shoot 8 was by far my favourite shoot so far. This was the first time I had shot location portraits and full body shots and I found it really enjoyable and liked the fact I could get quite creative with it. Something I wanted to convey through these images was individuality, so I chose my model because I knew she had a unique and urban look. To emphasise this I asked her to wear ripped jeans and a leather jacket as well as a heavy band shirt to add to the rock look she had. When It came to her face, I added extra eyeliner, black lipstick and also chose for her to wear a fake piercing. I was very happy with my models overall look. I decided to shoot these images on location as I think the surroundings sometimes tell us more about a person in a photograph. I wanted to shoot in urban locations so that they related to the style of the model. I shot in front of brick walls, graffiti, on bridges and on stone steps. When it came to actions and poses, I wanted my model to clearly show attitude to match her style. In most cases I had asked her to show a serious expression and look directly towards the camera to seem confident and intimidating. I also asked her to stand up straight and hold onto her jacket or play with her hair also to show confidence. In some of the images I delibirately positioned the camera low down so that it was angled upwards, in order to make the model seem high up to show power, which worked together with the serious expression and overall looked quite effective. I decided to shoot some of the images from the back so that my models face could not be seen. I liked this idea as it created a sense of mystery but also allows us to see the models unique shaved patch of hair which emphasises individuality. Throughout the shoot I constantly thought about composition, and filling the frame well, as I have learnt from previous shoots, so in most of my images my model fills up a lot of the frame and there is not a lot of empty space. When it came to editing I wanted to continue the urban theme and emphasise the rock style of the model. I immediately thought the make the pictures look darker and dull. To do this I turned down the exposure and the saturation so that the colours were not very bright, which related to the lack of colour in the models clothing. In some cases I included a bit of offset which really worked quite effectively. I am very happy with the overall look of the images and the way the editing relates to the context of the pictures.
One negative aspect of the shoot was because I had shot on a dull day, from some angles the lighting was very bad and the models facial features could not be seen clearly. To overcome this at the time I just moved my model into a different location or shot from a different angle, but looking back now, I could have used the flash on my camera to brighten the image and allow the facial features to be shown. This is a technique I can experiment with in future shoots if the same problems occur.
This image above is one of my favourites from the shoot, that I went on to edit and post on my blog as a straight image. Firstly, I really like the backdrop of this photo, and how it emphasises the overall urban look. The vivid colours contrast against the dull colours of the models clothing which helps her to stand out. I think that it is quite effective that we cannot see what the background actually is, and the fact it fills the whole frame. The position of the model shows attitude and confidence which is the type of personality I wanted to convey. The use of glasses adds to the rock look and also creates a sense of mystery as the eyes are usually focussed on in portraits but here they are hidden. I like the way she is looking away from the camera as it implies this could be an action shot. The leather jacket is a good touch as both tone and texture are clearly shown here. I am happy with the way the background of the image relates to the context.
This image on the other hand, is my least favourite from shoot 8. Firstly, I am not too keen on the background of the photo. Half of the background is full of trees while in the other half we can see a railway track. Because there is a lot of content in the background, focus is taken off of the person in the foreground, which is supposed to be the main focus of the image. If I had moved the model a bit to the right so that she was standing directly above the railway, I think the image would have been more effective as it would show clear lines and depth and the background would not be overcomplicated. Secondly, I think this image would have been better if it had been taken from just the waist up. This would allow more detail of the hair and jacket to be shown, and would allow get rid of a lot of the space in the frame. On the other hand, I really like the tones that are shown in the jacket, and how they create clear texture.
Progression
From this shoot I have learnt about lighting. I know now that I can use the camera flash in daylight just to make certain features of the image clearer and brighter. Although I have improved with my composition, this is something I would still like to get even better at, as I found that in a few cases like the image above, the foreground was not focused on as much due to the amount of content we can see in the background. This is something i will think about in my next shoot. As I really enjoyed shooting these location portraits, this is something I am going to continue into my next shoot, but rather than shooting full body pictures I want to focus more on the face. Because I really liked how these images turned out and how I managed to create a clear urban look, I also want to create this same feel in shoot 9. To do this I could use smoke, which will also help me fill the frame well. I have seen a lot of smoke photography online which I have really liked, as a range of different tones are shown as well as unusual and interesting shapes within the smoke which could makes the images appealing for the eye. Also, I want to create more photomontage images as previous ones such as my graffiti one from shoot 4 worked so well.
The images above are examples of the kind of images I would like to create in my next shoot. When looking at smoke photography I realised that the majority of it is black and white, in order to make the contrast and tones in the smoke clearer. This is something I will think about when editing my pictures. Also in most cases there is not a lot going on in the backgrounds, so that the smoke can be seen clearly and does not get lost in the detail of the background. This is also something I will need to take into account.
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