It's time for the next installment of How to Photograph Your Knitting! Last month, I talked all about how to find the right lighting for your photographs. This go round, we're going to talk about color.
Back in the day when I sold handmade knitwear, I had to do a lot of knitting photography for my product photos. I was usually the model (not much has changed there), and there were three color rules that I generally stuck to when choosing what to wear along with the knitted item I was showcasing. Ready for some throwback photos?
1. Coordinate With Neutrals.
Let the your knitting be the star of the show and use neutrals to make everything else fade into the background. This works particularly well with brightly colored knits.
Check out these BLUE Meherrin Mittens! They pop because I've just got gray and white in the background.
Neutral on neutral works too! Just make sure there's some contrast between the two. For instance, I wouldn't want to wear a gray scarf with this shirt.
2. Use Complementary Colors
A pair of complementary colors is any two colors directly across from each other on the (a chart used to organize the colors and their relationships).
So, for instance, green/red are complementary colors.
When used together, complementary colors make each other pop and seem brighter. They’re like the perfect couple if colors dated and had feelings.
Consequently, when you pair a piece you’ve made with its complement somewhere else in the photo, your work will pop and pull the viewer in.
Here, I’ve paired a blue-violet dress with a yellow-orange mitten. Scroll up and check the color wheel… complementary colors, right? Hopefully, your eye is drawn immediately to the mitten, set off by the blue-violet background.
3. Use Analogous Colors
Analogous colors are two to three colors in a row on the color wheel. Red-violet, violet, and blue-violet, for instance. An analogous color scheme lacks the pop and contrast of a complementary color pair, but because all of the colors in an analogous scheme are similar, it conveys a more rich, harmonious feeling.
So, I’ve got a blue-green honeycomb cowl and paired it with a dark blue shirt. Blue-green and blue are analogous colors, and I’ve just gone with a darker version of blue.
Here, I’ve got a dark green mitten on a yellow-green sweater AND there’s green detailing on the mitten. Yellow-green and green — analogous? Yup.
I hope with your next FO photo shoot you have the opportunity to think about the other colors in your photo and get some amazing results!