Overall Project Evaluation

Exploring advertising in this unit has been an inspiring and interesting experience. It has most certainly helped me decide whether or not I want to continue with this theme in any upcoming work, which I will definitely be developing in unit 4. The main photographer that I enjoyed researching was Richard Pullar, because his work is always bright and full of life, with his white backgrounds contrasting with the subject and emphasising their shape, colour and overall appearance. Another photographer that I found to influence one of my most successful shoots would be David Gilliver, who's work I responded to in shoot 9. By manipulating single photos and piecing them together with others to create one, I was able to create messages with my work, and advertise them in fun and creative ways. 

Food photography was one of the most successful themes that I explored in this advertising unit as I was able to experiment with colours, layouts and camera angles to decide what made food products look the most appetising. In shoot 7, where I captured visual recipes of an orange and banana smoothie, I took a photo from a birds eye view with the ingredients situated around the frame in a complimentary pattern, spread out evenly across the composition. This shoot was inspired by Kimberly Davis' picnic picture. I then applied the "image and text" task to a couple of the pieces from this shoot, one acting as a title to advertise the drink I am displaying, and one acting as a list, with the recipe informing the audience on how to make the drink and what to include. I enjoyed adding text to my work as it adds that extra potential for a magazine advertisement; something that I also experimented with in shoot 2 with the variety of perfume bottles.

I used the studio for shoot 1 and 2 of my coursework because I was experimenting with gel lighting. In shoot 1 I used two lights with snoots in order to direct a beam of light towards my subject, Connie, casting a yellow and pink tinge across either side of her hair. I then used this same set up, but with one light shining down on a perfume bottle from behind, with two light boxes in front of the subject lighting up every part of the packaging. By using these light beams and colours I have made my shots look feminine and emphasised the beauty. In shoot 6 I also used this same set up for a shot I captured of another perfume bottle, along with developing this by changing the colours and putting each individual picture into a 2x2 collage as part of my computer experiments. I enjoyed shooting beauty products and feminine objects, as I also explored this topic one last time faintly in my 10th shoot, adding a touch of surrealism with the cut and paste tool in Photoshop.

Ultimately, exploring different themes in this unit has allowed me to see the potential that advertising has. I have not specifically been focused on just one theme, as I am an extremely creative person interested in all types of areas to do with photography, which is why I wanted to explore this in my coursework. I have specifically been fascinated by the surreal theme, such as my Momiji doll piece in shoot 6 and my book photography in shoot 9. Here I was able to experiment with my skills in Photoshop which resulted in some clever and fascinating pieces to link to my advertising topic.

Final Pieces

My Top 40 Photographs

Physical Experiments

As my project is based around commercial photography, creating physical experiments wouldn't be effective or relevant to my topic as I often use Photoshop to create experiments. In replacement of these, I will create a few gifs to link to my work instead.

Print Techniques

Selective Colour

Image and text

Image within an image

Repetition

Framing

Cluster

Montage

Photojoiner

Weaving

Duotone

Overlay

Computer experiments

Work Diary - Shoot 10

Evaluation

For shoot 10, I was only able to capture one photograph, as it was something I'd intended to piece together rather than experiment with in the studio. I already had the idea below in mind, and I'd taken each photograph at a different time, so I wasn't able to develop any more photographs to do with Batiste. However, I will be capturing more images with this beauty product in my exam in unit 4. 

I like the way that I have formed the composition of this piece, by taking two separate photographs - one of the Batiste bottle and one of Danielle - and merging them together in Photoshop by using the select and free transform tool. I selected the bottle with my hand holding it and dragged it onto the picture of Danielle, adjusting its size with the scale and rotate tool and having it sit at the left side of the frame to fill the empty space. I made Danielle puff her hair up either side of her head to emphasise the volume this dry shampoo gives you, and the motion you need to make when rubbing it into your scalp. I used the brightness and curves tool in Photoshop to enhance the brightness of this picture, providing the connotation of freshness, which connects with the flower designs around the bottle's packaging. 

Work Diary - Shoot 9

Evaluation

For shoot 9 I was inspired by Christopher Boffoli, to manipulate people and put them into surroundings that they wouldn’t usually be involved in. He uses characters, however I wanted to use real life people and adjust their sizes on Photoshop. I used the studio to capture the photos of myself and Danielle, and used my home set up to take the photos of my books, along with capturing segments of my bookshelves. I used the white backdrop for the studio shoot and pulled it down to the floor to create an infinity curve, same with the A1 sheet of paper I use at my home set up. I used two lights in the studio, both facing Danielle, and a flash on my camera connected to one of the light boxes. This lit up her characters well enough for it to look clear in an image that I piece together, instead of having her body lit dimly against brightly lit books. I used the quick selection tool in Photoshop, and the transform tool, to select and adjust the size of each person I was cutting and pasting. BeFunky.com was also a website that I included as part of the editing stage of this shoot as this website features many creative illustrations suitable for this shoot of mine. I was overall pleased with the outcome of this shoot, as I produced some extremely inventive and surreal pieces which was exactly my aim. The advertising concept is also strong in this shoot, as I am conveying a variety of genres to whoever looks at my photographs – maybe one of the books will become their favourite. 

In this photograph, it is something that I pieced together by taking 3 separate photographs and merging them into one. I took a birds eye shot of pages from a book scattered around in the frame. I then took a photograph of two books of the same duology stacked on top of one another, and then one of me separately in the studio reading a book with my head down. I took the photo of me against a white background, as this would allow my shape to be clearly evident against the white, making it easier for the quick selection tool to select my figure in Photoshop. I selected my outline, and then dragged it onto the picture of the books, where I shrunk my shape using the transform tool in order to make it look like I was around the same size as the books. I then duplicated my body and flipped it upside down, to create a faint reflection of my boots and legs on the laminated book cover. Here I employed the formal element form, as I have presented myself as if I was actually there, as my reflection proves it, rather than it looking like a false image. After I’d perfected the piece of me on top of the books, I selected all of it again and dragged it over the top of the sheet of pages on Photoshop. I then altered the curves featured in this photograph and increased the sharpness to make it appear more pristine and finished. Lots of creativity went into this photograph, and I feel I have advertised the hobby reading in a very interesting way. Some books that you read are fiction, which is false. It is fiction for me to be able to be the same size as a book, however in photography I have made that possible, enhancing the possibility of a fictional world coming true. 

This is another photograph that I have manipulated to make my friend appear around the same size as the books she’s leaning against. I took a photograph of books, all of different genres, standing next to eachother, partly in the pattern black and white. The genres I am advertising in this piece are coming of age, sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, new adult, historical fiction and young adult. This vast variety of genres makes this photograph appropriate for a range of audiences who enjoy reading, not just one specific type. I selected my friend’s figure, Danielle, on Photoshop and dragged her into the frame of the books, making it look as though she is a book end. I then added an illustration of a speech bubble on befunky.com as I wanted to fill the wasted space in the top left hand side of the frame. I added a very inspiring book quote here, that reads “Everyone is a reader, some just haven’t found their favourite book yet!” which in my eyes is precisely true. This quote is complimented by the variety of genres being presented in this photograph, as it is possible that one of these genres attracts someone who isn’t used to reading. The reason that I made this photograph black and white is because it takes away the gender specific colours of the book covers. A book that may have pink on it would stereotypically prevent a male from picking it up, however if the colour of these books are taken away it could allow both genders to pick a book based on interest instead of presentation. I feel I have captured the composition just right in this piece as there is no wasted space in the frame, yet it isn’t too cluttered either. It could perhaps look effective in a magazine article as the added illustration and surreal theme enhances the creativity of it. 

Progression

If I were to develop this shoot, I would like to experiment with manipulating the size of people and putting them into food environments like Christopher Boffoli does with miniature characters. I feel it could look quite comical to have a picture of someone holding an apple above their head, but them being the same size as the apple, trying to steal it from its crate. It would be fascinating to put real life people in impossible situations, whilst still maintaining the advertising theme.

Straight images - Shoot 10

Contact Sheets - Shoot 10

Straight images - Shoot 9