With a camera, use a tripod for the sharpest focus. If you use a tripod, you can also use a slower shutter speed to collect available light coming through the windows. Otherwise, you might have to turn on lights to increase the light, then you'll need to adjust the White Balance on your camera so that the picture doesn't look too yellow or too blue depending on the artificial light source.

IMO, white balance is key to getting true colors.

All these aren't nearly as complicated as they sound. It's a matter of playing with your camera settings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basic explanation of white balance

Thanks! I have a small table-top tripod, I think (in the move things got jettisoned if they weren't used often - and the tripod was rarely used).

Generally, if I want a quick picture, I snag my phone. From reading at the link you provided and doing a little googling, I think I'll have to download a special app on my phone to adjust white balance.

Are there any tips on composition? Here is the photo of the kimono. It looks lost on the wall, but IRL it pretty well fills it.
{{!gwi}}

Should I photograph it from a lower angle? a higher angle? (I just noticed how blurry it is, but for the purposes of this discussion, it'll do.)

Table top tripod is just fine! I think newer phones have white balance adjustment on them, check the menu choices. You might be better off with your point & shoot though. Better lens, most likely, and it zooms for composition, decent flash, might have manual operation so you can play with shutter speed or aperture, probably white balance choice (or custom white balance -- shoot a picture of a white piece of paper in the room, and the camera will figure out exactly the white balance for the room's lighting.)

Composition: if you try for a wide angle to try to get more of the room in the picture, the center will just look more distant and the objects will be lost. Perhaps try a mid range focal point. If you shoot on an angle, standing to the right of the kimono so that it's at the forefront, with a bit of the interesting armoire & room detail towards the back, you'll have the kimono as central focus & room detail as secondary focus. You probably will have to sit on the bed to shoot that angle. Hope this makes sense!

I seriously don't think the kimono looks alone or lost in that photo. It seems to be in perfect proportion to the little table. But It is an unusual work of art, if you will, and art work looks best with proper elbow room. If you are used to rooms 'wallpapered' with floor to ceiling framed work, this arrangement might look lonely, I suppose.

You have a low basket on the floor and that steps down a little dramatically from the desk. Years ago I purchase a blue and white porcelain umbrella stand/vase that stands about 30" tall, it would be the perfect thing sitting on the floor, just to the left of the desk, but any tall Chinese vase might do the trick and be 'company' for the Kimono.

Oh, bbstx, I love the way the kimono looks! The only thing I could suggest would be to maybe pull the chair our a bit (forward in front of the window and angled facing the corner of the bed) and add a Chinese stool or vase as lily suggests. That could make it too busy though, so maybe just pull the chair up.

Whatever you decide, I really do think the kimono looks wonderful.

Pretty room! We can almost see the top of the kimono in the armoire's mirror. After you shoot from the bed, as suggested above, can you try a picture of the mirror from a lower vantage point to reflect your desk and kimono? Might not work, but would be fun to try. It may help if you have a floor lamp in the house to put it behind you for pictures.

I second what awm03 says about using the wider angle photo shots. It WILL distort the view of the room; that's why rooms look so big in photos (and walls so empty) compared to "real life." With digital cameras, a 35mm lens angle setting should give you a "normal" eye's view. Unfortunately, it might not get everything into the pic you are shooting. You can use a wider lens angle (smaller mm number) to get everything into the pic, but will need to play with perspective so that the room looks the way it does IRL.

But, I also don't think your pic looks bad, and I like the look of the kimono owning the space on that wall.

I also love the kimono and how it is displayed. Beautiful room, and great suggestions from fellow GW members.

You have given me a great idea. My mother passed away a couple of years ago. In one of her closets was a Swiss dress that her Swiss born grandfather brought to her when she was a little girl. Growing up, my sister and I were allowed to try on the dress a time or two, but never allowed to play in the dress. It sat untouched for many years.

Now where to hang it? Oh, and I have to locate the dress. Not sure who took it home with them...my sister or my brothers wife. I don't have it.

A tripod and some manual overrides on the exposure will help. Your camera may also have an auto-correct color balance for indoor light which tends to be yellowish.

Here's what's wrong with the picture from a purely technical standpoint: it's under-exposed, the color balance is off, and it's a bit blurry from shake. It's also a bit washed out from the window light, which is also helping to throw off the exposure.

Try the tripod, and also try using your manual override settings if you have them. +1, +2, +3 stops to the exposure will probably yield better results. You can also use your center-weighted meter on the primary subject, if your camera has one.

From a subjective standpoint, I would say your photo is not well-composed. You have the dresser-thing to the left causing a distraction, and the comforter edge on the bed also distracts, not to mention the towel/sheets on the chair.

I did a little mild cleaning up of the photo for you. See what you think.

{{!gwi}}

I consider myself a pretty good amateur photog. I know all about WB and can adjust in Adobe Elements. I have what's called a "bridge" camera. It's between a point and shoot and a dSLR...I can't share of picture of the progress we made in DH's bathroom because the color is SO off :( The vanity that is redder than I wanted shows RED red in the photo, the Magma Gold granite is WAY too yellow (all of the colors are off) and the glass Oceana Cobalt Copper sink looks like brown glass. I've tried no flash, regular flash, slow sync (2nd curtain) flash. On board flash vs a Speedlite. Various WB settings, EC. Nothing works (sigh).

How funny... I was going to suggest cropping the picture in Picasa or some other free photo fixer, and my example came out just like chiefneil's. I cropped & brightened in Paintshop Pro, but there are many other apps that can do this. Picasa is free, so is Paint.net.

The kimono is a stronger focal point, but you still get a sense of the (very pretty) room. What's the wall color? I like it.

monicakm, are you shooting in RAW or jpeg? Did you try custom WB?

jpeg. I've never used RAW but I'll give it a try. I haven't used a custom WB. I was going to but was struck by a dumb stick all of the sudden and couldn't remember how to get to it in the menu! Right now the dark vanity/counter/sink are a stark contrast to the white of the tub and toilet and the ivory/vanilla color of wallpaper backing. Small room, no window. OK, working with custom WB, it's getting better. Maybe I'll be able to post a picture after all. Thanks! :)

HA! Love monicakm's "dumb stick"! I've tripped over it around here from time to time, too.

awm, the wall color is RH Silver Sage. I love it. Very restful and calming.

I haven't been able to read through and digest all of the good advice in the posts yesterday. It was Saturday. Around here Saturday is a serious football day...and night. As a friend said, "I am worn out. I played every down without moving from my sofa."

I'm hoping to get around to testing some of the ideas today. The tripod seems to have been "mislaid."

Before Picnik went kaput, I had gotten fairly good at editing with it. I've never caught on to Paint - the one that came with MS Office. I downloaded the free edition of PhotoScape through cnet. It was great to work with, but it caused all sorts of problems with my computer. I've tried Picasa but I've never even come close to mastering it.

Here is another attempt. I changed the angle both horizontally and vertically. This time, I was sitting in a chair close to the armoire mirror. I used the piece of white paper to try to "trick" the phone camera into correctly balancing the white. It's getting closer!
{{!gwi}}

edited to clean up some really atrocious grammar

This post was edited by bbstx on Sun, Oct 26, 14 at 16:33

monicakm, the thing about shooting RAW files is, you can fine tune the color in Elements or similar post processing software.

I am not good at taking pictures, but I think the kimono looks great!

bbstx, I love that kimono in any light. The walls look more blue on my monitor than silver sage (which I love btw).

awm03, I just never took the time to learn RAW techniques since I was always happy with what I could achieve with my bridge cameras and pping in Elements. I know I should. I think my Canon came with special software for RAW pictures...I think.

Here it is after a little adjustment in Picasa. The color of the background silk is getting closer to its actual color, but I think my walls are getting a yellower undertone. And while it looked perfect in PIcasa, I can see that in the message the pale gold silk is taking on an orangey cast.

I also noticed that pictures posted here are blurrier than they are on my computer either when being loaded from Photobucket or directly from my computer. Wonder what causes that?

newhomebuilder, I hope you find a way to display the dress your great grandfather brought your mother from Switzerland. How special.

I have seen children's clothes displayed hanging from a clothesline with clothespins; or on a hanger with a ribbon bow on the hook of the hanger. I hope you find it and find a wonderful way to display it.

Here are some pictures from Houzz

[Eclectic Kids[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2104)

[Eclectic Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2104) by Gettysburg Media & Bloggers Mustard Seed Interiors

on a pretty hanger on a pretty hook

[Modern Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2105) by Stamford Furniture & Accessories Design Within Reach

[Contemporary Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2103) by Tel Aviv Architects & Building Designers NURIT GEFFEN-BATIM STUDIO

BBSTX, I love the way your room looks and I don't think the kimono looks lonely at all.

BTW, I collect teapots (or used to) so I am so glad I saw your lovely lamp. Did you have it custom made?

h-k, Thank you for the kind words. I bought the teapot lamp as it is. It is from Currey and Company. I did a quick Google search but didn't see that they were making it any more. It is close to 15 years old!

And thank you to the others of you who have also commented kindly on the kimono display. This is the 3rd house I've tried to hang it in, and the first one where it looked right! It needed a wall with a blue-green tint. All of the others have had walls on the yellow end of the spectrum.