Wednesday, 8 May 2013
What I've learnt
Before this project I may have never looked into editorial photography, I didn't think I would have the right skills or interests to follow this photographic route yet I was surprised to find out that my favourite types of photography are similar or the same as what is required in editorial work. People are my favourite subject matter and most editorial work is of people. I initially picked the editorial route to practice my time management skills because our tutor, David, gave us about a week to finish each individual brief, I thought if I could do a whole project in a week then my time management skills would increase for the better for the future, I feel as though this did happen. I enjoyed completing the tasks asked of me and discovered editorial photography is right up my street so overall this has been a very beneficial and positive module.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Saturday, 4 May 2013
My idea
I wanted to find two people who had a close connection an I wanted some way to show this strong bond through the image so I began thinking of people I knew who could fit the brief. I wanted to try something different to what I usually do when photographing people which is usually serious, natural work, this time I wanted to try out a lighter, funnier way of portraying the people, I wanted a light hearted maybe slightly tongue and cheek story. I didn't want to work too close to my comfort zone and pick people that I myself have a really strong connection with because I wanted to challenge my confidence and see if I could work with people that I wouldn't normally work with yet as my thinking process went by I immediately fell in love with the idea of photographing two of my housemates, the reason behind the choice of people outweighed the greed I had to challenge myself by taking a photo of people I wasn't used to so I went with my instinct and went ahead with using my housemates.
I choice these two people because of how they met, to me it's an interesting and funny story. In the first year of university, Adam, one of my housemates and good friends lived in student accommodation and Andrew, me other housemate lived in the same house as him, on the same floor, in the room next door yet despite living so close to each other, they never spoke, not one word until one day me and Adam went to the local pub, not knowing Andrew was already there. Andrew was quite drunk to say the least, he was stumbling a little. Me and Adam were sat at the bar just chatting when all of a sudden someone drunkenly falls onto Adam, it was Andrew and that was how they officially 'met'. I love this story because the way they met solidifies the stereotypical student in them. They both knew who each other were yet never spoke until Andrew fell into Adam. It got me interested in how little factors throughout the day influence our next steps in life, if Andrew hadn't have bought that last drink he might not have been drunk enough to fall into Adam, if Adam had chose to sit in the seat I chose to sit in then he wouldn't have become an accidental target, if I hadn't suggested going to the pub that day then none of that would have happened. Andrew, Adam and I, plus another housemate, Emily, are very close now and it's all because Andrew fell into Adam when he was drunk, if he hadn't have done that then we wouldn't have mingled, become friends and they wouldn't have suggested sharing a house with us this year. I find it to be a bizarre situation therefore interesting to photograph.
I didn't know how I wanted to capture my two housemates but I did know I wanted the story of how they met to be told, this for me was the priority because it's the interesting part. I also wanted their strong bond to be captured in some way so as of this point it was up to me to draft a few ideas down and see which I felt to fit my view the most.
I choice these two people because of how they met, to me it's an interesting and funny story. In the first year of university, Adam, one of my housemates and good friends lived in student accommodation and Andrew, me other housemate lived in the same house as him, on the same floor, in the room next door yet despite living so close to each other, they never spoke, not one word until one day me and Adam went to the local pub, not knowing Andrew was already there. Andrew was quite drunk to say the least, he was stumbling a little. Me and Adam were sat at the bar just chatting when all of a sudden someone drunkenly falls onto Adam, it was Andrew and that was how they officially 'met'. I love this story because the way they met solidifies the stereotypical student in them. They both knew who each other were yet never spoke until Andrew fell into Adam. It got me interested in how little factors throughout the day influence our next steps in life, if Andrew hadn't have bought that last drink he might not have been drunk enough to fall into Adam, if Adam had chose to sit in the seat I chose to sit in then he wouldn't have become an accidental target, if I hadn't suggested going to the pub that day then none of that would have happened. Andrew, Adam and I, plus another housemate, Emily, are very close now and it's all because Andrew fell into Adam when he was drunk, if he hadn't have done that then we wouldn't have mingled, become friends and they wouldn't have suggested sharing a house with us this year. I find it to be a bizarre situation therefore interesting to photograph.
I didn't know how I wanted to capture my two housemates but I did know I wanted the story of how they met to be told, this for me was the priority because it's the interesting part. I also wanted their strong bond to be captured in some way so as of this point it was up to me to draft a few ideas down and see which I felt to fit my view the most.
Friday, 3 May 2013
Brief 3 - How we met
Once again we had a choice of paths to follow for this particular brief, I chose 'How we met', mainly because I very much enjoy taking photos of people and this is what this path would most likely entail. I don't usually go for the routes that I'm used to as I like a challenge and to try new things but this time I thought as I Was taking a risk with the Spring Fashion brief I could play it slightly safer with this one as I knew by choosing something I know and enjoy then I could work to my full potential and create something impressive for the viewer.
My spring fashion photo
This is my final Spring Fashion image. I took some of the inspiration from the latest spring trends and some from my own ideas. I made the background by painting A1 paper yellow then adding Jackson Pollock style paint lines over the top of it to get a coloured web effect, I did this to mimic the stripe trend yet gave it a twist. I cut out some paper flowers and painted them and added them into the background to give the image more of a spring look. The clothes, I wanted to be plain, bold, bright and striking, I went for the orange top to bond the model with the background, I think this works really well. The sunglasses and shorts are another one of the latest trends. Once taken, I increased the contrast, brightened the colours and added a slight yellow tint to the overall photo using Photoshop to make the image look sunny, bright and warm.
I enjoyed the whole making of this image, especially the painting side of things because this is something I don't get time to do anymore. I do like the photo but if I Was to re-shoot I would definitely experiment more with different compositions, expressions and postures because with the lack of time I had on this brief and the pressure to complete the task before my model had to leave, I had to make a quick decision and go with the first image I liked.
I enjoyed the whole making of this image, especially the painting side of things because this is something I don't get time to do anymore. I do like the photo but if I Was to re-shoot I would definitely experiment more with different compositions, expressions and postures because with the lack of time I had on this brief and the pressure to complete the task before my model had to leave, I had to make a quick decision and go with the first image I liked.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Spring fashion
To find out a bit more on the topic of spring fashion I looked through some magazines at the spring fashion sections to see what was the latest fashion craze. One magazine stuck out to me for having lot's of detail on this topic so I took quite a bit of my inspiration away from this one, it was 'Glamour' magazine. In Glamour magazine I found on the latest spring fashion trends to be 'Bermuda Shorts', 'Black and White', 'Peekaboo pieces', 'Statement sunglasses', 'Stripes', 'Leathers', 'Beautiful Beads', 'Short Suits', 'Sport Dresses' and 'Flat or low heeled shoes'. I took elements of these trends and developed them into my own idea, the trends I wanted to work with were the Sunglasses, Stripes, Shorts and Flat shoes because I could quickly think of ways to incorporate these into my idea where as the other trends didn't seem to fit as well. I immediately abandoned the Black and White trend as I knew from the start I wanted bright bold colours to attract attention and portray an obvious spring scene.
Editorial fashion photography
I've never done any sort of fashion photography before because I guess it's never really been of interest to me which is surprising because my favourite type of photography include people! I guess it's more the documentary side of things that I enjoy to do. I researched into how editorial fashion photography is commissioned and completed. I came across an interesting article by Darren Rowse, on how editorial photography is made.
-The idea or theme for the commissioned editorial fashion photography is normally given by the editor of the magazine for a particular issue.
-The photographer discusses the brief with the art director or editor about how the theme should be interpreted. The photographer gets most of the control from here, he/she inputs their own ideas and discusses what the theme means to them.
-A stylist is usually needed to find the latest fashion trends and provide the clothes to suit the brief. The stylist contributes greatly to the development of the photographers idea.
-The magazine would usually want the stylist to get clothes attached to famous brands as this would normally increase the interest on the viewers behalf.
-The choosing on the model is an important contribution to the whole process. The model needs to fit the look that the photographer is trying to achieve, for example, if the theme was 'Summer Fruits', a model who may be on the heavy side in terms of weight wouldn't make much sense to the viewer.
-The photographer needs to brief the hair and make-up stylists on what he/she should do to the model, but some input from them wouldn't be a bad thing, after all it's their job!
-A mutually agreed date would have to be set in order to get everyone in the same place at the same time and a lot of notice must be given as well as a lot of time before the deadline as things do sometimes get in the way and force people to have to re-arrange.
-The photography should use the make-up artist and hair stylist throughout the shoot, they should be asked to focus on their particular contribution and to speak up and fix anything that may have come out of place because the photographer would find it difficult to focus on all of the aspects of the shoot at once. I personally would be focusing on mainly the posture and expression of the model and would probably not even notice if, for example, a button fell off the models shirt, I would ensure it's up to the stylist to point this out to me.
-The photographer has to talk to the model, he/she has to tell the model what they want her/him to do, what expressions to do, what posture to have and so on. The photographer needs to be clear in directing the model in what to do and has to be confident and ready to give instructions.
-The photographer must be the leader, it is his/her shoot. Informing the crew every now and again on the time would ensure each specific job that makes up the whole shoot, meets it's deadline.
-Once the photos have been taken the photographer would need to process the images into the correct format and might need to manipulate some factors such as lighting, contrast, exposure and colour.
-The page layout for the images is decided by the page designer but the photographer will work along side and ensure that layout gets his/her view across.
-The idea or theme for the commissioned editorial fashion photography is normally given by the editor of the magazine for a particular issue.
-The photographer discusses the brief with the art director or editor about how the theme should be interpreted. The photographer gets most of the control from here, he/she inputs their own ideas and discusses what the theme means to them.
-A stylist is usually needed to find the latest fashion trends and provide the clothes to suit the brief. The stylist contributes greatly to the development of the photographers idea.
-The magazine would usually want the stylist to get clothes attached to famous brands as this would normally increase the interest on the viewers behalf.
-The choosing on the model is an important contribution to the whole process. The model needs to fit the look that the photographer is trying to achieve, for example, if the theme was 'Summer Fruits', a model who may be on the heavy side in terms of weight wouldn't make much sense to the viewer.
-The photographer needs to brief the hair and make-up stylists on what he/she should do to the model, but some input from them wouldn't be a bad thing, after all it's their job!
-A mutually agreed date would have to be set in order to get everyone in the same place at the same time and a lot of notice must be given as well as a lot of time before the deadline as things do sometimes get in the way and force people to have to re-arrange.
-The photography should use the make-up artist and hair stylist throughout the shoot, they should be asked to focus on their particular contribution and to speak up and fix anything that may have come out of place because the photographer would find it difficult to focus on all of the aspects of the shoot at once. I personally would be focusing on mainly the posture and expression of the model and would probably not even notice if, for example, a button fell off the models shirt, I would ensure it's up to the stylist to point this out to me.
-The photographer has to talk to the model, he/she has to tell the model what they want her/him to do, what expressions to do, what posture to have and so on. The photographer needs to be clear in directing the model in what to do and has to be confident and ready to give instructions.
-The photographer must be the leader, it is his/her shoot. Informing the crew every now and again on the time would ensure each specific job that makes up the whole shoot, meets it's deadline.
-Once the photos have been taken the photographer would need to process the images into the correct format and might need to manipulate some factors such as lighting, contrast, exposure and colour.
-The page layout for the images is decided by the page designer but the photographer will work along side and ensure that layout gets his/her view across.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Brief 2 - Spring Fashion
We had a choice of 3 different briefs to follow but I immediately chose 'Spring Fashion' because I've never done any fashion photography before and as soon as I read what kind of outcome was being asked for I thought of an idea right away and fell in love with it!
When we think of spring we most often than not, think of flowers and colours. I didn't want my idea to be generic and obvious yet I wanted it to be recognisable in the sense that my photo is about spring fashion. My idea was to paint a colourful background, I wanted yellow as the base colour and thought about layering more colours on top of that in a 'craft/do it yourself' kind of way. My idea was influenced by the paint I had on my arm from the night before, it gave me the idea to paint on my model to give her a link to my hand made background. I knew I wanted bright colours and flowers but not shown in the typical 'spring fashion way.'
When we think of spring we most often than not, think of flowers and colours. I didn't want my idea to be generic and obvious yet I wanted it to be recognisable in the sense that my photo is about spring fashion. My idea was to paint a colourful background, I wanted yellow as the base colour and thought about layering more colours on top of that in a 'craft/do it yourself' kind of way. My idea was influenced by the paint I had on my arm from the night before, it gave me the idea to paint on my model to give her a link to my hand made background. I knew I wanted bright colours and flowers but not shown in the typical 'spring fashion way.'
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