How To Improve Your OOTD Photos : Part 1

Most of my girlfriends (even the opposite sex, sometimes) love to take their outfit of the day photos. Often I am asked how to take this kind of photo and creates beautiful OOTD pictures. Now, I am by no mean an expert but I do have some tricks under my slevee.

Let's talk about the tool first. I do own a DSLR camera but most of my friends (and probably you) don't. Worry not, you can take those high quality photos which is sharp and clear with no noise (those grain in your photos) with your phone. If you own a DSLR camera or a snap and shot that is over than $200 (honestly, under that price, I'd go with Iphone 5) obviously, you should use them. However, a DSLR can be bulky while your phone is more practical and less obstrusive. 

For a phone camera, bigger megapixels does help but it's not a crucial factor. Megapixels only affect how big you can print your picture. I think anything above 3 megapixels (there IS a calculation for this, you don't need to know, we'll do it for you) is enough for a simple OOTD shoot that you only share on your social medias. For your information, all of this photos are taken with my IPhone 5 with an 8 megapixels on the main camera. And I will mostly adress tips to take photos with camera phone :)

Shooting outdoors is the only way to get crisp clear images. The sensor on most camera phones are small therefore, it needs light to help compensate that flaw. (Sensor helps store more details in one pixel hence why a DSLR camera, which has bigger sensor—except Iphone 5s which can be comparable with a point and shoot sensor---than most camera phones produces brighter sharper image). However, shooting in direct sunlight is not recommended because it creates all kind of shadows. You would want a cloudy day or a shady area with your face facing the light source.

Taken at a shadowy area.

To achieve that sharp image, the tool is ofcourse a big factor but having a steady hands help. When you want to shoot anything, make sure your photographer use both hands holding your phone while the model stand still. Nightime, make sure the room has enough lightning. If possible, put your phone in a table or a chair. Use timer to avoid shaking from pressing the shutter button.

Taken indoors at night by my sister's steady two hands!

I'm personally not a fan of a photo taken in a crowded places except for touristy photos. Although crowds can tell a story and gives you a sense of the atmosphere when the photo was taken but for an outfit photo, you would want the outfit to stand out, so quiet spots work best. Crowds are seasonal so when holiday season is here and everybody is out, you'll need extra effort to wait for the crowd to dissolve. Trust me, there will be a few seconds when the crowds recede. Be patient, be alert, and use it well.

Taken at Volendam which is a tourist spot with crowds everywhere. But my sister and I found a quiet spot in the middle of the street. There were passerby and we have to wait for a little bit but it was worth it.

Addressing the previous tip, if you don't have much time to wait for the crowds, using the wall as the background can work wonders. White wall works with everything as it will pop your outfit. Colorful walls that matches your outfit gives more visual points. Textured/artistic wall works best with outfit that is simple.

A cute corner is all this outfit needs.

The lines at the wall matches my black top.

Unless your Victoria Secret modelesque, a house t-shirt and a boxer is not what people want to see. Everybody has a unique style, showcase it!