Lilac, Cream and Grey
Leica CL + Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f1.8
I have a lilac cardigan sample that is very difficult to photograph. I knitted it over a year ago, but could never manage to get photos I was pleased with, despite photographing it literally dozens of times in various light conditions and settings. It is the colour that’s the problem. Quite a specific shade of heathered lilac that is not only evasive but prone to both blowing out and fringing. A few times it’s even produced what almost looked like a moiré effect. I had more or less given up hope of ever getting decent photos of the lilac cardigan. But once in a while I would try it, just in case.
Today was a very mediocre day, light-wise. But we had time, and I thought it couldn’t hurt to try. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be The Day to get this colour right.
The heathered lilac is extremely true to life here, as is the texture of the knitted fabric. The stitch definition is great in these photos, and you can see all the construction details quite clearly. Perhaps the combination of the overcast but haze-free conditions, and these photos being taken at f16, had something to do with that. This might be the first time I have tried portraits at such a high f number, following up on the flowers experiment yesterday.
While I am pleased with these shots, there are also problematic aspects. Despite the large windows there was not enough light in the room. So I used ISO 1600 and the images do look noisy to me, no matter what people say about the CL’s low light performance. Also… I really should have steam-ironed the grey sheet! To the eye it did not look wrinkled, but on camera the creases are quite obvious and because the background is in focus they are distracting. Both of these problems are easily remedied though. I should really get over my aversion to tripods and start using one by default for these types of formal-portrait product shots. That alone will solve the lighting problem. Steam-ironing the sheet before hanging it up should also become a default step!
So really, I just need to decide whether I like the look. At the moment I think yes. But I need to think on it, and maybe show these images to a few people and get some feedback. It is a departure from the way I would normally take photos. And on the one hand, I am not sure that many people would even notice! But on the other hand, I may ultimately prefer my usual style.
