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.