What to do with 5 lime green fundoshi?

The lime green fabric I purchased was quite wide and I was able to cut 5 fundoshi from it. The lavender gauze and dark green cheesecloth gave me 4 each.

What to do, what to do.......

I could give the extra away. I could figure out some other use for the material. I could try to make each one unique.

Let’s make each one unique. This follows my desire to have a more ‘hand made’ approach to objects around me. Equipped with some research, brushes, bleach and other chemicals, I tried my hand at discharge dyeing techniques. You can think of this as tie-dye in reverse. Instead of adding color to the material, you are subtracting it. 

original

enhanced

While I was working away in a well ventillated atmosphere, I had a couple of ideas based on posts at Fundoshi4All - Adult. Ryan did a rather lovely photo-essay of a white fundoshi against bedsheets. You can find it here: Fundoshi Poem   Often, he also posts ‘Fundoshi in Art’ blogs. Putting the 2 together served as inspiration for a series I shot of my fundoshi against my new black backdrop. I tried to push the color and contrast where I could. 

fundoshi as art

For the next few blogs, I will alternate between the 3 different colors I have to show the different effects I got from the discharge dyeing.

Fundoshi....

Lime green, one original and the other freshly designed.

Fabric.... 

Crinkle gauze - again. My shipment from fabric.com just arrived, so there will be lots more colors and fabrics to go through in the near future. 

Photography....

Like the last shoot, I was going for a higher than normal contrast between the lights and the dark backdrop. It actually makes the green a little more neon than in reality....but I’m not a photo-journalist, so artistic license is okay! 

And now...the rest of the photos....

Lavender Fundoshi: Part the Second....

Here is part 2 of the photo shoot after obtaining my new backdrops and lighting rigs. 

I really like the softness of the light on my ‘backside’ opposed to the detail on the bottom of my feet. I think this provides a nice contrast.

Fundoshi....

This one is 14 inches wide and tied in a more relaxed manner.

Fabric.... 

Lavender crinkle gauze. You can see the ‘crinkle’ in some of the close-up shots.

Photography....

For most of this set, the camera is on a tripod about 12 - 15 inches off the floor. 

And now...the rest of the photos....

My music room turns into a photography studio for fundoshi....

Sorry....had to get ‘fundoshi’ into the title for search engines.......

Well....lots has happened. I received the lighting kit and set it all up. At some point, I will need to do some reading on the ‘proper’ way to set this up, but for now, I will do some trial and error shoots and see what I come up with.

The set I purchased comes with a rig for the background drops, 3 backgrounds (black, white and chromakey green....I guess you can see that) and 3 lights, 2 with umbrellas. 

For the first shoot, I chose the black background, as I felt that would be the most forgiving. I am wearing a lavender fundoshi made from the crinkle gauze I showed in the last blog. 

For taking pictures of oneself, I think it is a must to have a steady camera. If your camera has the means to attach a tripod, pick one up. It will pay for itself in decreased aggravation. The timer on my camera has a few settings, so look in your manual for these as well. I generally use a setting that has an initial delay of 10 seconds, then takes 3 pictures, each at 2 second intervals. The 10 second initial delay gives me time to ‘pose’. The 2 seconds between each shot gives me a little time to ‘adjust’. Since I’m not really seeing what I am shooting, this time to make small adjustments is handy. It’s amazing how different a small twist or inches make with the lighting. 

Fundoshi....

This one is 14 inches wide and I tied it a little looser than the lime green from last time. It has a more relaxed feel to the twisting.

Fabric.... 

Lavender crinkle gauze....not much to say except it is nice and soft and I like the color against the black backdrop.

Photography....

No flash. Just a combination of the new lights and the lamps I’ve been using. 

Part one of the shoot is after the 'read more'. I’ll post part two in a couple of days.

The lime green fundoshi is here......

I have my newly laundered material ready for tearing. Just as I showed in my last blog, I made a starter cut into the fabric and created a 14 inch strip of the lime green crinkle gauze.  I purchased 3 yards, so that should do the trick. After being laundered the material is a little softer than it was in the store. It will continue to get softer as it is laundered more.  

Here are the 3 fabrics I purchased....

lavender and green crinkle gauze and dark green cheesecloth - notice how thin the cheesecloth is...

For this shoot, I decided to focus on the fundoshi, and tried my hand at some close-ups. As I was working, I noticed a shadow being projected against the closet doors, and started to play with that. When my white backdrop arrives, I’ll have to do more experimenting with projected shadows.

Fundoshi....

Lime green has arrived. I experimented a little with the knot in the back and came up with a rather complicated structure. I like it aesthetically, but getting out of it to go to the bathroom was a bit of a chore. For daily use, I will stick with a simpler knot.

Fabric.... 

Still waiting on my online order. This week is a ‘crinkle gauze’ which has a little more body than a standard gauze. It is slightly thicker, though I’m not taking calipers out to measure!

Photography....

I was trying to concentrate of some close-ups, then got side-tracked with cast shadows.

After the break, the photos......

Getting Tired of Waiting - Time to Take Control

Well, nothing has arrived - no fabric, no new lights or backdrops to get further into my studio photography. It is now time to take matters into my own resourceful hands.

Here is the l.e.d lamp I mentioned last time. I have another with 3 llights. For this shoot, I will use the 2 lamps to see what kind of effects I can get.

I have been fascinated for some unknown reason with the colors orange and lime green for about a year now. My order from Fabric.com has a batch of orange Island Breeze gauze, but they were out of stock of a good lime green. I girded my muslin fundoshi, threw on a pair of jeans and went out on a fabric search.

(the hiding fundoshi kept silent
while I was fabric shopping)

Guys...if you’ve never gone shopping in a fabric store, don’t let it intimidate you. There are some definite perks to doing this yourself and not sending in one of your female friends as an accomplice. You get great service from the ladies of the shop. They just love it when a man is taking an interest in fabric. Flirt to your heart’s content.....I’ve even gotten discounts from being extra friendly and a little needy! 

Fundoshi....

Upon returning home from my fabric store trip, I decided to do one last shoot with the muslin from my old duvet cover. This shoot is based on comments at fundoshi4all - adults regarding the look of jeans and fundoshi.

Fabric.... 

I threw my newly acquired fabric in the wash - always do this before cutting the material.  I can’t wait for it to be washed and dried, then ready to make more fundoshi.

Photography....

Equipped with the l.e.d. lights from the last shoot, I try to make my spare room and closet doors seem more like a studio. 

After the break - photos from this shoot interspersed with some hints when buying fabric.

Making the First Fundoshi

As mentioned, my first fundoshi was fashioned from an old duvet cover. It is a rather thick muslin weave....thicker than you would normally find in a muslin. The rope-like twist was a little more bulky than I wanted. This led to 2 things....online fabric shopping and experimenting with width.

Based on endorsements on fundoshiphile - all ages and fundoshi4all - adult, I took a virtual trip to fabric.com for some Island Breeze gauze. I made an order of a few different colors (lime green NOT being in stock...I was bummed), and started to play with my muslin.

Here is a close-up of the material I was dealing with.....

I started out with a 16 inch width....way too thick.  I started to cut it down a bit. For those that aren't in the 'fabric know', this is very easy to do with most basic materials (muslin, gauze, voile, lawn, etc.)....all you need is a pair of scissors and your hands! More after the break......

Fundoshi...
Still on my first attempt - trying to get the width to my liking.

Fabric...
A quick tutorial in cutting and tearing.

Photography...
My new lighting supplies have not arrived yet, so I tried my hand at using low flash, found light and some lamps I had in the house. Fancy equipment is not always needed!

The beginning.....

Welcome to my first blog. About 3 weeks ago, I became interested in 2 things at once.....fundoshi and studio photography. I have always been interested in fabric...maybe more on that later.

If you don't know, a fundoshi is a garment originating in Japan. It can be used as an undergarment, or is appropriate (in Japan) in public. You will see them at times of ceremony, at the beach and even in some bars. After trying to wear one, I found the function and feel appeals to me. If you want to learn more, Ryan Rokushaku has set up the following sites that will teach you history, show you how to tie one and give you many photographic examples: fundoshiphile - all audiences or fundoshi4all - adults only. These are the sites that got me started.

Before you get in too deep, a note regarding the 'adult only' aspect of this blog. For now, if there are people in my photos, they will be of myself. I don't have a cadre of models at my disposal. Due to the nature of a fundoshi, you may glimpse a peek of my privates. Let's face it, this is a 'skimpy' garment, so it lends itself to other non-PG types of posing.......we'll see where my comfort level takes me......

I will explore the fundoshi from a fabric and fabric design perspective. In the coming blogs, I will give information on fabric choice, styles, manipulation, and anything else I happen to discover. At the same time, I am teaching myself studio photography, and hopefully, you will see my work improve as the blogs continue.

Fundoshi....
My first fundoshi came about after visiting the sites above. I was actually researching the malo of Hawaii, and became entranced with the fundoshi. The malo worn during battles in ancient Hawaii are very similar to the fundoshi, which is how I jumped across the pacific ocean.

Fabric...
I had an old duvet cover that had enough material to fashion a few fundoshi. You need about 3 yards of continuous material. Again, I urge you to go to the sites above for more information. The fabric was a little too thick, but it worked. I made fundoshi in a few different widths to decide what my preference is. That may be a topic for a different post....gotta space out the blogs......

Photography...
These photos have absolutely no studio feel and/or lighting. They are what got me interested in exploring those aspects of photography. I have been primarily a nature photographer, so am used to natural, outdoor lighting. From an aesthetic perspective, I enjoy high contrast as well as severe close-up (macro) photography. A couple day's after shooting this series, I purchased some lights and backdrops, so I didn't have to use 'found' objects any longer. My closet doors will also be disappearing from view in upcoming blogs. For now, we are bare-bones....my first fundoshi, fabric and photography.....

more from my first shoot...