Work Diary - Shoot 5

Evaluation

When I went on a trip to Rome this year I photographed some stunning places and well known areas in this historical city. I shot some very interesting pieces and employed the formal element depth into the majority of the images I captured. This formal element is extremely effective in location photography as I learnt last year. You are able to get a feel for a place when it is being taken from the end of a road or a location further in the distance. Buildings/trees/objects surrounding the subject can be captured in the frame when you photograph depth, which is why I explore this formal element so much when I take pictures on my travels. Linking it to my advertising unit, I am able to use these types of images from my shoot and link them with the types found in holiday brochures or websites advertising the wonders of Rome. My photographs would work perfectly in magazines if someone were to review their trip to Rome and include pictures like the ones I have taken. You can advertise countries and cities to visit to death through the media, however you will never get a true feeling of a location until you visit it yourself. This is what I feel advertising photography should do if it involves a travel destination; entice people to want to visit a certain place themselves through the use of very appealing photography. This shoot was a very successful and engaging one for me that I enjoyed immensely.

Here is a photograph of the Vatican, part of the Vatican city, which is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. I wanted to capture this stunning piece of architecture from a distance in order for the beautifully lit building to be surrounded by the bright street lights at either side of the road leading to and from the Vatican. The street lights paired with the lights of the lit Vatican compliment each other extremely well as a larger majority of the frame is lit up, allowing there to be more detail and interesting features in the photograph. I shot a picture of this during the daytime but also during the night to compare the two compositions. I preferred this one during the evening because I felt that the dark sky contrasts effectively with the yellow tinted lights. If this was shot during the daytime, the Vatican would blend in as part of the structure with the buildings either side of the frame. By capturing it at night allows this unique building to stand out on its own through the use of the lights that let its structure glow. Using depth in this piece meant that I could portray an interesting perspective of looking at this building head on. It is directly in the centre of the frame, allowing of the focus to centre around the subject rather than having the viewers eyes wander. 

The majority of the pictures that I took in Rome have all been shot with the layout landscape, as this encapsulates a whole setting of a certain location rather than portrait which only really captures half. If I was to portrait this piece, there would be no silhouette of a trees leaves emerging from the left side of the frame creating a very interesting border. This is a very important part to the structure of this image in my opinion because it conveys just how far I am from the Vatican in the distance. The leaves are extremely close to my camera, nearly the size of the Vatican's when grouped together which conveys just how far away that I am. Furthermore, allowing the whole bridge to be included in the composition has allowed my photograph to capture a large amount of setting in one frame. The neutral day time colours of a cloudy but warm day in Rome has been encapsulated in this piece as the tones are gentle blues, whites and greens. This combination works very well together as the tone of the piece is consistent throughout, instead of having the segment of the leaves to the left of my frame bright orange and red. This wouldn't compliment the rest of the composition, instead it would be a very unnecessary contrast. 

Progression

Progressing this shoot isn't something that I am able to do as I am no longer in Rome, however I have also shot some holiday photos that I took in Spain this summer which I will be including in my 6th shoot next week. I wanted to explore other advertising photography in this unit, so decided that uploading some travel shoots of mine at this stage of my project would be helpful and show my versatile approach to the topic advertising. I want to develop this shoot by employing some of my pictures into the 'image within an image' technique. This will be something I do when I choose to come back and produce some developments to my shoots, as I feel it would be even more effective if someone was holding a frame and looking down on the image with a smile on their face, advertising the emotion they felt when they visited this historical city. 

Straight Images - Shoot 5

Contact Sheet - Shoot 5

Work Diary - Shoot 3

Evaluation

In today's shoot I wanted to begin exploring the food theme that I will be developing the most thoroughly in this advertising unit. I decided to just photograph sweets today, experimenting with presenting them and altering the composition. I captured these photographs at home, so there was no studio set up or specific lighting that I used, just a single spot light and my camera. I was extremely pleased with how they came out after I'd tweaked them slightly in Photoshop, and have acquired a lot of inspiration from photographing simple brands like Skittles. I took pictures where the sweets filled the frame, which I will be doing more of in an upcoming shoot enabling me to creating a bright and colourful multiple imagery piece. I also took pictures of the packet's contents (for example, Skittles) scattered around the frame with the packet on shot. I presented the sweets in glasses and boxes to add that extra appeal. I had fun starting off slowly with this topic and not going straight into editing images together, as I wanted to just simply photograph sweet treats first - and it has provided me with a good base for my next couple of upcoming shoots. 

I wanted to begin with photographing a packet of sweets that involved a mixture of colours, as this formal element is the most effective in advertising. Rather than just capturing a simplistic picture, I wanted to be creative with the pattern of the sweets so that it would make the overall composition more appealing. Pattern and shape are two formal elements that are evident in the top half of the frame, as I lined up particular coloured sweets to create an even and attractive pattern with the confectionary being advertised. I have taken this picture from an angle so that depth is evident in the frame, resulting in the Skittles packet being in focus whilst the contents of the packet is blurred. I like the effect with the skittles furthest away being the most out of focus as this makes it appear as though the pattern of Skittles is never-ending in the distance way beyond the frame. The overall piece in my opinion is effective because the brand is being conveyed to the audience along with the amount of sweets you get inside on packet, and more. It's a very inviting image that would sell to me quite easily if I was craving a sweet treat. I want to experiment with different packets of Skittles with the different coloured sweets and perhaps mash it up into a multiple imagery piece. 

These two photographs above are ones that I was also happy with from this shoot, that I feel have the potential to be played around with a little more. I want to edit the two of these images into magazine style. By this I mean I want to add text to the images and maybe even the logo of the brand. In the Skittles photograph I could easily add a quote about tasting the rainbow in multicoloured letters to compliment the colour of the sweets. In the Kinder image I could just simply add the logo 'Kinder' into the top half of the frame. All these types of additives to the compositions would finish off the advertising photography, as this involves text as well as images. My reasons for choosing these two pictures as ones that I could add text to is because I have taken the photographs and purposely left quite a large amount of white background in order to leave room for the text. The images just don't look quite finished with, but they will be once I alter them. 

Progression

In order to progress this shoot, I will be adding text to some of the frames like I mentioned above and also adding some surreal photoshop effects to the pictures, or new upcoming pictures, to make the images more appealing and wacky. An example of this would be me photographing a packet of skittles with them bursting out the top of the packet - created through photoshop of course.

Work Diary - Shoot 4

Evaluation

In today's shoot I wanted to practise with the composition and studio set up that I'd use when I come to photographing portraiture photography with a variation of fruits. For this shoot I have drawn a light diagram to convey how I set the studio up and what worked the best. I experimented with gels, however the colour yellow didn't compliment the picture by matching with the yellow lemon, instead it just ruined the image as I preferred Danielle's blonde hair at it's natural colour to avoid having there be other focal points in the frame; I just wanted the lemon to be the main subject of the picture. Overall I used three lights in this shoot to create the bright appearance that advertising photography often has. I will be using this set up again when I capture more portraiture photography as it was very successful. By shining a light on the white backdrop, it changed the appearance of its colour in the frame. With just a soft box to light the front of Danielle, only a minimal amount of light managed to reach the backdrop, meaning it appeared grey in the image. Therefore using the spotlight enhanced the white tone of the sheet, allowing it to become visible in my photographs. I used a snoot on the spotlight in order for it to shine on the back of my subjects hair from the right, rather than spread across the whole of my models hair. My intention for this shoot was to capture the reactions that people express after they've tasted a lemon. Here I am advertising something with a lemon flavour, which I will now be able to develop by adding a photograph of lemonade to the images perhaps.

This image is one of my favourites from the shoot today for an assortment of reasons. Firstly, I was happy to use no gels in this shoot because the texture and delicate appearance of Danielle's light blonde hair looked more appealing than it did with the bright yellow beam shining over the right side of her. The gel made the photograph look extremely fake and over the top. I composed Danielle's body to be in the middle of the frame, with her arms practically identical either side. The framing looks neat and tidy, and the lemon is in the centre of the image acting as the main focal point. It's bright yellow colour reaches out to the audiences eye, and as this is the action taking place in the frame, it conveys that what I am advertising most certainly has something to do with this tangy fruit. I thought that the black jumper Danielle wore contrasted effectively with the white background, as both colours appear as blocks. There are no tones in her jumper and no tones in the white backdrop. Sometimes a missing formal element can be a positive thing. I also like the fact that I could now develop this image into a magazine advertisement by perhaps having a bottle of Schweppes lemonade in the bottom middle of the frame with a wacky slogan.

This is my overall favourite photograph from today. Immediately I am attracted to this image because of Megan's sharp and accurate reaction to the taste of the lemon. In comparison to Danielle, Megan has gone all out with eating this lemon. Her reaction is a lot stronger because she has bit into the fruit whereas Danielle simply tried out the flavour with a small lick first. Megan's arms are also identical either side and she is situated, again, in the centre of the frame. As a result of this, the composition is successful.The orange tones in her hair and the highly saturated yellow of the lemon alongside the royal blue of her top are all colours that compliment each other. They contrast with one another but also match extremely well. It is the colours in this piece that I admire so much, as they have the connotation of fun and they are also loud. The taste of the lemon is most certainly a loud flavour because it hits your taste buds, and if I was to look at this piece in a metaphorical way I would suggest that the fun colours are a  representation of the fun adventure your taste buds undergo when they come face to face with a lemon.

Progression

In order to progress from this shoot, I will be developing these photographs. I will mainly work on those that I took of Danielle, because a bottle of lemonade/lemon flavoured drink would fit the best in the middle of her arms at the bottom of the composition. The bottle would also stand out against the black colours of her top. I will also be progressing this idea into a further shoot, where I will have the colours of the fruit match the colours of the models top, hair accessory, nail varnish and eye shadow. I want to perhaps take more photographs like this (above) of different people with the same fruit, or the same person with different fruits. I will create a multiple imagery with these pictures as it would illustrate the different reactions people have towards certain fruits. I could also have somebody messing around with the fruit in the frame and put these into a multiple imagery as well, because they would be fun to shoot and present. 

Contact Sheet - Shoot 4

Straight Images - Shoot 4

 

Straight images - Shoot 3

Contact Sheets - Shoot 3

Work Diary - Shoot 2

Evaluation

I decided to capture my first product shoot this lesson, basing it around perfume bottles (ghost, 1D Our Moment and body shop's vanilla mist). The reason that I chose these bottles to photograph is because the colours are related in a sense that they all have a clear see-through packaging, and the beige colours mix successfully with the pinks. The Ghost perfume and Our Moment mix the best with their pink tones, however I feel that all three of them with each other are just as effective because the colours are subtle and blend effectively. For this shoot, I built it. My set-up consisted of a table with two lights either side of it. One of the lights was a beam with a snoot facing down on the table. The other one was a soft box looking up at the table. I began with only one light switched on, which wasn't doing very much for the composition's lighting as it was filled with too many shadows. I then turned two lights on, however there was still a shadow at the back of the paper. I then made the infinity curve of the paper that I used less evident so that the whole image conveyed there being no interruption in the white backdrop. I had to experiment with the strength of the lights as it made one of my images bright white, so I ended up having the camera settings set to iso 200, 1/125 F11. I also used a flash, which enabled me to shoot clean and bright photographs, emphasising the femininity and glamorous appeal of the subjects in my pictures. During this session, after using gels in the previous shoot, I employed this technique into my shoot this time to experiment with colours. I used a pink gel which set a feminine mood in the frame, I used a yellow gel which added to the appearance of warm lighting, and I also used a dark blue gel which added a crystal clear and fresh appearance. I enjoyed experimenting with these gels, however feel that I could just explore with an assortment of colours on Photoshop by using the colour balance edit. Gels are fun to experiment with, however not always necessary. 

These two were the first couple of pictures that I took after developing the shoot, by building the lights and the set. I experimented with composition here, as I wanted the smaller bottle located in the foreground of the frame in order to attempt having the Ghost perfume bottle in the background appear smaller than it realistically is. In the photographs, it looks as though the Our Moment perfume bottle is pretty big, when in reality it is a lot smaller than the Ghost bottle. I aimed for the lights to create a shadow coming from the bottles to the front of the frame because I feel that this adds extra drama to the image, as it outlines the bottles' shape a lot more than it would if it was a clean white image. I was also exploring the formal element form as well, which resulted in these photographs being two successful outcomes. My reasons for pairing these two images together is because I have used a different gel in front of the light each time and I wanted to compare the two. In the left image I used a pink gel, and in the right image I used a yellow gel. These gels set different moods, which is a technique I find extremely interesting. In my opinion, the pink gel photograph is a lot more effective, because the colour compliments the already existing pink in the front subject and background subject. Additionally, the colour adds to the femininity in the composition, which relates to the product as they are both aimed at women. With the yellow gel, it made the bottles appear quite mucky and less pristine, therefore a less effective photograph.

This is another photograph from this shoot that I captured, and was extremely delighted with.  I wanted to take a photograph where all of my perfume bottles were in the same frame, because I intended on creating an advertisement displaying a mixture of present ideas for those who like a combination of scents. These would be the perfect gift for someone at Christmas, and as the season is approaching I felt it would be appropriate to relate some of my shoots to this upcoming holiday. The lighting on this photograph was glistening less, as the ones above were glistening from a light beam, however it wasn't as effective in this shoot. Despite this, I still feel that the clean white background is just as effective, as this is more magazine based. The background contains no shadows and there is no evident light source, which is the approach I was going for in the first place. Having a lack of shadows emphasises the bright and happy appearance of sweet scented perfumes. I reduced the saturation of the image in Photoshop as I didn't want the beige and pink of the bottles packaging to be too vibrant, because I was aiming for a soft appearance in this piece. I left a large white side of the background in the right hand side of the frame so that I was able to add a strap line to the piece, advertising the perfumes more verbally rather than just visually. I am happy with this first attempt at an actual advertisement, and will most certainly be developing this technique in the future.

Progression

After this successful shoot, I am extremely inspired by gel lights (even more so than I was after shoot 1)  and also extra excited for my project. I want to explore more perfume styled advertisements if I get the chance, however I mainly now just want to dig into my food based project. I will be using the same set up that I used today for the majority of my future shoots because this has proved to be a success. If I was to develop shooting perfume bottles, I would like to create more of an atmospheric set up of perhaps an outdoors background. For example, below a fresh scented fragrance is being complimented by a fresh field of green grass.

Straight Images - Shoot 2

Contact sheet - Shoot 2

Work diary - Shoot 1

Evaluation

Experimenting with gels on lights in this shoot was tons of fun. Not only did I get to learn a new technique and put it into practise, but I was also able to discover yet another method of photography that has influenced me for my personal project. We had a set up of 4 lights. One light, coming from the top, was placed in front of the model beaming down onto them. There was then a second light (soft box) directly underneath the first light, shining up towards the model. Then we had two light beams with cones on and a filter behind the model, coming in from each side of the frame. It was these two lights that I'd then place gels over. We experimented with a variety of colours such as green, red and blue, however I wanted to capture images with the purple and yellow gels because these are both bright and vibrant. We also experimented with the lights that we'd use and the intensity of their beam, varying the strength of the lights and also turning some off to discover whether shadow pictures worked better than the bright ones. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to experiment with a different background colour such as white, but this could be something I may develop in a future shoot. I had a great time exploring the gel technique in this session and I have been incredibly inspired as a result.

This photograph of Connie is one of my favourites from the shoot. It is one of the first that I took where the yellow lighting from the left side wasn't beaming into the frame as effectively as it was later on in the shoot (I adjusted the level of the light). The reason that I find this one to be one of my favourites is because it captures Connie's mysterious facial expression in a dark light. Having the yellow there would make the image brighter, but her facial expression isn't a positive one. I feel as though I used the gels effectively in this image as the dark purple colour shining on just one side of her hair compliments her empty pose into the camera. Her eyes are also glistening in this image which adds an extra shine to the overall piece which I find quite fascinating. I really like the whole glitz, glam and shiny touch that the gel lights give to these pictures because it really enhances the frame of Connie's hair by lighting it from behind, rather than having her hair blend into the dark backdrop and not stand out in the lens. I could have perhaps added a light in front of her face to reduce the shadows, but other than that I am happy with this photograph.

This is the second photograph of mine that I captured this lesson that I was really happy with. I framed it so that the portrait consisted of no more than Connie's upper half and her face. In this image I got her to smile, because there were two lights beaming on the back of her hair from the left and right, and I wanted the bright mixture of colours to correspond with her facial expression. The light has created emphasis on Connie's hair and made all of her stand out in the frame. I think by having her leaning towards the side of the frame conveys her body language as being relaxed instead of her standing upright and forced staring into the frame straight on. By having her posture slanted creates a more calm and composed tone in the image, also making her smile appear more natural rather than it being just a forced pose. Overall, I enjoyed using these lights during this shoot because they can really bring life to a dull portrait. 

Progression

In order to excel my skills with gels and lights, I am looking to perhaps take some more pictures similar to the ones above with my own ideas. I have already planned to take photographs of a model holding sliced lemons over her eyes with yellow nails and yellow lipstick and a yellow hair accessory for example, and so on with other coloured fruits. Therefore, I am now inspired to take these exact same photos, but use red gels for a strawberry shoot and green gels for a kiwi shoot for example. I feel as though this will be a super effective technique that can enhance my images by a mile. I am also interested in experimenting with gels when I take pictures of food. An idea I have is me composing a shot of a green water bottle with a glass in front of it, filled with the contents of the bottle, whilst green gels shine in on the frame. I am also thinking of doing this with blue gels and a blue bottle, or just a cocktail glass filled with blue liquid and a slice of lemon with blue and yellow gels shining down on the frame. I think that this has the potential to work in my upcoming photography sessions, therefore I will most certainly be testing these ideas out eventually.