How To Photograph Your Quilt

I was so excited to finish my first quilt (made with cheater fabric). I took it outside, tossed it over the fence and took some photos. The photos were fine, but something was "missing". The photo above was supposed to be my "finish" photo which was supposed to show the entire quilt, the colors and size of the quilt...this just didn't communicate all I wanted to convey and I didn't know what was wrong.

I decided to do a little research on "how to photograph a quilt". I picked up some good info online. Here's what I gleaned that helped for the second shoot:
-direct sun distorts the photo with bleached colors and shadows, take photos on an overcast day or in an area with indirect light
-take the photo head on, not to the side or too high or too low
-find a way to hang the quilt flat, showing the entire piece (without your children's or husband's fingers and feet in the photo-ha!)

So I was thinking how to hang my quilt. I decided that I had a nice weathered fence that would make a nice background. Gray goes with everything! Either that or I could use the siding on the house (soft yellow). I finally decided on push pins and binder clips because they were so easy...it worked!

I hung the quilt on the clips and set up the tripod. After taking several photos, I used PicMonkey to adjust the overall light quality (using their auto adjust) and did some cropping. Here's what I got:

WOW! So much better! This is what I was looking for! I love how the background fence disappears and doesn't compete with the quilt. I love that the push pins and binder clips can be used again, I put them in a special spot for next time.

Helpful links on photographing quilts:
http://shecanquilt.blogspot.com/2013/04/photo-tips-for-quilt-photographers-2013.html
http://www.hollyknott.com/stq/
http://www.quiltmaker.com/articles/photo_tips_for_your_quilts_
http://www.suedennis.com/Quilt%20Photography%20Images/Digital%20Quilt%20Photo%20Story.pdf