Dyeing to capture the color

Tuesday afternoon turned into another dyeing adventure, which in my house looks like this:


That's me, mixing colors on the back deck. Lately I've been turning to Norway for my color inspiration. In this go-round I was thinking of the deeeeeeep blues and greens of the fjords. How when reflecting the sun the water can be a pure sapphire, but in the shadows you see the green of the glacial minerals. At its depth, the water goes all the way to black.

I'm happy with how the dyeing came out, but I'm having a heck of a time photographing it. I tried the white background for minimal distraction, but the whole thing looks a little strange and glowey. The colors are true for the roving, though, and captures the depth of the colors.

I also tried photographing in a more relaxed setting and I like the general feel of the photo but the colors aren't as true (lacking the depth) and the wood grain seems distracting.

Sigh.

I'd love any comments or suggestions anyone has for improving photos for the roving, or even just a comment on which version you prefer.

After I steamed the plastic-wrapped hand-painted packets of these dyes, there was a ton of dye in the steaming water. D'oh! Guess I oversaturated the roving. So I tossed some BFL in there and ended up with this:


Neither the depth nor the variation of the painted versions, but I think it's nice enough to spin and will make a pretty yarn.