Improving On The Truth

As I have been working on the knitting book I realize that what I really love the most --- more than knitting or writing or nearly anything --- is working with images. Designing. Pulling various element together to create something new. It is my favorite part of working on anything from designing web sites to shawls to books to a salad. So yesterday I spent a good part of the afternoon indulging in some whimsy. As I have been photographing the garments for this book I've tried to pick interesting settings. I photographed Jane in her front yard overlooking Ten Pound Island with the Thomas E. Lannon sailing by. I photographed Connie on her back deck which overlooks Thacher Island with its twin lighthouses and for Clare we went out to the Bishop's Palace. All of those made perfect settings for the shawls but, never content to let good be good enough, yesterday I started thinking "what if..."

Photoshop is a splendid invention. I use it everyday for my web design work and also for my own projects. So yesterday I decided to add a little extra spice to the photographs for the knitting book. When Clare and I were out shooting I really wanted to get a picture of her with the stone towers of the Bishop's Palace in the background but, since it is privately owned, I had to settle for the iron gate and the stone arch by the lake which are accessible. So I got to thinking what would Lady Clare look like in a proper setting with her castle in the background and this is the result:

The picture of the castle was taken by our good friend Jay Albert and I hope he will forgive me for borrowing his photo but doesn't she look perfect in this setting?

So, with that in mind I decided to try putting Jane out on Thacher Island. I had a photo of the North Tower I took a few years ago when I was out there and, well, what do you think?

She fits right in with the gulls, doesn't she? So next I decided to put Connie in a wintery setting with waves behind her. I loved this photo of her because she looks like she is trying to stay warm and the light was coming from the right direction, too. So:

I decided to try one more with Jane, this time using a photograph I took of Good Harbor Beach with the Thacher Island Lighthouses in the background:
Pretty interesting, huh?

Well, I'm not sure it makes any difference to the book itself but it sure was fun to do. More of the photos are here.

Okay, back to writing...........

Thanks for reading.