Monthly Archives: April 2011

Outfit photography: Lots of Light

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By weekday I am a full-time business management student, by weekend I am a photographer that shoots figure skating and the occasional self-outfit photo. Sports photography (especially indoor sports) requires super fast lenses that are ridiculously expensive (but worthwhile for the work I want to do). Outfit photos, I’ve learned, do not need anything fancy. I’m serious!

The day my Canon Rebel T2i broke down (I’m sending it to repairs), I took a very close look at all the lenses I had. I purchased a lot of third-party lenses by Sigma (with a Canon mount) to avoid having to pay triple the price for a Canon lens. The end result was a lot of lenses (I was up to 5, a lot for an amateur photographer) and none of them were really up to my satisfaction. Some had trouble focusing in low-light settings, some were just plain too heavy for the little they did…. I sucked it up over the weekend and decided to trade in all my Sigma lenses. I barely used them for those reasons.

These photos were taken with the Canon 18-55mm kit lens that came with the Rebel XT and taken with the Rebel XT body.

These shots were taken in a very dark room on a cloudy day.

What I Did:

  • Opened the curtains allllll the way so I could let in as much light as possible
  • Slowed down the shutter speed
  • Bumped up the ISO to 1600
  • Stood really still

That’s it really takes to expose a photo correctly with very little available light!

Not to mention, the 18-55mm kit lens is SO light in comparison to my other lenses for sports photography (the one I mainly use for figure skating weighs about 5 lbs. and I use it for 3-5 hours at a time — it’s literally like weight lifting!).

Anyway, the lesson here is that you don’t need anything expensive to produce good photographs of outfits.

All you really need is:

LOTS OF LIGHT!

What I wore:

Cardigan: Urban Outfitters
Blouse: Sears
Shorts: High school uniform pants turned into shorts
Shoes: Korean brand (eBay)

Aren’t you suite!

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I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.. One of my and Davis’ favourite pastimes is watching the Disney Channel together.  I know, so romantic, right? Seriously, who doesn’t love corny humour, unnecessary havoc and uncomplicated “issues” that resolve within a half hour? Life should be such!  Now that the cat is out of the bag with regard to my choice of dates, I might as well tell you that while most of the fashion blogosphere enjoy Gossip Girl, I have a soft spot for The Suite Life on Deck.

From Sharetv.org

The character of London Tipton, played by Brenda Song, inspires me to be adventurous with fashion. She can get quite costumey (borderline disco ball) on the show, but her confidence allows her to execute each outfit with so much pizzazz. Every episode is an expressive and interesting look!  I fully identify with the philosophy that fashion should be fun.  Do you agree?

I am wearing..

Silk scarf: Vintage
Silk top: Club Monaco
Skirt: Mom’s closet

snap CRACKLE pop

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I find myself frantically trying to wear all my velvet items as often as humanly possible before it gets warm again.  Oh yes, you remember correctly, I was also the wuss who complained about the cold weather just a few weeks ago.  I can’t seem to make up my mind about many things in life, including the following:

I picked up this bottle of China Glaze Crackle (Cracked Concrete) a couple of months ago when the collection first launched.  These work the same way as OPI’s Black Shatter if you are more familiar with that product.  The nail polish, once applied, will automatically “crack”, revealing the base colour you wear underneath.  To be honest, I only purchased it for novelty reasons.  I actually didn’t like most of the pictures I saw online.

So I tried it for the first time last night on top of OPI’s Birthday Babe (an aluminum-like silver), and I was pleasantly surprised.  I don’t hate it!  I am not completely convinced that I will use it a second time, but at least I haven’t removed it yet.

 

I am wearing..

Top: H&M
Necklace: Forever 21
Skirt: Hong Kong
Belt: BCBG