PhotoShoot Review

Since I have started my exam project I have done 4 shoots in total.  I have enjoyed each and every one of them and I think that they all show contrast really well. 

The four different shoots that I have done have been titled:

• Old Age
• Generations
• Death of Life
• Stereotypes

My first photoshoot of old age was kind of a spontaneous shoot.  The idea came into my head when I was thinking about what I could shoot at the last minute.  I thought it would be interesting to try and make myself look old.  I didn't think about how hard this would initially be and the various ways in which I could actually do it.  The various different edits that I have tried have turned out well but I need to try and make them more precise and more realistic which is what I am going to attempt when I have the time.

For the second shoot I chose to focus on generations to show differences and contrasts in age.  I tried to show this is various different ways but I think that for this particular look, the simple approach looked a lot better.  The photos that I got out of it look really good with the certain editing techniques that I chose to use.  I also think that I chose interesting ways other than just taking photos of our faces to show contrast.  For instance, I decided to take photos of our hands to show the differences due to age spots and wrinkles.  I think that this idea worked out really well.

For my third shoot I chose to look at an idea I thought of as 'death of life'.  By this I was trying to get the point across of something dead growing out of something living.  I tried to show this in an interesting way and in the end I tried to make it look like the dead flower was growing out of my own hand.  I tried doing this in the actual shoot and also attempted various different photoshop techniques in order to make it look like it was actually growing out of my hand rather than looking as though it had been cut out and stuck on.  The techniques that I used made it look very real and I am really happy with the way that it turned out.  

For the last shoot that I did I looked at various stereotypes.  I focused on three different types of groups; goth, chav and the goody goody.  I wanted to try and show these different groups through make-up, hair and pose to show the contrast between different types of people.  I think that the way the photos come across look really interesting and I am editing them all together using blending methods on photoshop to put them all side by side to show the contrast between different groups. 

Shoot - Stereotypes (22.02.2013)

For this shoot I am going to work on showing different groups of people through the different stereotypes that come with belonging to a certain group.  I am going to focus on 3 particular stereotypes that I think can be easily shown through various facial expressions, body language and make-up.  

The three stereotypes that I am going to look at are:

• The Typical 'Nice Girl'
• The Chav
• The Goth

I think that these three stereotypical groups of people are very different from each other and I can think of many different ways in which I can portray the differences between them, keeping to the theme of contrasts.  

When it comes to the editing side of this shoot I have one very particular idea in mind.  I am going to take three different images of the different stereotypes making sure each one is in the same place and position, then when I get the images onto a computer, I am going to blend the three different images together so that I can show how easily interchangeable stereotypes are and also the variety of stereotypes that you can find.  I am also going to do this same kind of idea but without blending the photos together.  Instead I am going to simply put the three photos together, overlapping slightly so it looks like they are all in the same photograph, doing certain poses that would be seen as stereotypical for that group of people.  I think that this will look really interesting as well as the other edits I have in mind.

These photos of 'chavs' I think are very stereotypical.  The middle image is more of an everyday chav as well as the photo on the right.  I think that these are probably a more accurate representation of what a 'chav' is.  The image on the left is much more emphasised than the other two to add some humour to the idea of chavs.  In some places you may see certain people that actually look this way but I think the others are much more likely.  For my photoshoot I am going to interpret both of the ideas and meet them in the middle to make a slightly exaggerated chav just to emphasise what I am trying to do.

These photos of stereotypical 'nice girls' are the type of thing that I am going to recreate.  Girly poses and hairstyles with an open body language are what is going to show that these types of girls are stereotypically 'nice'.  I think that this idea I have in mind will contrast well with the other two types of shoots I am incorporating into this shoot.  I thought that I should include a fairly neutral type of stereotype because it will show how every group has grown.  I thought that this would ground the other shoots as well making the stereotypes seem more drastic.

I thought that it would be interesting to incorporate a fairly drastic type of stereotype.  The make-up is dark and detail which I think will look well against the other two types of stereotype.  Dark eye makeup and dark lipstick which a very pale face is something that I am concentrating on the most.  When I am shooting I am going to emphasise it all with gothic rock poses to highlight the make-up on their faces.  I think that this will work really well, especially with the other types of stereotype for it to be put against.

Targets (22.02.2013)

General Targets

• Today I am finishing off edits from my previous shoots.  I want to try and be more creative with the way that I edit them so that they look more interesting.
• I will be doing a different shoot later on in the lesson. Information on this shoot will be in a seperate blog post.

Personal Targets

• To continue trying to be more creative when it comes to shooting and editing.
• Thinking more outside the box with my shoot ideas.

Targets (15.02.2013)

General Targets

• I am going to work on editing and printing all of the stuff that needs to be done.
• I'm going to research interesting ways to edit photos so that they can look more interesting.

Personal Targets

• I'm going to be more creative when doing my edits to make them look more exciting and vivid.

Targets (12.02.2013)

General Targets

• Today I am going to work on editing the photos that I took last friday
• I am going to make them looking interesting and different to the type of thing that you would usually see when portraying contrasts in age.

Personal Targets

• I am going to focus on my editing skills to try and make them better so that my photos will look more professional.

Targets (08.02.2013)

General Targets

• I am planning on shooting generations to show CONTRAST.
• When I'm editing I am going to make facial features and clothing look more prominent and interesting.

Personal Target

• I think I need to work on my creativity.  I find it hard to think of things to shoot which is one of the main things that I need to work on to try and make my photos look better and so that I have a lot of ideas flowing.

Ideas For Today (08.02.2013)

Today I am going to do my first shoot of my 'Constrast' theme.  I am really looking forward to shooting what I have in mind because I think it will show contrast really well.  My idea is to show three generations, through the use of the face, clothing and size.  To do this, I have got my mum and my nan to come in to college to be a part of my photoshoot.  I am going to be in the photo as well, so that you can see the CONTRAST between three women from the same family but in different generations.  I had this idea as soon as I saw the contrast theme and I thought that it would be really interesting to do.  I am going to try and variety of different shots with the three of us standing in height order, or with the youngest one in the middle, I may even try and work it so that the smallest person is in the middle but I'm not quite sure how this will work as it may take away from the purpose of the shoot.  

After I have taken the photos I want to try and experiment with black and whites.  I think black and whites look better with this type of thing because it keeps it simple and not complicated.  I may also experiment with duotones and monotones to add a bit of variation to the photos.  I might try a sepia look to see how I can mix the images up to make them look more interesting.  I plan to make the wrinkles on the face and the details on the clothes that they are wearing a lot more prominent so that it is easy to distinguish every defining feature that makes us different from one another.  To do this I am going to use the burn tool on photoshop to add all of the definition and focus that I want.  I think that doing this will work really well because in my mind it shows CONTRAST really well.  Hopefully this idea will look the same on paper than it does in my head.  If it does look the same then the photos should look really interesting and detailed.