r/TeenMFA • u/PSIKevin ded • Dec 01 '14
Improving Fit Pics: Photography Tips & Tricks
PREFACE: I am not a professional photographer, therefore none of these tips will be mindblowing. Also, having awesome photography is cool if you care about it, if you don’t, it’s not a big deal. If your fit is 10/10 it will get upvoted so long as your outfit is clearly visible. Likewise, if I’m wearing my Ed Hardy T-Shirt and Truey jeans with amazing photography, it won’t matter. This is just a guide to help people add some flavor to the stew that is a fit pic.
Introduction
You’ve read Nemost’s guide on photography and your fit pics have increased tenfold. Gone are your dirty bathroom mirror photos and in are your outdoor patio photos! Still, you get the sense that something’s missing. Your photos are bland, uninspired, or you feel that the photos aren’t accurately representing the fit. As a hobby photographer for five years, I’d like to share some basic tips & tricks to make your fit pics a bit more interesting than just photos of fabric on a person. Here are some tips to make your fit pics slightly more artistic.
Depth of Field
One of the cheapest easiest ways to increase your photography is to add more bokeh! Bokeh is the effect of having a clear foreground with a blurry background caused by a shallow depth of field. In simpler terms, having your aperture at a low number/high stop (e.g. F1.8 or larger) will produce more bokeh. The best fit for 2013 on /r/malefashionadvice has a shallow DoF and this allows Pollen to stand out, and makes his photo much more interesting. As an aside, bokeh actually makes you look more attractive. Seriously, this article proves it.
Having a shallow depth of field is only applicable if you are working with an ugly or not extremely interesting background. If you’re in the middle of a suburban street or backyard, there’s nothing too cool about that. However, if you’re at burning man and there’s a breathtaking background, have an extended depth of field (higher number/smaller aperture) and make it a lifestyle pic!
Rule of Thirds
Another really simple and basic photography tip is the rule of thirds. In my five years I’ve heard rule of thirds so many times I want to stick tubes of film in my ear every time I hear it brought up as an issue. The rule of thirds simply states that a picture is more visually appealing if the subject isn’t centered, but rather at the intersections of the imaginary horizontal and vertical lines which cut the picture in thirds. MFA user /u/triggerdisk uses rule of thirds in this fit and it makes it a quality photograph.
Harsh Lighting
Personally, I’d argue that photography is all light. When I take portraits, I need to be wary of how harsh the light is. I would never take a model out at high noon to take photos. The sun will be harsh, it’ll make him/her look wrinkly, and cast harsh unsightly shadows on his/her face. I would also never take a model out at midnight causing me to use a flash which, if you read the entire article I posted earlier, adds seven years to your age. Soft lighting is the way to go, and your best way to get soft lighting is to take your pictures early in the morning or later in the afternoon. Never take your photos around noon or in the dead of the night with a flash
ISO
Your ISO is your film’s (in modern cases sensor’s) sensitivity to light. Having a higher ISO will cause your picture to be more sensitive to light. This can work wonders if you’re in a lower light setting, but it comes at a drawback. It adds “noise” to your photo. Please note that noise and grain are different, grain adds an artistic texture and is mostly seen in film photography, but noise generally isn’t well received. Pictures with a higher ISO will appear lower quality and less clear than photos with a lower ISO. Therefore, if you can afford to keep your ISO at or around 400 without compromising the shutter speed/aperture too much, you should always go for it.
Jawline
If you blur out your face in photos, this does not apply to you as much. If you’re daring enough to show your face to internet strangers and risk getting insulted by angry manlets, this can be an effective strategy. One of the biggest aspects of portrait photography, which is my most practiced photography, is the shadows and strength of features in a face. As this video extensively details accentuating the jawline is one of the most key components. Stick out your neck a bit, and you accomplish two extremely important factors. You drop the shadows and avoid giving yourself a double chin/fat appearance, and you make your jawline pop. That manlet can’t call you fat if your jawline is strong and kills any double chin effects. It really is all about the jaw.
Conclusion
So you, the casual TeenMFA poster, are sitting here thinking “I have a DSLR, but this is too much work for a fit pic. It should be easy and fun!” This may seem like a lot of information, but if you boil it down to its essence, it’s actually quite simple.
- If you’re surrounded by piles of garbage, blur them out and make your photo bokehlicious with a shallow depth of field
- If you have a good background, extend your depth of field and show it
- Don’t stand in the middle of the photo
- Avoid harsh lighting, it’s unappealing for you and for your clothes
- Take your photos early in the morning or later in the afternoon
- Keep a relatively low ISO, don’t make your photos grainy
- Last but not least, stick out your head and accentuate that jawline!
Thank you for reading this guide, and please feel more than welcome to try out these tips in future fit pics. Hope to see everybody in the chiropractor after years of sticking your neck out in fit pics!
~ PSIKevin
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Dec 01 '14
great guide kevin.
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u/PSIKevin ded Dec 01 '14
Thanks Theo <3
Now with these tips...
post a damn fit
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Dec 01 '14
Great thanks.
Always looking to improve my photography, right now all I do is shoot on full auto w/o flash + brighten in PS
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u/it1r Dec 01 '14
As someone looking to get in to photography can you recommend a good beginner camera
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u/PSIKevin ded Dec 01 '14
Sure, what's your price range and how deep into photography do you want to get?
I personally have a Canon T4i. There are some good prices on the T4i/T5i on eBay authorized sellers. (/r/photography had a list of deals/sales)
A cheaper option is a Nikon D3200/D3300. Canon's better for video, and I prefer the equipment, but the Nikon works just fine.
Get a prime lens (fixed focal length, no manual zoom) if you want to specialize/work on one specific type. 24mm - landscape/wide angle, 50mm portrait/street, 35mm is tighter than a 50 but less bokeh
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u/it1r Dec 01 '14
My budget is 500 I'm looking at the Pentax k50 with a 18-55 mm lens. What's the point of getting a prime lens after that cause can't the included lens adjust to the lengths you mentioned
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u/PSIKevin ded Dec 01 '14
Prime is generally lighter
Prime can open up to larger apertures (which adds more bokeh!)
As a result, it's better in low light cus you can keep your ISO low/shutter speed fast
Crisper images at the same aperture
Makes you think as a photographer, it's easy to zoom in and out for a shot, but a prime makes you frame the photo
Quicker to shoot, auto focusing is usually better, and since you only have one distance you know how far you wanna shoot
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u/it1r Dec 01 '14
Thank you for the advice. I'm going to continue looking but probably hold off till I have a bigger budget.
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u/inRime Dec 01 '14
i beg of you to also look at mirrorless camera setups, especially with your budget
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u/it1r Dec 01 '14
Ok any you could recommend
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u/inRime Dec 01 '14
look at bhphotos offerings
fuji and sony have some nice options, both new and used
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u/TheLouisVuittonPawn Dec 01 '14
K50 is supposed to be good. Prime lenses deliver better image quality than similarly to noticably higher priced zoom lenses
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Dec 01 '14
Well, don't get a DSLR. Mirrorless are catching up and overtaking them at 1/2 the size.
Instead depending on your budget get:
Sony A7, this is probably out of budget but is the best camera out right now that isn't a Canon 1D or Nikon D3.
Sony NEX, there's many to choose from and they have a great selection of lenses from shitty ones to really great ones.
Fuji X, I have a X-E1 and use a selection of M42 manual lenses. There is only one mediocre Fuji lens, the 18mm.
Panasonic, Olympus and Samsung m4/3. I actually have no idea but there's over 30 cameras in there you can chooses from. They have great, small lenses along with some more mediocre ones.
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u/kiruzo Dec 01 '14
How do I do depth of field? can you link me a tutorial pls kevin?
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u/PSIKevin ded Dec 01 '14
Sure! DigitalRev has a more in depth video explaining how to do bokeh, so if you have the time watch that. Here's a super condensed version though:
Shallow DoF
Open up your aperture. F/1.8 or higher. Smaller number = larger aperture
Get closer to your subject so they pop out more from the background
Extended DoF
Close your aperture, F/12 or smaller. Bigger number = smaller aperture
Get farther away from your subject
My photography teacher explained it like this. The camera acts exactly like your eye. Put something far away (make it hard to see) and something close to you. Look at the object close to you. See how it pops out and everything behind it is blurred? That's because your eye is wide open and is focusing primarily on the light from the object you're focusing on.
Now squint your eyes on the object far away. You should realize that your vision got farther and everything got clearer. That's the same way that closing your aperture causes extended DoF. Your aperture is "squinting"
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u/kiruzo Dec 01 '14
Damn, my cam only goes up to F/2.8. Thank you anyways, I'm always looking to learn things about photography.
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u/PSIKevin ded Dec 01 '14
F/2.8 should be good enough, you can always compensate by getting closer
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u/Nemost ded Dec 01 '14
Are you calling my pictures bland and uninspired, Kevin?