SWEEP: Defining, Classifying, and Photographing

nostalgic*collections

nostalgic*collections

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Good Morning Ladies and Gents,

A couple dilemas regarding "Sweep". First of all, are there defined classifications for sweep such as full, wide, big, huge, and mega sweep? There does not seem to be consistency within the terminology and I haven't found a resource that defines or classifies types of sweep.

Secondly, what is the best way to photograph the sweep of a garment? Clear string??

Happy Friday!

Vicki
 
I have photographed full skirts (I think that's what you mean by sweep - hem sweep?) reasonably well by laying flat and pulling them out to show the full sweep, then photographing from directly above. It does make it very clear how big the sweep is, and it's easy to achieve option. Would be glad to hear what others say, for photographing on a mannequin for instance. The pics I've seen do seem to use invisible string, or have a hand pulling it out.

I also list the hem sweep as a measurement too, when it's a feature of the garment.
 
I've safety-pinned a long piece of thread, either dark or light depending on the background, to the hem of the garment and then tape the other end of the thread to the floor or a nearby object, getting the angle right. Usually I manage it so the tiny safety pin doesn't show in the pic, but if it does I Photoshop it out. I do it for garments such as palazzos or drapey dresses for which a full petticoat wouldn't be suitable. And yes, I always include the sweep measurement if there's any fullness to it at all.
 
I give a sweep measurement for all my dresses and skirts, even the narrow ones. Unethical sellers have been known to pin a dress in the back so that it looks like a wiggle when it's really more of an A-line. If the buyer has hip and sweep measurements, she has a realistic idea what to expect.

I used to photograph circle skirts flat on the carpet, but always worried a bit re: buyer's perception of cleanliness. I came up with this, and am happy with it

disneyskirtflata_large.jpg


It's draped over the rod that holds my backdrop, only a true circle will lay flat like that.

For full non-circle skirts, I set the 10 second delay on my camera, run and hold out the edge of one side of the skirt to show the amount of possible "twirl". It's easy to crop out that small corner of the skirt when I edit. I tried all of the tricks with pins, string, etc, but it took me MUCH longer, and half the time, it would slip out of position before I could take the pic.
 
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