WARDROBE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Ideally you want to capture photos that are very color accurate and are sharp enough to show the clothes texture.  Here are some tips from a professional photographer.

The Camera

You can get away with using a good quality phone camera but using a good point and shoot camera or a DSLR is going to give you best results.

Background

Try to use a neutral background.  Fill the frame with the item with as little background in the image as possible.

Lighting

The brighter the light, the sharper your photos are going to be.  Taking photos by a large window on a sunny day is a great choice.

Set up your clothes so that the light is falling at a 45-90 degree angle instead of falling straight on.  This will enhance the detail and texture of the clothing.

If you are unable to use window light for your photos, try to use as bright a lamp as possible.  Do not mix the light of light bulbs and fluorescent.  Pick one or the other. 

For under $10, you can buy a clamp light for your lighting set up.  You should have no problem setting this up a few feet away from your camera pointed at your items.  It'll give you all the light you need and is perfect for this situation.  Check out this link - Photo Flood."

Advanced Tips

Gray Card

This is an item you can pick up for $10 that will be beneficial in getting the best color and exposure out of your photos.  They can be ordered online here.

Exposure

Most people shoot using the auto exposure setting on their cameras.  While this may be fine for most situations it’s not ideal in this situation.  Dark clothes may end up looking too light and whites may look a bit gray.  Shoot using manual exposure (unfortunately that rules out most if not all phone cameras and some point and shoot cameras). 

First, set your camera to manual.  Get a good exposure of a piece of medium gray clothing or better yet, use a gray card.  Once that exposure looks good don’t change it.  You should be set for everything else unless the light changes while you’re photographing your items.

Color

• Point and Shoot Cameras – try to get a good color shot of an item using a manual color balance instead of “Auto White Balance” or “AWB”.  Auto White Balance will give you fluctuations in color.  Try using the settings marked for “Daylight”, “Shade” or “Tungsten”.  If one of those settings looks good, use it.  The color will be more consistent.  If that doesn’t work, just use AWB.
• DSLR – Time to learn about custom white balance.  Take a photo of your gray card that is placed where your items are going to be photographed.  Fill the frame as best you can with all gray.  Tip – your camera will not focus on the gray card.  Set the lens to manual focus for this shot.  Now use that frame to set the camera’s “Custom White Balance”.  It takes just a few steps but it’s different based on manufacturer.  Check your manual or try YouTube for a simple tutorial.  This should give you perfect color on all your photos.

Lighting

As I mentioned earlier, taking photos by a large window on a sunny day is a great choice.

If you want to try using a flash, bounce it off a white ceiling or white wall if possible.

Set up your clothes so that the light is falling at a 45-90 degree angle instead of falling straight on.  This will enhance the detail and texture of the clothing.  This also includes when you are using a flash.  Get the flash off your camera and angle it at your items.

Tripod

If you have a tripod, use it.  If you don’t have one, borrow one.  It may seem like overkill and a hassle, but I think it will actually cut down a lot on your shooting time.  Once set up, you can just move your items in, click the shutter and move on to the next piece.  Without a tripod you’ll have to move yourself into position to take the photo, compose it again, make sure it’s in focus, try and hold still and then take the photo.  The tripod will make things easier and faster and you’ll end up with sharper photos!

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www.davesuarez.com

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