Test Shoot - MOLLY

This test shoot was to get use to the style of photography, I just wanted to try movements. Using my model Molly, I got her to move her arms around. From this shoot I need to get less light on the face with as it is very overexposed. To work on this I need to change the settings of my camera. And also try using just one light over two so it is not as bright on the model.

This is the first photo I have edited, I edited in colour as feel that I want to go down this route. I need to work on lighting the models face, with my model being slightly orange in these photos. But I am not bothered about that at the moment as this is for getting the movements, and I can work on the lighting in a later shoot.

Shoot 1 - SARAH

This shoot went well, with the movements. However I feel the black backdrop is very bright, this can be fixed in photoshop, and also as I am changing the photos to black and white so the background will get darker with that. I decided to photograph in landscape to get more of the background around the model to give me more to work with. I enjoyed shooting this person, as they were willing to more as much as needed, creating photographs with alot of movement.





I used three lights which I now have decided that is too many lights, with the background being the washed out. The light was on F5.0, the middle on F5.1, and right on F6.7.






























Difference between colour and black and white photos:

I have decided to start looking at whether or not my photos should be in colour, as I they do not have the same effect as the edited black and white versions. It gets rid of the detail and focuses more on the movements.

Edited photos:

This photo went well with the dark background and the abnormal movement, I like that I got the face in within the movements to give the photo a center.

This photo is interesting to me with it being cropped close into the models face, but I am not sure if this would look better in landscape with more background around the model. I also would try it without glasses as the light reflects in the models glasses.

Feedback 1

From this feedback form, I have decided to get more people out of my friendship group, and have asked students at the university through facebook if anyone would be willing to model for me. From this I have had a few responses, and will be photographing them. I have also printed off some example of the other shoots I have done to give the models an idea of what I want them to do. 

I have decided not to construct the reply's to the question hows life, as I want the models answer, as I feel it will tell you more about the photo. 

Further Notes: 

I have decided to go with a black backdrop as after seeing Tom Ziebinskis work, I feel it would make it look more dramatic.

I am still not sure whether to have the photographs in colour or in black and white, as I feel black and white will make you focus on the face of the model more, because you are not distracted by the models clothing or other colours in the photo. It also makes everyone neutral.

Shoot 2 - MYSELF

This shoot was more for fun playing around myself with the lighting and movements, which is why there is not many photos. I wanted to try more body movements rather than just moving my head. I really like how some of the photos came out but, decided to go with just head movements as it bought you closer to the photos.


Edited Photos:



I decided to edit this shoot like I have been editing the rest, turning them landscape and black and white. I like how this ended up rather than it being in colour, as the clothes I was wearing were rather distracting from the colours of the trousers. To improve upon this photo I would make sure I keep my face in place to get more of a still shot of my face amongst the blur.

Shoot 3 - CHLOE

This shoot didn't go as well as the first one, even though the light is a lot better on the face, the movements didn't come out aswell as hoped, but they're is a few photos which I like a lot from this shoot. To improve on this photoshoot, I would bring more movements in I feel the model may of been slightly nervous due to the fact she had never done anything like this before.









I decided to cut down on the amount of lights to make the model less washed out. After looking at the photos I saw this worked really well. I set the light to F7 so it was bright enough to light the model.















Edited photos:


I really like this photo, with the dark background and the movements. I also decided to turn the photos into landscape, with more background in them. I like not seeing the enitre body of the model as I want the focus to on the movements in the face.


I think this photo is symplistic with the movements but I like this photo because of this, creating a drag in the models face.






I then went on to ask my model the question that bases this project, and that being hows life? I decided to do this after because I wanted to talk about what the models been upto and what her life is like to find out about her and then ask the question after to get her outer and inner feelings. I once again like the other models told her to write down as little or as much as she wanted and it didnt have to be meaningful. She then gave me her answer which fit with what she was telling me, the stress of uni and work balance.

Shoot 4 - EMILY

This shoot went really well as the model was a lot more calm and moved around alot more. I got some really great photos that could be potentials for my final pieces. I also took some photos with the flash on to see if I preferred a more still image with only slight blurring, but have decided against that as I prefer the more movement. To improve on from this shoot I would shoot in black and white to see what sort of shadows and highlights I would get from it.


























Edited Photos:


























I then decided to edit a photo into portrait, just to see if I would change my mind on the landscape and decided to carry on with landscape because of having alot more area around the model.



I really like this photo, the movements, around the still photo in the center is the sort of photo, I had invisioned from the start. I like the photo in black and white and will continue to turn the photos into black and white.


















This photo was really great outcome, there is not alot of movement, but the movement there is created a really abstract photo. It has kept the movement within the models body, but the eyes are dragged and multiplied.

Feedback 2

 

From this feedback I have decided to try and video the model moving and talk to the, only doing this for a couple of minutes, and then screen-shotting part of the video when I feel the movements are what I want. I will be doing this on my next shoot. Also from this I have also thought further about making up the replies.

Further Notes:

I am still considering whether or not to use the answers within my work, whether that is writing on the border of the photos; like Duane Michals or creating a small caption under the photos to make the answers almost titles. I am also thinking about taking only on of the answers and just using that as a title. I am still thinking about this and it will be the final thing I decided on my work. As can be added in last minute.

Shoot 5 - GEMMA & SOPHIE

This shoot was quick, and is why there is not many photos. I used some of my friends to play around with heavier movement as well as the movements I've been doing in previous shoots. I think they came out really well, and in black and white will have the look I'm going for, like the rest of my photos.



These contact sheets show the more exaggerated movements I tried using the models hair making the movements wider, I didn't like there being less background around them as that adds to the photograph.



This is one of my final photos, I edited it like the rest of the photos, making it black and white in photoshop. I did have to crop a lot on this photo, as I wasn't as close in like on the other shoots showing the lower body a lot more and I didn't want this is my photos. I really like the movements in this photo, being able to see the model, with there being a still portrait amongst the chaos of blur.

I really like the outcome of this photo, as it is almost duplicated on one side to the other, even though it is just movements from the model. Once again I had to crop close in as it showed a lot of the models body. I feel like this is one of my favourite photos as it is what I had envisioned. I then decided to edit out the detail on the jumper, as I found it distracting to the movements, I did this using photoshop, and you can see it down below, for my final exhibition print. I also made the background slightly darker in places, to make it more one tone, because of lighting and shadows.

 Sophies response:                                                                                        Gemmas response:

Shoot 6 - BETH

This shoot was very successful, as the model let loose more and didn't care about having to move around, and didn't just stand there. The contact sheet shows how she moved, using her hands a lot in her movements make them a lot wider, which I feel some worked and some didn't so much, One of favourites are the ones where you put her hands through her hair because they create stillness through the photo.

 

This is one of my most successful photos, I think the outcome was want I have always wanted to achieve. To improve I would maybe get some more head movements, rather than just the three you can see in the photo. I really prefer this photo in black and white, as it gives it more of a dramatic effect, compared to the coloured photos on the contact sheets. To improve upon this I would get rid of the specs within the white, and will be doing this using photoshop for my final exhibition prints.

Shoot 7 - CRETU

For this shoot I tried filming a section of the model moving and then screenshot and edited the screenshots. I feel like this is not the route I want to go down, as the quality is not great and also you don't have great movements within the photograph, so it is not blurred how I would like it.

So because of this I decided to just take photos like my previous shoots. Which the shoot went really well. The model moved well to get the blur. To improve on this I would of got the model to talk about how he felt while the photos were being taken rather than just getting him to write it after the shoot.

I really like how this photo came out because the movements are completely different to movements from my other shoots. You can see the different emotions from the front freeze frame to the back freeze frame, and it is a sort of line to the different emotions. For my final photo I will be using photoshop to darken the background slightly, as on the right it is slightly more brighter from the studio lights.

Shoot 8 - JAMIL

This photoshoot went really well, getting strong movements within the photograph, the model managed to move in such a way that it created strong blur, but also had still parts within it. I am happy that I decided to go with landscape rather than portrait, as it gives the movement more room around it, making the photo feel larger. To improve I would make sure the white balance is correct as the model came out extremely red, for this series it doesn't matter as much because I am turning the photos black and white, but if I didn't know I was doing that I would have reshot all of these photos, so atleast if I wanted to use them in colour, they would be correct.

Edited Photos:













For this edited photo I went with more background, and edited the bacgkround to be darker. I decided with the photo that you could see the indentiy of the person and I feel like you couldn't relate as much with the photo.







This photo was edited from the contact sheet. I went with this one because of the different movements from the rest of my shoots, with the movement being more of a sweeping, rather than side to side. I also like the still parts of the photo, being able to see its a person, but it still doesnt give them an identity.

Answers to Question:

Jamil gave me an answer to the question How's Life? before I started the shoot. I wanted him to think about it and then not have to think about his answer during the shoot, as he could of over complicated his answer. After the shoot he asked me if he could write something else aswell as his answer, which was not a problem, which he then wrote a quote from Winston Churchill, as he said during the shoot when I was explaining my concpet in more detail and what I want the outcome to be, he remembered the quote and thought it fitted quite well. I feel I would like to either use the quote within the writing or just use the quote on its own, sort of like a title/ bio.