I appreciate a great photo, but I think the point on this forum is just to be able to see the outfit well.

I actually like to hold my camera because I realized that having something to do makes my body language much more natural. I feel very awkward just standing there to be photographed.

Regarding photogenic people, I think that is a really interesting point made by Steph. I have met at least two women who are stunning in real life and just don't look great in photos. I wonder why this is.

Michelle--hope you noticed, but I've been trying to be more descriptive of my clothes for you!

I agree with Scarlet, I think the most important thing is that you can see the outfit well. I think a head to toe pic is the most important, but I like it sometimes if I can see additional pictures of details. But only if it is necessary and you can't see them in the first picture anyway! I like it best if there aren't too many outfits posted at once, if that's the case I find it hard to give distinct feedback.

Shannon, thanks for the great post. Good lighting and clear outfit details are what I look for most in a WIW. I am one of the camera-shy few (sorry, Angie) who do not show my face. I have occasionally shown a few live-action shots taken outdoors with sunglasses on and also completely revealed my face in the anniversary video. Even though I chop off my photos, I do try to always show my smile and a bit of my hair so as not to appear completely headless and to provide a little context.

When commenting on individual outfits, I find it easier when there are only three or four outfits per post . I can get easily overwhelmed with a week's worth.

I confess, I am a bit embarrassed by my WIW photos. I'm a professional photographer, but I never pull out the DSLR and tripod for my WIWs -- that would be a sure path to my spending an hour trying out various poses, lighting, etc. It may not make sense to anyone else, but I would go into "pro mode" and my perfectionist tendencies would take over, and I wouldn't get anything else done all day!

So, I simply set my iPhone on a table with the self timer and take a couple of quick snaps. I like to post outfit pics but I don't want to spend a lot of time on the effort, between the photographing, editing, uploading, and writing a post, so I keep it simple, even if the result is not very creative. I'm simply documenting my outfits.

I'm not a model, never have been and never will be. I'm frequently self-conscious in front of a camera (I much prefer to be behind it!), so I have not experimented much with poses. I imagine this is true of most YLFers. I admire those of you who can and do pose well, but I have no problem viewing the pics of those of you who are more pose-challenged like me.

As long as a picture is relatively sharp and not too dark (enough to see important detail), and I can see the full body, I enjoy WIW pictures of all types! I don't care much about seeing seven slightly different artfully shot poses of the same outfit in WIWs, even though I do obviously appreciate good photography.

Like Angie, I much prefer to see a face and head. I really, really don't like headless shots -- I'd rather see a blurred face or something else obscuring the features for those who wish anonymity. And I prefer to see photos taken from enough of a distance (whether in a mirror or with a self-timer) that the viewer can get a true sense of the wearer's proportions.

Michelle, I will try to include good verbal descriptions for you!

I prefer to see heads, too! It really puts the outfit into context for me. It helps to determine if someone can "pull something off".

Even though I am *quite* verbose in my posts, I admit that more than a week's worth of different outfits and descriptions or a dozen 'keep or returns' can be mentally overwhelming. a bunch of pictures of one outfit at different angles is easier for me to focus on.

I think it's important to say that nobody needs to apologize for their own picture taking strategies. As evident in this thread, everyone has different preferences for what they like to see, but we are not here to try to please everyone else.
If you can only manage the phone and mirror pics (like myself), there are plenty of people who like to see those. If you can manage your own personal photographer or tripod and like to post several angles, that is appreciated my many as well.
Don't feel that you have to change your strategy to please anyone, just take those pics and let us see your outfits.

Deb, you don't behead your photos all the time. You often blur - which *really* helps!

If you can think about the lighting when you take photos, it's a great advantage. The point is that we see your outfit - which can get lost due to ill lighting and blurring. At the end of the day, it's about an optimal solution, and we'll support you no matter what the photos end up looking like. Thanks, Queen Mum

Michelle - I will try to be more descriptive in my WIW posts not only to help you visualize the outfit, but also because there are times when my photos are a bit dark and may not show certain details or colours clearly and a description might be helpful for everyone.

Janet - there is absolutely no need to be embarrassed by your WIW pics. Your posts are wonderful! But I understand that you want to avoid "pro" mode so stick with what you're doing!

And Queen Mom - I think you hit the nail on the head. We are here for support and constructive suggestions and are not going to please everyone.

You ladies are the best BTW!!!

Isis, I am so flattered that you like my pictures! I don't have a DSLR, I just have a point-and-shoot but I use the self timer as opposed to a mirror. I try to take pictures outside but with winter upon us (cold, less day light) it is getting harder.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am guilty of cramming many outfits in a thread, but I think I will stick to only 2 from now on.

I appreciate hearing everyone's preferences but also agree with the idea that as long as you get the pic posted, that's all that really counts. I am of the camp of easily overwhelmed. 12 pics and 5 paragraphs and I likely won't even open it. I think it's easy to see who prefers which type of post by patterns of who does and does not respond on other's WIW's. And that's fine. We can't be everything to everyone, nor should we expect to be!

Oh boy, looks like I am one of the guilty one's. Thanks for bringing this up! It was very interesting to hear the pros and cons of features done in WIW posts. I would often post 5 to 7 outfits at a time when I do a WIW post. I used to try to post any and all outfits I managed to snap during the week. And I would include a small description along with information about where the items were purchased from. And I would only take one angle (facing foward) of the outfit since I was posting multiple outfits in one WIW post. I was concerned if I posted too many one outfit photos, I'd be monopolizing the forum with daily outfit posts. And I don't have a tripod and I never found a good perch for my camera, so my outfits always look off with me holding the camera.

I had no idea this was overwhelming! While I always enjoy WIW posts with multiple outfits (I like the snapshot view of an entire week of outfits, but I am also a big fan of remixing outfit posts, I like to try and pick out the constant item being remixed) I can also understand the benefit of one or two outfits posted in a WIW with great detail instead.

I'll have to check the search to see if this has been discussed before but this makes me wonder, what one or two things is someone looking for when viewing a WIW post? Ideas and inspiration on an outfit? Analyzing the fit and drape of the garments? I wonder, if you are looking at WIW posts for outfit ideas, the more the better for outfit photos? But if you are looking for fit, more details would be better? I know when I am very interested in feedback on the fit of something I will post lots of angles of one item. Hmm...

Lisa and Denise, I really like your posts, and I'm not overwhelmed by them! I feel a little guilty because I said I only like 2 outfits, and five pics, but, actually, it depends on context! If someone wants feedback on every item (say in a K/R post), then I can only deal with 2 or 3!

But, I also like it when someone is showing their entire week!

Everything works! Don't change; it's all good!

Isis, hear hear! It is all about context! 5 pics, consisting of your outfits of the week, is great (for me). Or 3 or 4 pics of a certain look you are trying to tweak - cool. 20 pics of 4 views of K/R and I am OUTTA there! Again, just *my* personal preference Likewise with scrolling pages of text.

I also like the weekly WIW's. I don't feel overwhelmed by them at all, and get really good ideas from them.

I specifically went out and bought a tripod for my WIW's. While there was construction on my condo I lost my natural source of light. Plus there were more than a few pleas for better pictures. I mainly do one shot/one pose. Occasionally I'll add a few close-ups of details or footwear.
I also think anything more than a week of WIW's is overkill. Heck I feel guilty when there's the rare chance I post more than seven pictures.

Lisa, personally I'm not overwhelmed by your weekly outfit posts, either. It is impossible to please everyone's WIW preferences here. As long as I can see your outfit in good enough light with your pretty head (blurred or with sunglasses), I'm really happy

And bless you Anna for making the tripod thing work. Your photos are MUCH better and I enjoy the outfits so much more now that I can see them.

Oh, I hope I didn't give the wrong impression! I also love to see a week's worth of outfits. I am not overwhelmed by the number of photos, I just sometimes don't have the time to comment on each and every one. I LOVE when Lisa, Denise and others post their week in review!

I know I sometimes get carried away and post multiple views of the same outfit or multiple variations. Thanks to all of you who take the time to look through it all!

Lastly, the WIW posts are always my favorites and the ones I go to first. This is such a great forum.

Oh dear - I've perfected "hand on the hip, facing the camera" posing! lol

I am largely a "just the facts, ma'am" kind of forum reader - I like a fairly straight on, clear view of the outfit. I like multiple outfits in a single post when they have context (weekly WIW, or "what's/here's my style"). I learn a lot from those because I can easily see a good number of wardrobe items and what it takes to look stylish in a single week. I also can't keep different forum member's wardrobes in my head like some of you...so I like to see a few outfits and then I am able to offer remixing suggestions (if asked).

I'm not very picky about others wiw picties in general but I do always appreciate an artistic setting when there is possible(as per Angie's blogposts). Also know there can be so big differences in posing so I think it never hurts to pose in our most flattering way if that matters...

I also love to see the wiw picties as many as they are as am more of a visual person myself and as I don't always have the time to read all is written, but don't really like those laconic posts which don't tell us what we are going to see or to do with, at all...

By the way, when I have the time, it's a real treat to read back threads with longer descriptions, too :-))....

I was lurking and commenting here a lot, but not posting too much of myself wiw threads until this year because I couldn' figure out how to take my pictie in an acceptable way and either, unfortunately don't have the time to do it on a weekly/regular basis so- this is why I tend rather to make cummulative posts, and then of course, am guilty for posting too much of a good at once...sorry for the inconvenience:-((.

I can very much appreciate other ladies smiling faces as surely a great smile always adds a bonus to any outfit, and am so sorry for not beeing brave enough to do that, too-but:
-I don't consider myself a very photogenic person (I always struggle in front of the camera) and
-I take my photos in the hallway where is not more than 1m. in front of the mirror to the next wall, so have to take those unique diagonal picties if want to show my head to toes siluette.

Flash is a must early mornings. I tried to take my photos with camera at my hip's level(so you can see my face), but then I have never ending legs and that is also not natural at all-but, to be fairly honest it's also kind of intentional hiding my face with the flash when possible as am concerned of unauthorized use of my picties on the web. (blurring my face is not at option yet, as am unfortunatelly not that skilled to do that)
I actually would rather preffer to be able to look back on my and others certain(favourite) outfits than hiding them after a few days of posting, but maybe that's an option to be considerred for me, too.

.

Love wiw photos!
For me it's about the look! But if your hubby wants to take better pictures, why not?
I love to see lovely pictures!

When I stared to post my WIW I posted one at a time. Then on one of the threads I read about people's preference to see several of them instead of just one so I switched to weekly posts. Now it is like a routine for me: take pictures every day, post then in the end of the week, kind of documentary.:-)
I have mastered my hubby's tripod because I got tired of taking pictures in the mirror and because I feel more relaxed when I take pictures myself. I can take multiple pictures, view them right away and change my pose / facial expression / distance to the camera / angle etc. for a better shot. I have tried to take more flattering side view pictures but felt that I am loosing the outfit clarity this way so I am sticking with unflattering "face-on" shots. I wish my pictures were more artistic or of better quality but it is what it is.
I like to take pictures outside because the light is so much better but now it is impossible to do so during a work week so you would have to endure my kitchen until spring...:-)
When I post K/R posts I am trying to stick to one or two items only and show them from diferent angles (famous rear view, anyone?). I feel it is easier to provide a feedback and comment on the items this way.
When I am trying to style something and I am not sure what works I will post multiple pictures for different combinations. Sorry if it is overwhelming for some of you!
For WIW of others I like them all: 1 picture or 7 pictures. I can provide a better feedback for a single picture if requied but it is also interesting to see multiple ones even if I cannot comment on an every single outfit. I do like full height pictures because they better for proportions but also because I get a feeling that I know this person much better than when I see headless shots. I also prefer pictures with better lighting and focus just because it easier to see this way.
I guess I got carried awayand this post is way too long - sorry!

I personally like to post 5-7 outfits at a time to see which ones get more *fave* votes than others. I think I get a better assessment that way.
I also like seeing up to 7 or 8 of someone elses outfits at a time. I like to click through and see which ones really grab me. I like to see different levels of dressiness within the same week too (when it's applicable to a person's lifestyle) I appreciate seeing what you wear on the weekends as well as what you wear to work.

This is such an interesting topic! And oh boy…I am one of the guilty ones for posting headless shots! I haven’t posted many pictures here, but the ones I have posted have all been headless. I didn’t realize how much it changes the way the outfit is perceived. But of course, that makes sense. I’m a pretty private person, though I DID show my face in the recent Toronto gathering pics (that’s me in the black sheath dress with the purple leopard print scarf – hi!). So I’m taking baby steps! I will try blurring my face the next time I post outfits – hopefully that will be an improvement

As for what I like to see, I think the outfit and the lighting are most important – everything else is just gravy. And I too like to see a week’s worth of outfits at once, or one item remixed several ways.

Velvetychocolate – I love your thoughts on “regular people/regular life”! Very well said!

So many different opinions!

I block my face for privacy reasons.

Unfortunately, my photos are usually dark because they're done indoors in the evening. I try to lighten them up to help see details.

If there are 3 photos for each of 5 different outfits, I do find it challenging to remember the details from photo to photo. I prefer a single collage for each outfit or styling option, so that's how I set up my photos. I use Paint to make them.

I admire those who post new WIWs every week. I mostly post K/R instead of WIW because I wear the same outfits over and over again. One you've seen it in a K/R, I don't want to bore you with an outfit post that isn't that different.

In the end, I figure any photo is better than no photo and I know people on this forum will do their best to help, regardless of quality and format.