Unit 6 - Studio and Film / Fashion

  
For my studio shoot I shot in black and white film to try capture the essence of the 70/80's. However, I also shot on digital just to have a back up. (All my film images are in my darkroomfolder.) I wanted to create a very simplistic and relaxed feel. Because of this, I used a two soft boxes to light both sides of my model. I also used back lights but on very low to create a grey background. The images were well light however, not excessively as I wanted to avoid the commercial look. I really like the images and the images from my black and white film. I think I captured what I wanted as best as possible. 

  

  

  

  

Presentation

'So to begin with, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to capture the essence of the 70's/80's which is broadly associated with the hippie era. However, whilst looking through images such as these, I realised the resources that I had access to, wouldn't be enough to create what I wanted, especially because i had such a specific thing in mind. 

As I knew that I wanted to photograph people, not knowing yet how, I went into my primary research with a 135mm lens and used that time to experiment and get to know the lens with just my model and location. I learned that the lens is great for still shots however, falls short at the movement shots. This is because it either took too long to focus on manual, or took too long to focus in automatic. Weather it was because it was my first time using it or not, I'm not sure. 

For my holiday task, I hadn't completely given up on my previous idea therefore, I took that time to experiment with that. To create an old feel to the images, I shot through the viewfinder of an old film camera. Although I liked the result of the images, it just didn't do it for me. So, after researching different types of photography that include people, I chose to do proper in general but focusing on three main subject. Fashion, communication and habits. I thought this would be different to photograph and give some good end results. 

York I really enjoyed as it was a change in scenery and there's a lot more diversity within the community there. Because of this, I wanted to focus on communication as the place gave a different vibe to me, so would the people give a different vibe to each other?  

I then went on to researching how I wanted my fashion images to look and these are some of my inspiration images. I want to create a very relaxed feel to them.'

York Trip / Communications

 For the York trip I decided to just photograph people in general. After realising that my previous idea wasn't going to work out. My idea was to be as spontaneous as possible, taking images as they were and trying not to intervene so much. For this image, I saw a family on a picnic and the children were blowing bubbles. I can't pinpoint exactly why I found this a good photo subject however, I'm very happy with how the images came out. This image was shot on a 135mm lens so you get the shallow depth of field. I haven't edited this image a lot as I enjoy the mixture of the earthy tones. The lighting used was all natural. I didn't feel the need to use the built in flash as I think it would've taken the texture out of the clothing and therefore, took away a lot of detail.

Again, shooting in the same area of the last image, I wanted to capture the happiness in that moment. This image was also shot with a 135mm lens as I feel like this was the lens to use when it came down to the main focus been on a person. I also like how the main focus of the girl was off to one side but without too much of the wall. The focus goes straight to her, The lighting was all natural. I chose not to use the built in flash as I felt like it would've washed her out and would've created intense shadows which personally, I think wouldn't have worked for this image. Furthermore, unlike the last image, there is a lot of toned colours that I think work perfectly with the image as a whole. From the dark and light blue of the dress, to the pop of pink on the bubble maker. I really enjoy this image.

 This image, along with the next, are probably a few of the images I enjoy more. Although I did ask their permission and they were aware I was there, I like how it doesn't look staged. It looks very in the moment. Whilst taking these two images I really wanted to make sure the lines of the benches were straight. I'm sure you'll agree that when looking at an image with clean lines, it is very satisfying and easy to looking at. I also wanted the colours of both images to really pop so, I opened them both into photoshop, By turning down the exposure and turning up the

grammar correction slightly, I created this lovely balance between enhancing the colour but not burning the images.

This image is definitely my favourite out of everything I've taken yet throughout this project. I really like the warm colours throughout the image as it gives it an almost homely feel to it. Also, I really like how this woman is holding the flowers, very elegant with an almost smile on her face. Although this is one of my favourite images, I don't think it ties in with the chosen theme for my final major project. 

Holiday Task / Fashion - Location

For this shoot, I wanted to focus on fashion and communications however, communication between person and animal. As I want to shoot my other fashion shoot on black and white film, I shot this in colour. However, as David Bailey is my inspiration for fashion and I want to make it look timeless, I took the images through the viewfinder of an old film camera. However, I also shot normally on a 650D to show the difference. Although I love the images, I don't think it represents what I was going to portray therefore, I won't be using these images in my final images.