[image above taken from colormekatie.blogspot.com]

I stumbled upon Katie Sokoler’s photography after watching this short documentary on her street art and immediately developed a huge crush (watch the video and you will too)!   Katie credits being forced to photograph 100 strangers in 5 hours during a college project with inspiring her art.  The above is an image from her Bubble series, where she sets creative traps and waits for the perfect moment to snap the shutter.  Her blog,  ColorMeKatie, takes you behind the scenes of her projects, her involvement with Improv Everywhere and life with her adorable cat Moo.

Keep reading for more “creative traps” set by Katie!

[all images above taken from colormekatie.blogspot.com]

Keep reading for my other picks…

[Image Above: Steven Meisel/Vogue Italia March 2008]

For this weeks photo we took a step into the world of high fashion, Steven Meisel has photographed the covers of US and Italian Vogue for over 20 years.  This image comes from the series “Reflections of Glamour” featured in the March 2008 issue of Italian Vogue.  If you are not familiar with this artist,  you still may recognize his work. Check it out here.

[Image Above: Bruce Mozert/University Press of Florida]

Bruce Mozert, now 91,  was the pioneer of underwater photography.  In the 1930s he began taking pinup and lifestyle portraits underwater off the coast of Silver Springs, Florida.  His unique vision created some amazing images.  See more here.

[Image Above:  sammrowe's winning submission for the Everything is Illuminated contest] 

I was overwhelmed with the explosive response to the ‘Everything is Illuminated’ contest!  Check out the ModCloth Photo School for all of the inspiring light paintings.  Ultimatley, I had to choose a winner and I chose the image above because of how the light trails were used to simulate the motion of a drum stick – VERY creative.  Sammrowe has earned a Red Holga Starter Kit and a set of Snapshot Coasters!

The winner will receive a Holga Starter kit, a set of Snapshot Coasters, and their picture will be featured on the blog as our Photo of the Week!

Keep reading for details

[Image Above:  Sample of light painting from this Flickr pool]

Light Painting is the result of waving a small light source in front of your camera while it is set to a slow shutter speed in darkness.  Follow these steps to get started:

Tools

• A camera that  allows you to adjust the  shutter speed.  Any dslr will work.  If you have a Point and Shoot, check your manual to see if you can manually adjust your shutter speed or if you have a “night scene” program mode.
• A tripod or flat sturdy surface to set your camera on.
• A small handheld light source: flash light, cell phone, laser pointer, or any moveable small light source.

Technique:

• With a Point and Shoot Camera: This video gives a great tutorial on how to set up a point-and-shoot camera for light painting. You will get best results with your shutter open as long as possible; 15 seconds is a good starting point.  If your camera has a “night scene” mode, set it to that as a test to see how long the exposure is.  If your camera allows you to manually set your shutter speed, go ahead and set it as slow as it will go. Play around with the fstop until you get the desired effect you are looking for (I used f13) and keep the ISO low (100).

• With a SLR or dSLR: This video has a great tutorial on how to set up your slr camera for light painting. Make sure your camera is in manual mode and set your shutter speed to 15 seconds or more,  ISO to 100 (or as low as it will go) and adjust the fstop as needed (I started with f13).  Use this as a starting point, but you may need to make adjustments based on the amount of time you wish to ‘paint.’  You can also put your camera into bulb mode – which will allow you to keep the shutter open as long as you hold the button down.

[Image above: more samples from this flickr group]

Time to Paint Now you are ready to paint!  Find a dark area.  This can be a room indoors with the lights off and no window light, or you can go outside at night.  Set your camera up on a tripod or flat surface and ‘frame’ your photo.  Now you can have a friend snap the shutter or set the self timer.  When you hear the shutter click, start moving your light source around the frame, but be sure that it is aimed toward the lens.  The slower you move, the brighter the lines will show up.  Using this method you can create graphics within your photo.  If you are writing text, remember to write backwards!  When you hear the shutter click again, your photo is done.  Check out your image and make any necessary adjustments. Another technique is to selectively light up areas within the photo.  You will need to have an object or person in the frame that can stand very still.  When you take the photo, turn the light towards the object (not the lens) and light up areas you want to show up in the photo.

[Image above: Pablo Picasso drawing in the air with a flashlight coutesy of LIFE images]

Tips

• Watch the videos I posted above, under the technique section.  This will give you an overall understanding of how to set up your camera.
• Find colored light sources.   We downloaded a simple application on Vasil’s iPhone called flashlight that allowed us to change the color of the LCD screen, but you can also try putting colored cellophane over your light source or use colored laser pointers.
• Read your camera’s manual if you aren’t sure how to set the shutter speed.
• Check out the the discussion over on the ModCloth Photo School flickr page for more tips or to ask any questions you may have.

Enter the Contest

[Winner receives a Holga Starter kit and a set of Snapshot Coaters]

1. Join the ModCloth Photo School flickr group.
2. Read the instructions above and submit your photos to the group.
3. Submissions will be accepted until Sunday, March 1st at midnight (Eastern Standard Time).
4. Winner will be announced Tuesday in the Photo of the Week blog post.

[Image Above: Cooper the Cat and his artwork]

Cooper is one heck of a photographer. Although he isn’t the first cat to take photos like these, I would argue that that he is the most talented. Cooper’s parents attach a lightweight digital camera to his collar that is set to snap photos every 2 minutes. This past weekend was Cooper’s first gallery opening in Seattle to benefit Paws Cat City Adoption Center, and the show is running until March 10th at the Urban Light Studios. Check out his blog and his Flickr page for more photos.

Think your kitty has artist potential? You can purchase a camera similar to Cooper’s here on Amazon!

[Image above: From Francois Bunelle's "I AM NOT A LOOK-ALIKE!" collection courtesy of doobybrain.com]

Photographer Francois Brunelle from Canada has an ongoing project titled “I AM NOT A LOOK-ALIKE,” where he photographs people from across North America and Europe with their Dopplegänger.  Some know their look-alike, others he has paired together but he promises that none are related.

Do you have a dopplegänger? You can fill out this form to participate in the project.  Francios’s goal is to photograph 200 pairs of people.

[Originally posted by Jenna O. at Lookbook.nu]

We are all excited to start sharing our outfit photos on the ModCloth Style Exchange.

Keep reading for tips to keep your photos looking sharp.

Camera

We here at the Blog have been using a Canon Powershot for our daily outfit photos, however most digital point-and-shoots or dSLRs will do the trick. Make sure to have your manual handy because you will need to know how to change a few settings (turning off your flash, setting the white balance and self-timer).

Lighting

[Originally posted by Brook at lookbook.nu this is a great example of soft natural light from a window]

Please Please Please turn off your on-camera flash; this type of lighting is flat, unflattering, and washes out the color and detail of your fabrics. By turning it off, you also avoid bright distracting spots on the wall behind you and that annoying glare when you take your photo through a mirror. Instead, find a well-lit room; the best results are going to come from natural light, but it is possible to get decent results with artificial lights– just be sure to change your white balance appropriately. Some great places for natural light are near large windows or screen doors; you can even open up your garage door and take a photo right inside. The goal is to find soft, even, natural light (think of the lighting on an overcast day), not bright harsh light.  Pay attention to the light coming into your rooms at different times during the day. I find that in the early morning, the light in my kitchen is perfect, but by noon it is too bright and contrast-y.

Self Timer/Tripod

To avoid blurry photos when taking a picture using natural light indoors, you will probably have to use some sort of tripod (there are some inexpensive mini tripods available on eBay for under $10), but you don’t have to purchase anything.  Pile up a bunch of books, or stack some boxes and place your camera vertically on top of them at about waist-height. Unless you have a remote to operate your camera from afar, just set your self-timer.

Backdrop

After you have all of the technical stuff down, start to think about where you want to take your photos. If you have found an area where the light is fantastic, but the background is blah, think of creative ways to improve on it. To start, you may want to stand in front of an open front door, where the light coming in from outside is perfect and the door will be a simple non-distracting backdrop. If you are going to try the garage door method, you may have to be a little more creative. At least move some boxes and shovels out of the frame. Be creative here; think of it as branding yourself.

Posing

[Originally posted by Nano W. at getnanoismed]

Posing can be intimidating for anyone posting their photo online. Follow these steps for better results:

· Listen to music.This will help  you relax and not take yourself too seriously.
· Don’t look at the camera. I tend to not look directly at the lens when taking my own outfit photos, because I always end up making some type of goofy “camera” face when I do. By not looking at the lens, you can concentrate on your overall look and not worry about your facial expression.
· Place a mirror behind the camera. You can see if you need to change something before the shutter snaps.
· Keep on snapping. Even if you are too shy to post your images online, keep taking them for yourself – 20 years from now you will be ecstatic to have these images in your personal time capsule. If you do end up posting your images online, you will find the comments that you start getting to be super-motivating.

Outdoor Photos

[Image above: Tai W. ducked under the cover of a porch for his outfit photo, originally posted at lookbook.nu]

If you are lucky enough to live somewhere the weather is above freezing, go outside. Look for areas where the light is soft and even; overcast days are perfect, but if the sun is out, you can wait for it to go behind a cloud or find an area of open shade. When a sunny day is your only option, go out in the early morning or in the evening, when the light is coming from the side and not directly over you. (This will help you avoid deep shadows under your eyes.) You can even duck under the cover of a porch, forcing the sunlight to hit you from the side.

[Image above:Shin K perfectly hides from the bright sunlight by stepping into the shade, originally posted at lookbook.nu]

If you aren’t a Photoshop pro, you can bump up your exposures, adjust colors, retouch, resize and upload your images directly to Flickr and Facebook using Picnik, a free online program that works within your browser. We can’t wait to see you at the ModCloth Style Exchange!

It seems like EVERYONE here at ModCloth  has a new camera from the holidays, and being the resident photo geek, I have been getting asked all sorts of questions about the new gadgets.  I thought it would be helpful to answer some of the questions here on the blog. Feel free to send your own questions to danielle@modcloth.com or leave them in the comments below.  Everything is fair game, from operating your camera to lighting.  Because let’s be honest, what good is having the brand new Canon Rebel (Emily) if we don’t know how to take it out of auto mode?

Now onto the first batch of questions and your assignment…

What the heck is a dSLR?  What is the difference between that and a point-and-shoot?

The simplest answer I can give is that dSLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex)  tend to have detachable lenses, give you a lot more control over your settings, and are significantly bulkier than a point-and-shoot camera.  Point-and-Shoot cameras are made to be more compact and consumer-friendly; anyone should be able to pick one up and take a decent snapshot without knowing anything about fstops, shutter speeds or lighting – you simply point and-shoot.  The actual term SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex and has to do with the mechanics behind getting what you see in the viewfinder to appear identical to what you photograph.

I remember the term ISO from when I used film, how does it apply to my digital camera?

When using film, the ISO rating refers to the film speed and typically ranges from 50-3200.  The lower the ISO rating (approx. 50-400), the better the quality of the final photo. Higher ISO ratings (800-3200) result in grainier images with less detail. However, higher ISO ratings enable you to take images with less light, avoiding blurry or underexposed pictures.  Super-low ISOs can typically only be taken outside on sunny days or by using a flash. With digital photography, although the mechanics between film and your digital chips have changed, the idea is the same. So if you are finding that your photos are turning out a bit blurry or dark, ONE way to fix it is by cranking up the ISO (as long as you don’t mind a little grain).

This weeks assignment is going to be about experimenting with higher ISOs. Many point-and shoots give you the option of turning up your ISO (even if they don’t allow you to specifically turn it to a number, it should have a high ISO option).  Crank it up as high as it will let you, turn your flash OFF, and start playing around. Take some photos outside, some indoors where there is lots of natural light, some in a room where there is little light, and also photograph both moving and still objects.  Grain is often an effect that many photographers like to artistically incorporate in black and white images, so convert all your images to black and white and load them up to the ModCloth Photo School flickr pool!

(Image above:  This image shows the difference between  ISOs starting from 400 – the lighting, fstop and shutter speed remained the same)