Evaluation

Evaluation

The staged image – interior / exterior is a project I have enjoyed doing. I feel as though I have learnt a lot during this project, mostly technical information that has come in useful and that I have referred to throughout the project and whilst I was doing my final shoot for my images.
As it was my first time using the studio and Elinchrom lights I found the taught sessions at the beginning of the project difficult to understand but the handouts were useful as I could look back at them in my own time and digest the information better. At some points I felt that there were too many people in the studio at one time and we didn’t get as much time as Id of hoped working with a tutor and actually producing images or helping with the light metering, I felt that our groups were too big and there were too many people trying to do one job, or people sitting around without a job to do which was frustrating. I found it quite easy to set the lights up in the studio but I struggled and found it difficult to understand as to what to set the lights to and it still doesn’t come easy to me but I found it useful to take notes within my lessons and refer back to them to re-create the effect I wanted when it came to my final shoot. I found the high key lighting easiest to do and felt that my images I produced in this session were more successful than those I produced in the high key lighting and product sessions. I didn’t really enjoy product photography as it is not something I am personally interested in but I could see potential within my images to be better than they were if I’d of concentrated on the composition more. With high key lighting I felt that because we were just doing portrait shots of each other it looked a bit cheesy and like the kind of images you get taken for a school photograph but again I saw potential within this to create some good images if I was to photography something more interesting.
As I preferred my low key lighting images I was initially draw to producing work that used this type of lighting but after looking at the few ideas I had such as cosmetic make up and theatrical make up that would required high key lighting for the effect I wanted to create, I decided to challenge myself and not just go with what would of been the easiest option for me.
After making my decision on portrait / fashion photography I continued with my artist research. I used two main photographers within my work one of which was Solve Sundsbo who has done work for Mac cosmetics. I was inspired by his images of the doll like models but after looking at them closely think they have been digitally post produced and this was not something I wanted to do with my images. I liked the simple make up used within the image of the model painted white as the pale look is what I wanted to create. The other photographer I looked at was Phil Poynter. He is more of a fashion photographer but I liked the close shot and positioning and pose of the model in the images that I looked at. I used the side facing shots within my work as I thought the feminine outline of the face portrayed glamour successfully.
I found it hard to work within a group of just two people, myself and Dean, and the fact that we both had our shoots on the same day didn’t help as we had to be doing our own work; but also helping each other set up the lights and equipment as when I was constructing my set up Dean was in the middle of his shoot therefore I basically had to do it myself. Furthermore, I had to assist Dean with light metering and other responsibilities whilst during which time I should have been fully focused on my own shoot and vice-versa, making it difficult and rushed for both of us. In the end we ended up working almost independently. Another negative aspect of the photo shoot was the number of faults that occurred throughout the day, for instance one of the make up artists that I had hired didn’t turn up which cost me a lot of time. I prefer the outcome of the first set of images that I did as I liked the soft make up, if I had more time in the studio I would of worked harder on the second set of images as I didn’t get to spend as much time creating the correct lighting as I would of liked and the background looks a bit grey instead of being completely white.
To conclude the overall outcome of the shoot has left me feeling pleased with the final images, as they appear professional and I achieved the look I was aiming for. On the contrary, the second set of images slightly disappointed me, the reason being, when the make-up was completed, the model did not appear as professional as I had originally hoped, due to the fact that one of the make-up artists did not turn-up, causing me to quickly find an alternative. I feel, throughout this project, I have enabled a wider vocabulary of technical information that will become useful within the future if I was given more time, I would ensure I allowed myself a longer period in the studio and gain more assistance. Moreover, I would have worked in more detail on the facial expressions of the model, which I studied in my research of make up advertisements. I feel as, as I did not have a lot of the work on my blog, the majority of the work was left to be completed too close to the deadline. If I was to do this project again, I would do more initial research within the early stages, allowing me more options and ideas. In addition, I believe if I had a chance to redo the project I would construct my time more efficiently and usefully. Overall, I believe, this assignment was a success; given the time and resources I had available.

My Chosen 3 Images

Images

Images That Inspired Me

This collection of found images are from 'Read My Lips - A Cultural History Of Lipstick, Cohen Regas & Kozlowski.'

With this image I feel the contrast between the pale skin tone (created with high key lighting) and the bright rich coloured lips works well as is portrays a glamours look which is what i wanted to create within my images. I also like how the side of the face is burnt out by the lighting blending the face into the background.
With this collection on 6 images I found it intresting to look at as each model has the same make up on emphasised by the red lipstick but they each look different due to their skin tones and complexions. As a group of images I think this works well and would be good for a cosmetic advertisement to show how products work on differnt people.
I am inspired by this image as i think the make up around the eyes attracts the viewers attention instead on being drawn to the red lips and folk in a seductive pose, as if the model is showing that there is more to her than what you see within this image.

I feel inspired by this image as I think the color contrast works well with the pale, almost white skin tone (created with make up) against the defined deep red lips. Although I like this image if i was to re-create it for my photo shoot I would keep the eyes defined and not blur them as I think they should be a focus point within my images which would create a different meaning for this image.

Research - Phil Poynter

Although this image is more about fashion and the clothes aswell as the make up I liked the soft tones that have been used and the simple facial expression on the model as though she has a locked gaze on something. With her facing sideways we see the outline of her face which i think gives a glamorous feel to the images.
With this image, again I liked the fact that is was taken with the model facing sideways so we can see the feminine outline of the face but also the position of her hands create shapes and shadows which make the image more interesting. The two hands at the side of her face reflects the 'vogue' pose, which also relates strongly to glamour, make up and fashion.

Research - Solve Sundsbo

This image is created by using high key lighting. I like the lack of use of colour within this and think it works well keeping everything to a 'white theme'. The model within this image looks almost doll like but also still human which creates an errie look.
This image is from the same collection as the previous one but to me this image looks as though is has been created on a computed due to the colour, defined shadows on the face and neck and also the light reflections on the black clothing. It looks also like it could be a painted porceline doll as the skin tone is so flat. Although i like these images, this is not hte effect I want to create within my work.
This is another image by Solve Sundsbo. This is closer to the type of images I want to create. It has a glamorous with the pale make up used and also the pose in which the model is positioned in. This is also shot on a white background which I will be using but I would like my lighting to be more high key than this one and the skin tone a little bit darker than what it is in this image.

Research For Presentation

This was an image i found whilst researching into cosmetic & make up / glamour images. It is from Mac cosmetics and I like this image because of the flawless complexion of the models skin and the simple but effective use of make up around the eyes. This was something that I hope the create within my photo shoot but with out the dark shadow under the models neck as i want to use very high key lighting.
This is an image from a Rimmel advertisment which i was inspired by, again due the the complexion of the models skin and the simple but strong make up used within this. I also like the facial expression in this image aswell as it strong and focused. This image does not show the high key lighting i want to use but this is the effect I will try to create with the skin tone and make up.
This is an image I found whilst researching into theatrical make up. I like how this image uses high key lighting and the contrast between that and the models skin and make up is strong. I like how the make up has a funky edge to it and looks quite quirky with the bright neon contrasting colours. I would possibly like the create this within my images.

This was another image from Mac cosmetics that I was inspired by. Although high key lighting has not been used within this i like the colours used within they make up and the design on the models face. The use of black around the eyes and on the lips gives it a slightly eerie look which I like.

My Group & Jobs - Friday 14th March

Me & Dean Schofield

Me - Set up lights, prepare model, take photographs

Dean - help set up lights, light metering, any changes needed.

My Ideas

Portrait Photography
Cosmetic / make up - high key lighting
Theatrical make up - high or low key lighting

Fashion Photography
Glamour / seductive - low key lighting
Glamour / class - high key lighting


Product Photography
Food - high key lighting
Jewellry - high key lighting

My Product Images

This was one of the first images I took durin the product lighting session. I feel that this is one of my strongest as I like the composition where things are cropped intentionally and the dark shadow on top of the braclet contrasting with the highlights on the side. I think the background could of possible done with being abit lighter as it looks slightly too grey.

I like the slight shadow with this image that is hilighted by the line of light underneath the Dior braclet. I also like the composition of this image with the bottle being slightly off centre to the left but I think I should of considered extending the image to the left slighly to ensure I didnt crop out the end of the braclet.

This was one of the images that I took which I didnt like as the bottle looks as though its slanting to the left abit which was not intended. I like the idea of having space around the objects but feel that there is too much space and background within this image.

My High Key Images

My Low Key Images

This is a selection of images from my low key lighting session. I used little lighting creating dark shadows on the side of the face to create a triangle beside the nose and under the eye (shown clearly within the top and bottom image, not so much the middle). I like these images as the give character to the image an make it appear dramatic. I dont think the middle image works as well as the other two as the light on the left side of the face is too bright.

High Key Lighting Information

In high key images light tones donminate. Dark tones are eliminated or reduced by careful selection of the tonal and subject brightness range of the subject matter. Soft diffused lighting from broad light sources are used to reduce all shadows. Backgrounds should be flooded with light and over exposed to reduce detail. Increasing expose beond 'normal' by up to two stops ensures that all the tones are predominatly light. Hard edges and fine detail can be reduced by use of a soft focus filter. When using black and white film skin imperfections can be reduced by using an orange or red filter. A bright background palced close to the subject will also soften their outline. Even though the quantity of light used to create high key is large the actual lighting ratio is small (1:1).