out causing uneven lighting on every piece. But with added lights I got on with it.

I am still not entirely happy with the colors, mainly because  I have the real pieces to compare to the images I see on my computer screen.  Yes I realize that my unhappiness could be due to my monitor and not the images themselves.

As many times as you look at your work real size with your eyes, there is nothing like looking at it through the eye of a camera or with a reducing glass.  Using a reducing glass was a habit I had when I did pieced work, but have stepped away from now that  I am painting.  - Gotta get back to doing that. -  Now back to the point I was heading toward.  As I was taking pictures of the quilts it gave me a chance to really look at what I thought were finished work.  But to my surprise as I looked through the camera at this piece I became increasingly unhappy with it.  So I grabbed a marker and some ink and fabric paint and had at it.  Here is what I did.

 

 

 Now I am happier.