Photo-Studio Shoot- Planning

Idea 1:

Subject-
I will be photographing my model in different items of clothing.

Props-
For my first idea I will be using a tall chair to sit my model on.

Model-
My model will be meeting me at the studio with her hair and make-up already done for all my idea's as they will be shot the same day.

Lighting-
For my first idea I will be using a slight high-key lighting to create a relaxed but bright feel.

Cost-
As my model didn't have the clothing I wanted to use, I had to buy the pants and improvise on the rest of the clothing. The pants cost £12.50.

When-
My studio slot is from 9:45 to 10:45 on Thursday 4th February. All my ideas will be shot on this date.


Idea 2:

Props-
My second idea will include a bed sheet.

Lighting-
Lighting for this idea will be high-key as it's very forgiving to the skin.

Cost-
I've improvised on the clothing used in this idea therefore, there isn't any cost.


Idea 3:

Props-
For my third idea, I will be using the curtains that are already in the studio.

Lighting-
For this idea, I'm not 100% sure on what lighting I will be using. I will be experimenting with the different lighting techniques I've learnt from researching.

Cost-
There isn't any cost for this idea.

Fashion Magazine Research

Online Research:

Vogue Magazine:

The feel of this outfit for me is very retro. From head to toe, it's a blast from the past but with an urban twist. The bell bottom jeans with the peep toed sandals and the gypsy styled top really gives a 1970's feel. However, the very structured coat in a burnt camel colour gives a very modern feel. It works as the colours of the shoes and coat compliment each other very well therefore, it's not like stacking era's on top of one another. The target audience for this look is 20+ for females with a very well income. This particular image was shot for a company who works with vogue called acne studios. The price of jeans in the store vary from $200 upwards but, also sells male jeans. The magazine itself has a wide target audience. For the text, their isn't any. This is due to it being an online spread. I personally really enjoy this look on location as it shows the outfit in action. Even though it is on location, I think that artificial soft light has been used to encourage the colours even more. I really like the high fashion but casual look. This is the type of feel I'm going for.



Elle Magazine:

Again, these outfits are both very retro with a very minimalistic aesthetic. The trend at the moment includes a lot of suede but, it can be very expensive however, the text clearly states that it is 'high street' fashion. Because of this, it could target a younger target audience with an average income. This is nicely shot as it shows the clean lines and contrast in the clothing that would usually cost a lot more than high street clothing. The typography of the title fits well into the minimalistic look as it doesn't draw your attention more than anything else. I like the fact that these outfits were shot studio as it doesn't restrict the number of places you could wear this outfit. As it's woman fashion, soft light is used pairing with high key lighting. It gives a very delicate feel to the image.





Harper's Bazaar:

Going a little bit more high fashion in terms of clothing and the posing of the model, it looks very modern. The clean lines of the dress and the shapes created by the model really emphasise this. As this is a more elegant look while still showing skin, I think it targets mid 20's to mid 40's woman. The title and headline are very visible however, doesn't distract you from the model as only muted colours were used. I think the use of the studio was a perfect choice for this image as you had the most control of the lighting that was used. I think low light was used very lightly. The use of this would've been to simply create the shadows. Another factor that I like about this image is that the matte red lipstick draws your attention of the model, especially because the rest of the image is very monochromatic.






Teen Vogue:

Then going to the complete opposite of the last image, as much colour has been used as possible. This is because the target audience is teenage females. Bright/fun colours really appeal to them. With the typography, from the headline and titles, the pops of yellow are to make the eyes flow around the page. The blue is to catch the attention of the viewer. The aesthetic of this says 90's to me. This is because of the turtle neck and the bright clean lines of the neck and the details on it. The flawless complexion and the dark skin tone really compliment the bright colours of the image. This is probably my favourite cover.   I really enjoy the yellow and will potentially incorporate it into my work.

Library Research:

Whilst looking through fashion magazines and having examples in front of me, I noticed that sometimes, the item that is actually being advertised, isn't the main focus. For example, this image is advertising earrings. I saw a lot of examples of this however, I wanted to evaluate this image. I understand and enjoy the thought of advertising something not so obvious but this image didn't make sense to me. The background of this image is muted colours, creams and browns. the dress however, is bright red, contrasting to the background. This I really enjoy but, the earrings are barely visible. The image is stunning however, how can you advertise something you can barely see? I can say there is aspects I love about this image and some, I just don't understand. On the other hand, maybe it's the scene of a woman holding the dress up with accessories to see if it would look good together but it isn't clear.

The older style magazine spreads I'm very into. I love the whole aesthetic of the retro vibe. The target audience could range from younger males/females, to older. The colour in the location coloured shot is beautiful. I like that the exposed brick of the building is showing through the tree's, tying in the burnt red in the males hair. And of the camel colour of the females top, tying the colours of the leaves in. I think natural light has been used, catching the height of the sun on a sunny mid-day. The black and white page I also love as it holds a lot of textures and different stripes and leading lines. It floes the eye naturally. I also like the four images together. By doing this, it gives an equal amount of coverage of both gender clothing. I would like to shoot mine in black and white as I love the outcome.

Studio Lighting Attachments

Softbox:

A Softbox is used to bounce the light off an extra piece of material enabling the light to disburse evenly throughout an image. It's also used a lot with portrait photography as it gives a very smoothing effect.

Beauty Dish:

A beauty disk is simply a reflective material in a bowl shape. This makes the light bounce back and fourth from the subject to the bowl.

Standard Reflector Dish:

A standard Reflector dish direct the light output in a 90 to 120-degree beam. This is usually set up for shining the light into bounce cards, through diffusion, and grids or cutters.

Snoot:

A snoot is usually in a tube shape object that's fitted over the light. It enables the photographer to control the direction and radius of the light beam and can isolate the subject when using flash.

Soft Lighting:

Soft light is when the light source is larger than the subject you're photographing. It can be determinded by the size or how close or further away the light source is.

Hard Light:

Hard light is when you isolate the light to one area. Creating sharp shadows and a lot of contrast within the image.

High Key and Low key

Examples:

I really enjoy both low and high key lighting. However, you can clearly see that the difference between them both is significant. High-key really focuses on the highlights, not making a lot of contrast between the foreground, main focus and the background. Contrasting to this, low-key does the exact opposite. Concentrating on making the shadows and contrast of the image exceptionally dark.

As both these lighting techniques are on both ends of the spectrum in terms of differences, they evidently give a completely different feel to an image when applied. High-key really gives a bright and clean feel. This is because the shadows are very low but enough to shape the subject, for example, a face if shooting portraits. High-key lighting is mainly used to shoot portraits as it softens features and creates a very soft image and is very forgiving. Its also very popular with sit-coms or TV series.

On the other hand, Low-key lighting creates a very mysterious and dark feel however, if used correctly, could give a 'throw back' type of image. By this I mean 'The Beatles' Portrait. The Beatles used low-key lighting to create the type of look, which we now call 'Tumblr/Hipster'. Low-key lighting uses as much contrast as possible while still complimenting the subject. When doing low-key lighting in the studio, you can't get the best possible contrast and darkness by just turning the hair light and having just one light source, as the background is white. As it's white, it'll act as its own filter. Therefore, By moving the light source closer to a part of the subject, it really darkens the other area's of the image.

High-key is great for high end fashion shoots as the lights really capture the bright vibrant colours in the clothing or make-up. However, for the more urban clothing stores such as 'urban outfitters' the low-light really captures the essence and the era of the clothing.

Extra Examples:

High-key-

Low Light:

Street Fashion

Contact Prints:

Images:

I like this image as it represents street fashion quite well. The brick background really makes the blue of the jeans stand out. I also like how beat up the jeans are. Ripped jeans are very popular and almost everywhere I looked, someone has them on. The lighting was all natural however, I really like the harsh shadow that created on the wall. It creates dimension.

This image I really enjoy. I see a lot of people with sophisticated clothing, such as the coat pairing them with unsophisticated clothing. The jumper being his. I personally think this image gives a very 'I don't care' feel and the hand over the face really enhances this. The lighting was natural with clear skies. This caused the lighting to be quite strong which might was a pale complexion out however, it complimented his skin tone very well. This is part of the 3/4 task.

 A lot of people were very uncomfortable and some just refused. However, this image was accidental in which I was going to delete. Whilst looking through all my images, I realised that if I cropped it into a close up, it would work very well. Not only because you get the zip detail in the coat, but it was a natural light with natural movement. Again the lighting was natural and strong but complimenting her complexion very well. 

This image I took without the person knowing whilst she was running for her bus. However, because it was in a public place, I didn't need to ask for permission. I decided to use this image mainly because of the natural movement of the scarf. Like said in the first description, there is a lot of sophisticated clothing paired with unsophisticated clothing and with this girl it was the shoes. However, I really like the trainers. I think I'll try my studio shoot with a similar idea. 

Fashion Photographer research

David Bailey:

- Born in 1938

- Fashion and Portrait photographer

- Photographic assistant at John French Studio in 1960

- Started working for Jaeger in 1950

- Commissioned by Vogue in 1962

- Shot 800 pages pf Vogue editorial in one year

- Shot Alice Cooper for Vogue in 1972

- Published Ritz newspaper in 1976

- Directed 'Who Dealt' in 1992

- 2012 BBC created a film about his shoot with Jean Shrimpton in 1962

- Returned to Jaeger after 53 years to shoot their AW15

- Studio in London's Bloomsbury

- Awarded The Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship in 2005

- Worked in Studio and Location

'Jack Nicholson' - David Bailey
In this image David has used low key lighting. Personally, I think he has chosen to use this lighting technique to emphasise the frown and the veins in the forehead. In my opinion, the expression made screams pain and sadness, mentally. This is because his eyes are very dark, almost to dark to see. Also the expression is almost mimicking the face in which we make when we cry. However, his mouth seems angry to me. Covering the eyes and forehead and just looking t the mouth, it clear that the lighting impacted the feel of this images enormously.

Brian Duffy:

- Worked freelance for Harper's Bazaar in 1955

- Hired by British Vogue in 1957

- Worked closely with Jean Shrimpton who he introduced to David Bailey

- Worked for French Elle in 1963, 1968, 1974 and 1979

- Won campaign for Smirnoff in 1970's

- Won campaign for Benson and Hedges in 1970's

- Shot second Pirelli in 1965 on Location in South of France

- Shot the calendar again in 1973

- 1968 set up a Film Production company

- Worked in studio but more location

'Gabby Douglas' - Brian Duffy
The overall feel of this image is very mixed to me. While showing the beauty of gymnastics in her very slick hair and neutral make-up, yet still showing the hard work with the tape on her wrists. I think the lighting composition for this image is very focused on the front/left side of her. This is due to the contrast on the majority of the right side of her body. Although the lighting doesn't seem to make a bigger impact as the last image, I'm sure it wouldn't have the same end result if set up differently.

Terence Donovan:

- Born 1936

- Took first image at 15

- Bomb damaged buildings became his backdrop

- Worked for Harper's Bazaar (date unknown)

- Also Worked for Vogue 1962

- In 1970's went into Film Production

- Moved to 30 Bourdon Street, Mayfair

- 30 Bourdon Street marked by his memorial plaque

- Committed suicide after a battle with depression
- Burnt majority of his images in his backyard

'Unknown' - Terence Donovan
This images give a very high end type of feel personally. This particular pose is very popular with the higher-end brands. I almost gives a very effortless glamorous feel to the image. The lighting is all around however, is brighter on the right side of the model, which is creating the shadow on the left hand side.






Steven Meisel:

- Worked with models such as Phoebe Cates
- Worked with seventeen magazine
- Works with Italian Vogue
- Photographed every cover of Italian Vogue for the last two decades
- Shot Madonna's cover of 'Like a virgin' in 1984
- Shot Mariah Carey's album 'Daydream'
- Shoots Prada campaigns each season, since 2004

'Unknown' - Steven Meisel
Personally, I find this image simply stunning. The only thing I'm sure about I that the light source is located on the light. Illuminating the face and hands. Then little to no light on the left hand side of her. As far as the mood of the image, I'm not sure. All I feel when looking at this image is a sense of warmth. All I can think is 'wow'. Simply stunning.







David Greensmith:

- Received first camera at 7
- Attended air shows
- Editorial photography

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any more information about David Greensmith however, I did contact him.

'Unkown' - David Greensmith
I like this image as it hits the nail on the head when it comes with the target audience. The target audience of this image is people who love to travel. I also like the whole bohemian vibe. From the clothes to the head accessories to even the location. It looks very tropical which is always appealing to people who travel. I also like that the background is a clean white. This encourages the colours of the clothing and accessories to really pop. I also like how he used two models instead of one, really taking advantage of all the beautiful space available whilst still interacting with one another.  

Final Evaluation

Task 1-

Task one is always a research task. I really enjoy researching different photographers and techniques they've used. However, that's all the task is. Sometimes it gets repetitive to start every Unit with the same thing but it'd be nice to incorporate something else with it so we aren't just sat researching as it can get draining.

Task 2-
Task two was another research task. We were asked to research photographic processing laboratories. The whole point was to find processing laboratories in West Yorkshire and find the prices and what deals they have as it was coming up to Christmas. As I was researching, one laboratory did photo manipulation which came in handy as one of the tasks were photo manipulation. Again, I like researching but it's very repetitive however, I understand that it has to be done.

Task 3-
Task three was to go out and photograph digital images of glass. I liked this task as it enabled us to get out of the classroom and to do some photography. However, finding interesting glass was a struggle, I enjoyed it a lot as it gave us a rough idea of what to shoot when we came onto shooting in black and white film.

Task 4-
Task four was to go out and shoot a black and white film. I decided that I would go out to the media museum and photograph the numerous urban lights that they have their. Although there wasn't much colour, it didn't matter as it was black and white. I also went into centenary square to shoot some reflection images of the town hall into the water of the fountains. However, when it came to the processing of the film, it came out blank. I then knew I had to reshoot in my own time so I went down to salt mills. I spent the full day shooting reflections on the river to the glass inside the building. Again, when it came to processing the films at ProAm, they came out blank. The majority of the class also had this happen to them therefore, I think it was due to faulty film.

Task 5-
Task five was again, a black and white film however, using an object. I decided to use a bottle and tie a ribbon around the top and a paper tag to add extra detail. I really enjoyed shooting these images as it gave us time to experiment with the light sensors and different placements of the object. Overall, I really enjoyed this task and the images that I captured came out very good.

Task 6-
Task six was to do risk assessments for the darkroom including the do's and don'ts. It was a vey simply, straight forward task and it didn't take that long to complete. It was good to refresh the memory of the rules in the darkroom as we haven't been in for so long.

Task 7-
Task seven was my favourite task by far. It was to shoot reflections. I really enjoyed looking for the reflections and trying to get the most unique ones. although the majority of the time was spent looking for them, I enjoyed photographing them and finding out what apatures will would work and what wouldn't.

Task 8-
The comparison shoot was very interesting. I liked enjoying shooting on both camera's side by side to see the differences and also to see how different but how sometimes how similar the images come out on colour film and digital. I really enjoyed it.

Task 9-
The Christmas task was pretty easy. It was to simply photograph baubles and lights. There wasn't much too it therefore, it felt like it was just taking images. I didn't enjoy it as much s the others.

Task 10-
Task ten was to manipulate your images. I found this very frustrating but very satisfying. Although it was very fiddly and frustrating, when you eventually get the hand of it, the end result looks very good. I enjoyed playing around with the different brushes an techniques that I youtube'd how to create a floating island. It came out quite good.

Task 11-
Putting a person in a bottle was one of the easiest to do when it came to photo manipulation. It was quite simple when it came to photoshope however, whilst in the studio and getting the right positions for the model to be able to fit in was quite difficult however, it came out very well. I enjoyed it a lot.

Over all this Unit taught me a lot about photoshop and I enjoyed being able to go into the darkroom again. I really enjoyed the amount of freedom we had and I also liked playing around in photoshop. However, the mishap with the film caused a lot of stress and anxiety. But, this was my favourite unit, so far.

Photo minipulation

Original:

My aim for image manipulation for this image it to make the light bulbs look as though they're melting. To do this I will use the liquidity tool in photoshop. 

Edited:

 Overall, I think this edit went perfectly with the image. The colours are warm so it gives a warm feel to the image. Therefore, it makes sense that the light bulbs might be melting.

How to:

Open your selected image in photoshop. 

When loaded, click filters. 

Then select liquify. (shortcut- shift+alt+X)

When selected, it will lead you to this page. To start creating simply choose the size of the brush and pressure at the right side of the screen. Once done, select the forward wrap tool at the left top of the screen.

Then simply select the area you want liquefied and drag down or up. Continue until you're happy with the result.

Once you're happy with the result, press of and then save the image.

My Photo Manipulation:

Whilst looking throw videos of how to create different photo manipulations, one of the popular images was the floating island. I wanted to create an image similar because I found it very interesting and I wanted to have a play with the process of creating it. All the images I used were from google, they included two sky photographs in which I blended together, a picture of a fairy which I cut out and dragged onto the image of the sky, floating island and silhouetted birds which I repeated the same steps for the fairy. I enjoyed this process more than the process of using the liquefy tool as it wasn't as tedious. Also, you could have a play with the colour balance throughout the process instead of having to wait till the end. 

Original:

Edited:

I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted the outcome to be however, I'm very happy with it. I tried different things with this image including trying to make it melt however, I didn't like the look of it. After a while, I got  really frustrated and just randomly started to liquify random sections. That's when I realised I could make something very pretty. I realised that if I continuously moved in a circular motion, I would end up with a whirl of colours. Personally, I think it looks like an artist paint palette. With all the beautiful colours. 

Original:

Edited:

One of the strongest factors of this sculpture is the very fine, straight lines. So, I decided to distort them, however, I didn't want to change the shape of it overall. I still wanted people to know what it was. Also, I think the sculpture is very unique and I didn't want to take that away from it. Overall I really like this image however, I personally don't think it gives as much as the other examples of photo manipulation.

Person in a bottle:

Choose a picture of the bottles you want to use.

Start by opened the picture/s you want to use. Including the glass bottle.

Select the quick selection tool and outline the subject in which you want to transfer.

Once that is done, click the move tool and simply drag the subject you've selected onto the desired image by dragging it onto the tab located at the top of the area.

Then making sure layer one is highlighted blue on the right side of the screen, go into edit and free transform. (CTRL+T)Once the rectangle is surrounding, Adjust the sizing, whilst holding down shift so it doesn't become deformed.

Repeat as many times you want. I've chosen to do one more of my subject 'falling' into the bottle. 

If you need a reflection, which I need in this image, left click the layer you need duplicating and select duplicate layer.  

The layer is on top of the original layer, so by selecting and dragging, it will separate the two. Repeat the steps of free transferring the image. For reflections, you'll need to spin the image 180 degrees.

Place in the area. After this, the last steps will to simply adjust the fills of the layers. Making sure, the reflection is a lot less filled that the others.

Whilst I was editing this image, my model just wouldn't blend in with the photo. I tried adjusting the fill to make it look like she was inside the bottle however, it still wouldn't work. So, I turned to full down to 94% and turned it to black and white. This isn't my favourite image however it was my first and I was just experimenting.

This is the last image that I made for person in a bottle. but, I didn't want to put it her in the bottle. I wanted to do something different but I knew because of the task it still had to include a bottle. Therefore I put her on top of the bottle. It almost looks like she's peering in. 

(All images of bottle are taken from google images.)