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.

[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)

Composition

Today’s lesson and assignment is going to cover composition. Don’t panic, no discussion of the rule of thirds or leading lines. Composition can be a touchy subject; some swear by it and others find it constrictive. This week’s lesson isn’t about “teaching” you composition; it’s about revealing what you personally find compositionally-pleasing (which is WAY more fun).  Soon, you will have your own set of “rules” to do whatever you want with!

I came across this assignment at Petteri’s Pontifications and thought it was perfect for this week!

Grab the most basic camera you own (doesn’t have to be digital, but if you want to share your images with the group, I would recommend it). If you have a point and shoot, PERFECT! If you have an slr, put on your most basic lens (35-50mm is ideal) and set it to auto.  For all you photo geeks out there that insist on controlling things, try to keep it to the ISO and white balance.

Now go for a walk. You can walk to work, the bus stop, the park, store, walk around the mall, school, campus, etc. No time for a walk? Just keep your camera on you throughout the day.  Start taking photos; the key here is not to “look for photos.” Just take images of things that catch your eye. Petteri calls these “grab shots.”  Forget about all things you think you know about composition. Heck, don’t even worry about focus. Basically, you are going to snap a super-quick photo of  anything that catches your eye and move on.  I’d say take a minimum of 40-50 photos (but there is no limit – the more the better).

The next step is to look through your images and find five that you like the most and five that you think are total crap (excluding ones that are super technically flawed). Don’t be shy here; load them up to our ModCloth Photo School Flickr page and start to discuss the elements that you think made some images more successful than others.  What were others lacking that made them fail?  Soon you will start to recognize repeating trends in your photography that keep things interesting, and before you know it, you will have your own set of  ”composition rules.”

Still daydreaming about the rule of thirds or figure ground juxtaposition??  You can begin your journey into the  world of rules here.

Lesson One: Inspiration!

For the very first lesson, we are going to be talking about inspiration. What is it that you would really like to take better photos of? A new puppy? Daily outfit photos? Your adorable niece or nephew? Are you a crafter interested in cataloguing or selling your creations? Do you want to take a photo-a-day of yourself for a year?  Pick something that excites you. Got it? Okay. This is going to be the subject you use to apply the techniques I will be presenting in future posts.

Homework assignments:

Start an inspiration journal

First, we are going to start an inspiration journal by taking an evening to go through our old magazines, as well as scouring the internet, books, etc. Then we’ll print or rip out the images that inspire us and put them into our journal (Don’t want to destroy a book or magazine? Just take a picture of it and print it out). The things we put in our journals do not have to be photography-based: they can be outfits, stylings, an actor, a color – anything. This way we are starting to keep a visual reference of the things we like without having to sift through the stuff we don’t. Oh and don’t stop….keep adding to your journal whenever you see something you love.

Join an online Group.

There are flickr groups out there for EVERYTHING.  Find one that fits your subject, join it, and start uploading some images to it. This is a great way to receive constructive feedback on your images and keeps you motivated to continue shooting.

Check out: Wardrobe Remix, Blythe Blythe Blythe, Craft, and The 2009 1/365 Photo a Day Shoot Out

Join The ModCloth Photo School Flickr group.

Start uploading images of your inspiration journals and your inspirations. We will use this group for future assignments and contests! Feel free to upload any photos you wish!

P.S. Don’t forget to follow the ModLife Blog on Bloglovin.  It lets you know when your favorite blogs (including this one, of course) update with new posts!

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