Styling for portrait shoot

Styling for shoot

I met up with Tom to choose an outfit for the photoshoot. I wanted an outfit that was bold and eccentric but still something that he actually wears. We chose outfits that were layered with interesting textures and patterns. This is important for the shoot as I am using black and white film so we will not be able to show his personality using colour.   

These two images are of the same outfit but with different jackets. The black jacket looked more simplistic which isn't really the look that I wanted so we took another but with the fur 

jacket.

The outfit on the left was more of a going out outfit which I liked and the tassels would look look good in my photos but I am planning to only take the photos from the shoulders upwards (maybe slightly lower) so the tassels would barely be visible in the shot. This would make the outfit too plain. 

We chose the outfit to the right because it had quite a lot of layering and there was a subtle clash in textures between the silk shirt and the denim jacket.

We looked at this outfit because the cape type garment that Tom is wearing was a pleated skirt that he had altered. This made the garment more personal to him and his character. Although I do like this and feel it would portray his creativity there is the problem again of most of the garment being unlikely to be seen in the shot.

This outfit is a mixture of smart and glamour and I wanted to look at how the sequins would photograph.  In this snap shot they do shot up but could be mistaken for white dots on the top but I think with the detail that I could get from the film camera in my shoot they could show up clearer. 

In the end I chose the outfit above. I thought that the variety of clashing patterns would be perfect for the shoot as it really puts across Toms bold, unique style. I have shown the outfit in both colour and black and white here just because I love think you can fully appreciate why I was drawn to this outfit when you first see it in colour.  

City shoot

St Pauls

Here are two of the images that i took of St Paul's cathedral. I feel the i have positioned the camera better than I did when I first attempted this shoot however the images are considerably darker. I feel that i have managed to get an image as similar as possible to the image that was taken of St Paul's in world war II. Out of these two images I am going to use the one above as I prefer the positioning of the people in the foreground. Although they are not relevant to my image and are not the focus I feel that they bring character and portray a modern day london. 

Tower Bridge

This image of Tower bridge was taken from London bridge. I tried to get the angles as similar as I could and include the same amount of the bridge within the image. The only issue that I have with this image is that it seems too far away but this is a problem can I will be able to resolve when printing hopefully.

St Thomas' Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital now has a more modern section that is the most accessible out of all of the buildings. I found it quite frustrating as a large majority of the older buildings are blocked by walls and trees preventing me from being able to achieve many photos of them. This made me go back and photograph the new building as although it is not a pastiche type image it is a photograph of what stands there now and how the hospital has developed over time. 

The only old building that I managed to access was the one shown in the image above. I could not take the image from quite at the same angle but tried to recreate it as much as I could. Although this is not the exact building that is featured in the original war photo it is similar and I think by taking the images in black and white it has really helped to re create am authentic look. I am going to use this image as one of my finals instead of the image of the new building because I feel that it is more relevant to my project and is closer to the original image.   

Re-shoot for environment: Landscape

Re-Shoot for environment: landscape 

 Original idea:

I started my shoot by following my original idea. This was to take classic style landscape images and then destroy the negatives. After my review i decided t just burn sections of the negatives as that was that seemed to be the most effective and drastic of the techniques.

I took these three images below and they were more suitable and varied more than the images that I took when I last attempted the shoot.

Final options

I went to take a photo of an open field but could not find an angle that made it look even mildly interesting. This gave me the idea to take the image from the ground. This lead me to change my idea as I can put across the same idea of missing the beauty of landscape by having the foreground in focus and the landscape int eh background out of focus. I felt that this made a more aesthetically pleasing image that I could have more control of as burning the negative can have quite unpredictable results. 

This was the first image that I took that inspired my new approach t my idea. I was drawn to the texture of the grass and its bold colouring.

I took this image from a different angle as i wanted to vary my photos more than I did in my first set of images for this project. It is still clear that all of the images are part of a collection due to the similarities in composition and consistency of the depth of field.

These two images were of the same place but from slightly different positions. They are both darker than the images above which is okay but I don't want the image to look out of place within the collection of images. I could choose the image below due to the fact that more green is displayed and it is slightly brighter which could make it seem most connected to the other two images. On the other hand I prefer the composition of the image above. All of the leaves and branches in the foreground are in focus then graduate to being out of focus as it reaches the landscape. In the image below there are leaves in the foreground that are out of focus which could be argued to be contradictory to my concept.

Lighting Workshop/ references

Lighting workshop

We had a workshop to experiment with different types of lighting so that we were prepared for our portrait shoot the next week. Each group was given a diagram of a lighting set up and had to re create it. The diagram below is the one that was allocated to my group. 

Diagram 1

By using this set up the model was mostly lit from behind as the majority of the lighting is positioned behind the pollyboards in which the model is standing inbetween. This illuminates the model and creates almost a ring of light around then. So the model is lit and not just a silhouette we had a fill light in front of her. This was not a lighting that I wished to use for my final shoot but was still beneficial to experiment with.

 

Diagram 2

 

The second group had to put two polyboards together but at an angle so that there was a slight gap for lighting to shine through. Moving the boards slightly allowed them to be able to control how much light fell upon the model. a fill light was also used but no lighting was behind the model which meant that the background of the image was very dark and all of the light was focused upon the model. 

 Diagram 3

The third group were creating an image that I felt created lighting that was most similar to what I had envisioned for my portrait. Two polyboards were set up in the same way that my group had done when following the first diagram. Two lights were also positioned behind the polyboards on either side to light the background. A lantern was used and help up above and infront of the model. This made an image that was bright all over and to change the amount of shadowing onto he face they held a polyboard beneath the model and angled it towards him.

Lighting reference

Our next task was to go and find a lighting reference. I found a Halsman book called 'Halsman portraits'. I chose this book because he has photographed some very famous and glamorous people and I am hoping to create some sort of beauty/ dramatic shot.

 

Firstly I looked at this image of Elizabeth Taylor. The lighting is very flatering on the model but i was most interested in the lighitng on the background. The graduated lighting ranging from bright in the left top corner to dark almost jet black in the bottom corner draws the eye to Taylors face. I was unsure if this was exactly the lighting that I wanted to use but knew it was something similar. 

In this image of Lucille Ball the lighting is very bright and creates miminal shadow. The background is completely black which contrast heavily with the paleness of her skin. The lighting is very dramatic which is suited to the expression of the model. I think that this may not be as suited to my shoot as the severe lighting takes the beauty element away from the image.

This if the final image that I chose as my lighting reference. It caught my eye when I was flicking through the book as I felt the lighting made Ricki Soma look completely beautiful. There is also quite dark shadowing on the left side of the face which cant be seen as well in this copy of the image due to the quality, however the dark shadowing contrast quite dramatically with the bright lighting on her face and I wish to create a slightly dramatic feel but still with a beauty element so this would be perfect.  

Body: Tom Williams

 Model Choice

For my Portrait shoot I have chosen to photograph Tom Williams who is also a student at UCA that studies fashion design. I chose him because he has an interesting style and felt that his creative opinions and appearance could inspire me for this project. 

Interview with Tom:

I spoke to Tom to see if he was willing to be photographed and then arranged to meat up so that i could find out more about him. The first thing that i asked to was what inspires him and his style. He gave me this list of people that i could look at:

.Boy George

.Marilyn Monroe

.Lady Gaga

.Andy Warhol 

Edie Sedgwick

.David Bowie

.T-rex

.Grace Jones

.Thierry mugler

I have already looked at Andy Warhols drag self portraits but Tom has told me that it may benefit my project to watch some of his films that feature 'Candy'. The transexual actress starred in films such as 'Flesh' and 'Women in revolt'. Tom has a keen interest in Andy Warhol as he "loves what he stood for" and feels that "he changed art". When i asked Tom what his aspirations were and where he wished to eventually be he expressed his desire to be a fashion designer but also to work with art, animation, film etc. He hopes to be a creative designer and explore all areas as Warhol did.

I have decided to first look at Boy George and Lady Gaga as they both have very unique styles and I hope to be inspired by portraits of them for my own work. 

Boy George:

Boy George was a singer song writer who's career started in the 80's and was part of the group 'Culture Club' which lead to a solo career in the late 80's. Boy George is known for his unusual sense of style and experimentation with both his hair and make up. I have not managed to find who the photographer was for the image above but felt that it was an image that I wished to explore further.

Firstly I  would like to look the styling in the image. His make up is subtle but really enhances his features. If I decide to ask Tom to wear make up I will use it in this same way. Women use make up to enhance their best features and in some cases a sense of glamour. I feel that Boy George's make up is not 'drag' like but is part of his style that enhances his beauty. The image above really shows this he is shown to be in a casual position and not making eye contact with the camera re-enforces the fact that it is not a performance.

Boy Georges hair was also an important part of his look and I have noticed that tom also likes to experiment with his hair by braiding in extensions etc. Hair could be an interesting tool within my images because hair can be used to frame the face or show inspiration from specific era's in Toms case. I have spoke to him about how he likes to style his hair when going out and we have decided on a quiff as it is bold and will pull his hair off his face which I felt was important.

 

I love this photograph taken of Boy George in 1984 for the front cover of Cosmopolitan. This image is very different to the one above. He has been made up and photographed in a way the makes him look like a women. Aside from the obvious hair, make up and clothing, the body positions and photographic choices have added to this theme of femininity and beauty. The way that hand is positioned is very delicate but has been made a subtle feature by having the glove the same colour as his clothing. Also the use of the glove is clever as it covers his hands that would otherwise masculine and out of place. 

The back drop used is red which is interesting as I have not considered incorporating colour in this way. They have used red which in this case I think symbolic of passion and sex appeal. Although Boy george was I feel quite beautiful the choices made in this image very cleverly made a successful beauty shot of a man imitating a women which looks as radiant as the photographs that they would display on the cover that is of women.  

Lady Gaga:

Lady Gaga is known for her diversity and extreme style. This has made her a fashion icon and is therefore frequently photographed. I have decided to look at some images of her as she is an inspiration to Tom and i personally find her style very interesting. Hopefully the images can inspire my photographic choices or atleast my styling choices.

The image above was photographed by Mariano Vivanco. This was taken when Gaga had her cheek and forehead implants in. This caused her face to be very angular and has inspired the styling and photographic choices within the image. Many elements of the image have been made to angular such as her box fringe, bun, collar, eye and lip make up and most importantly her hand. I like the idea of the image being sort of themed. It is interesting how many of the choices made for the photograph seem to have been inspired by her new implants. The use of block colours is also another feature of the image that i like. Within my own shoot i could use colour to direct the eye to parts of Tom that i wish to draw more attention to. I could even achieve this in a way even if i do my portrait in black and white as dark lipstick for example would still be visible as it would be a noticeably darker shade.

Both of the images below and above were taken by Leslie Kee. I have chosen to look at these because they are from the same shoot so the styling and make up are the same but i wanted to look at how the photographic choice and direction has made the images so different. The most obvious difference is the the image above is in black and white. Although Gaga is wearing the same amount of extravagant accessories in both images i feel the they are made less distracting when photographed in black and white. By taking away the colour of the accessories more attention is brought to the face. This is something that i should keep in mind when shooting tom as it is likely that i am going to style him in a way that could distract from the face.

Secondly the hand positioning, although both having on hand on the face are very different. By having the hand gently resting on the face and having the finger graduating down Gaga looks much more delicate.Also the tilting of the head makes her look softer.In the image above her head is held upright and is framed by her hand holding her chin.This is an unnatural pose and does not create the softer, feminine look the the image below does.

The last thing that i wanted to look at was facial expression. In both images Gaga has her mouth open however different emotions are shown by subtle changes in her mouth. I the image above her mouth is open wider and this combined with the widening of the eyes makes her look surprised. In the image below her mouth is open slightly less and by placing her finger slightly on her lip and having her eyes more relaxed she looks more seductive. Subtle differences in expression will be very important when i am directing my shoot as the main focus will be the face and a slight change in expression could give the image a completely different meaning.

Edie sedgwick:

Edie Sedgwick would have been classed as what we now call an 'it girl' in the 60's. She was an American heiress and socialite that became best know for being one of Andy Warhols 'Superstars'. She became known as "the girl of the year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films. Tom loves the style of the 60's and Andy Warhol therefore an admiration for Sedgwick is easily understandable. 

Body: Practise shoot

Practise shoot

We were given the task of photographing our partner in the studio. We had to show 4 emotions within the photos which were vunrabile, intimate, aloof and powerful. This was to help us experiment with lighting and give us more experience with directing. Below i have uploaded some of the photographs from the shoot.

This image was meant to represent intimacy. as a group we really struggled with this emotion, not just modelling but directing. I feel that this photograph represents pride and power more that intimacy. Her upright posture and confident expression directed straight at the camera gives this impression. The lighting is too bright and therefore burns out some of the models face. If I were to do this again this would be the main element that I would change.  

This photo was meant to represent vunrability. This is shown by the models expression as she has tilted her head down and and her eyes are also looking down. I decited to have the model facing the light slightly so that the might falls on her face. I felt that this would emphisise how pale her skin was making it look white which could make her look pure and vunrable. I am now thinking that it could have been more appropriate to have had more shaddowing on the face as it would appear more melancholy.

This image had no relevance to the task but after taking the necessary photos I just played with comical and dramaic expresssions to use up the film. I have been told that a portrait is more effective when a serious expression is pulled so I felt that I should challenge this myself. The model that i have chosen for my final portrait shoot is quite excentric and therefore I could photograph him with more dramatic and playful expressions. This may be more suitable to his personality as it may be how he wishes to portray himself to others. After photographing the image above i can see how pulling playful expressions can draw away from the point that you are trying to make with your photograph and may not be appropriate when you are trying to reveal someones personality in more depth.

This is my favourite image out of all of them and most similar to what i hope to achieve in my final image. I think that I will position my model in this way for my final shoot because I find it to be the most intimate. I also want my model to be gazing straight ahead into the camera. By doing the image in black and white it strips down the person and minimises distractions. I am going to do a test shoot using my actual model and try and recreate this effect.

City: London test shoot

London

St Pauls Cathedral

I chose to mimic this image taken of St Pauls Catedral in London during World War II. I am going to try and take a black and white image from the a position that will be as similar to the one above as possible.

I took some digital shots from various positions to try and find the one that was the most accurate. There is now a brigde that leads to the catedral that was not there during the war. I took this image above whilst standing on the bridge but it was not suitable for a few reasons. Firstly the catedral is too close in comparison to the original image. This is an important factor but also the fact that so much of the actual bridge and the public crossing it is featured in the image is very distracting from the actual cathetral which is meant to be the main focus.

I decided that maybe the image could be taken from the other side of the building. This was not possible due to how many buildings were in the way. I thought that maybe from high up i could get a better image but did not find anywhere higher up that I could photograph from. On street level the building was difficult to even see so I went back to the side that I was originally to try again.

Eventually I realised that I was to cross over the bridge (that i took my first practise shot on) then stood infront of the tate then the view was very similar to that of the original image. This was taken with a film camera and could possibly be used as a final image. I think that there is too much sky in this image though but that could be fixed when I go to print the image. I have to return to London to do my other shots because I had difficulty with the camera on the day so may re shoot this image and compare both attempts.