Product Photography: Clothes and Textiles

Photographing textiles, whether a shirt or a handmade quilt, requires careful styling and lighting to accurately show the texture of the fabric and the way it folds and drapes—and to make it look as beautiful as possible.

In this course, commercial photographer Konrad Eek explores the creative and technical decisions involved in photographing textiles. After introducing basics, such as ironing and folding, the course explores a variety of shooting scenarios, including photographing a garment on a slant board or against a wall, a blanket draped on a chair, and a stack of clothing. Konrad demonstrates basic lighting techniques as well as more advanced ones, such as using a cookie (also called a gobo or cuculoris) to cast dramatic shadows. The course concludes with a brief overview of the Adobe Photoshop post-processing often involved in textile photography.