A brief excursion somewhere pretty
Published On: April 14, 2022

For reasons that elude me, some of you like to see what taking photos for patterns looks like. So since this was Fancy Schmancy Rolly Cart’s first trip to this beach, I thought I’d bring you along!

I’ve been doing this for a while, and I tend to bring a fair amount of kit with me, especially when I head to this beach. It’s an hour away, so if I forget something, I either do without it or come back another day.

The list starts with the knits, then the props to display them (today that’s two hats, two pairs of mitts, a head form, and three hand forms). There’s a tiny rescue kit (darning needle, crochet hook/dpn tool, safety pins, scissors) in case anything needs a field repair. And of course my camera and attendant bits (spare battery & memory card, white balance card, reflector, phone tripod for videos).

You’d think that would be enough, but I also want a folding stool (most of my pictures are taken from knee level, bending over for hours kills my back, sitting down is easier), snacks/water/sunscreen, and the normal pocket stuff like wallet/keys/phone/mask.

All of that tends to be a lot to carry, so I recently obtained a Fancy Rolly Cart. It’s like a milk crate and a carry on suitcase had a baby. I love it. I bungee my stool to the handle (today I had an umbrella too because it was drizzly and I needed a way to keep the camera and knits out of the rain if it came on suddenly) and stomp my way down the beach, ignoring the puzzled looks of passers by.

I set up camp, take photos for a few hours (hence the snacks), pack up, head home, clean up, put things away, and get the photos off the camera and backed up. Then I usually shower and collapse, because I’m filthy and tired after all that (for these photos, I left my house around 9 and got back around 3).

And don’t get me wrong, I love it! It’s one of my favorite parts of the job. And I’m not going to complain about hanging out on a beach all day.

But wow did I not realize how much was involved in doing this until I started doing it myself.

And wow do I think about it every single time someone gets shitty about how patterns don’t take any work to make and so should be free. Because while this is fun, it’s also for sure work. And it’s ok to say so!

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