3 projects from Saturate/Desaturate

I've been on a work bender since late summer, photographing a ton of projects that I am crazy about. Like, I'm busting to show and tell.  Most of them won't surface for months or even a year...but happily Saturate/Desaturate , a collection and ebook from Kirsten Kapur/Through the Loops was released a couple of weeks ago.

It's probably not news that I love collaborating with Kirsten, considering that I shot her Shawl Book One and we co-authored Drop Dead Easy Knits with Mary Lou Egan. Among other adventures.

This book is extra special to me. The concept came up when we were on a long drive and I was saying how her designs are so strong that she could show them in both her signature color combos AND as natural, neutral solids that let the textures and geometry shine, showing each piece two ways. A while went by (we come up with a lot of schemes that never reach action). Then she told me she'd partnered with Malabrigo Yarn and the idea became real! Next we had to figure out a way to photograph the collection.

Naturally we came up with fantastic visual solutions that far outstripped the budget. Like going to a wonderful location where there were houses painted all kinds of colors and shooting in front of them, or shooting by street murals all over NYC , standing somewhere different for each set up. Logistically a budget buster for all the extra model and shooting  time needed to travel all over.

In the end, I decided that each project was plenty strong on its own.  No need to get crazy with the backgrounds! We'd show Saturated (in multi colors) against a plain white studio wall, and then the Desaturated (monochrome neutral or natural color version) would be photographed against a multi colored backdrop of fabric and styled with more neutral / naturals.

There are five patterns in the collection--I left off a bulky hat that I love, and a gorgeous wrap that looks crocheted but is infact some beautiful knitting stitch. You can purchase them singly if you are able to make those kind of choices ;-)  Go look!