28/04/2016
Final project evaluation
This project was based on GQ magazine or ‘gentleman’s quarterly’ magazine, which is a magazine that focuses on fashion, women, tattoos, cars, money and everything else that the typical ‘man’ should have or want. I read an article in a new-ish version of GQ on footballer David Beckham and the article and the photographs focused on his tattoos, his beard and his fashion sense. I wanted to create something similar to this, as I really liked this article compared to others.
I photographed a Librarian at my University called David Thompson who is fully covered in colourful and crazy tattoos. For this module, we had to take portraits of our model to a professional standard. I think that I have done this, especially when focusing on the tattoos themselves. I do think that pictures of tattoos can be a portrait, even if there is no face in the so called portrait, this is because they represent such a big part of a person, especially if they are covered in them. For example, some may say that David is addicted to getting tattoos re done and retouched which could link to his addictive personality. I really enjoyed this project as it helped to develop my studio skills massively. I had not used the studio a lot before coming to University and I am now quite confident using different lighting set ups, different angles and different backgrounds. I also feel very confident now using medium format cameras. I had never shot in film before University and never in colour medium format before this module, and therefore it has helped me massively and I am now very confident with both.
I photographed a Librarian at my University called David Thompson who is fully covered in colourful and crazy tattoos. For this module, we had to take portraits of our model to a professional standard. I think that I have done this, especially when focusing on the tattoos themselves. I do think that pictures of tattoos can be a portrait, even if there is no face in the so called portrait, this is because they represent such a big part of a person, especially if they are covered in them. For example, some may say that David is addicted to getting tattoos re done and retouched which could link to his addictive personality. I really enjoyed this project as it helped to develop my studio skills massively. I had not used the studio a lot before coming to University and I am now quite confident using different lighting set ups, different angles and different backgrounds. I also feel very confident now using medium format cameras. I had never shot in film before University and never in colour medium format before this module, and therefore it has helped me massively and I am now very confident with both.
26/04/2016
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Magazine designI decided to create a magazine front cover and double page spread in the way that I think my images would be portrayed in GQ magazine. I thought that a full portrait would fill the front page, as this is the case with pretty much every GQ magazine cover I have seen. A fashionable full page on a double page spread was also quite common, this is why I used a full page for my left hand side image. Red and black were the most common colours used as well, as well as the odd use of gold/ orange.
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23/04/2016
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Contact sheetsThese are 2 contact sheets of all of the images I have taken throughout the 3 shoots with David. As I have said before, it is evident that my focusing was slightly off in all of the shoots, but I had corrected it slightly in the 3rd shoot. Like I previously said about the background, the reason I switched from a grey, moody background to a white background is to help the tattoos pop out and give the colours more vibrance. The outdoor shoot shows a different variety of backgrounds, angles and lighting set ups; some have worked and some haven't, but the few that have worked look quite nice. His sunglasses don't reflect the flash or the sun very much which helps massively. The thing that I found the hardest was focusing on individual tattoos, especially his back tattoo which isn't perfectly sharp in real life, so it is physically impossible to make it look sharp. I think that all the shoots were a learning curve and that I have improved from them.
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19/04/2016
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Mamiya outdoor shootThis was my first ever outdoor studio shoot with a proper lighting kit and I found it quite difficult, although it was also interesting. Initially I figured that placing the model up against a bridge would be a good idea, but after a few test shots and alterations, I realised that placing him away from a wall would be better, so that the depth of field was shallower. I used 1 umbrella and I mixed and matched with either an umbrella or 1 harsh light. I think that the use of sunglasses helped slightly in making the images sharper, as they didn't have to be perfectly sharp in order to look sharp. Although some of the images are out of focus, the sun glasses do seem to redeem them slightly.
I really like the top image and will probably use it as a final print for my outdoor prints. It combines natural sun light and unnatural lightning perfectly to block out any shadows on the models face, the background is also perfectly exposed and quite quirky, matching both the models personality and the genre of the magazine. I asked David to wear a suit for this shoot, as I wanted to try and create the aesthetic that GQ magazine creates. His suit, tattoos, beard and sunglasses help create the most stereotypical 'man' and this helps towards the magazine that I aim to shoot for. It is quite reminiscent of David Beckham's work in GQ magazine and various other men based magazines. |
15/04/2016
Mamiya studio shootMy final studio shoot with my librarian David went quite well, as I prepared much better for this shoot than the last one. I used a big beauty dish and 2 soft lights for this shoot. I used 2 small soft boxes to light the background equally; I set them to exactly the same settings in order to make the white even and cancel any shadows out. I also used polystyrene boards to block those lights from affecting my model in any way. I used 1 big beauty dish places behind me in order to light the entire model. I think that the lighting set up on this shoot was much better than the last one, as it helped to evenly spread the light, and expose everything correctly. I also got the hang of focusing to some extent in this shoot. Although I found it really difficult again to focus the Mamiya, I attempted to shoot on a higher f number and also take more time while focusing. I think that his tattoos and the colours of his tattoos stand out massively in this shoot and could be perfect for an article on fashion or 'manliness' in GQ magazine, just like one similar to David Beckham's, although that one was shot in black and white. I think that the model was really good for this shoot too; I asked him to keep his glasses on this time because I think that they show his character a lot.
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12/04/2016
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Outdoor lightingOutdoor lighting for me is something that quite worries me ahead of my shoot in the next few days because anything can happen. It could rain, it could be freezing cold, it could be blinding sun light.. and so on. I will be using an outdoor lighting kit with 1 or 2 lights and potentially an umbrella. I will be using an assistant to hold the light for me, therefore giving me much more of a variety of things I can do, compared to using stands for the lights. This photographer/ website use very soft lighting in order to create quite an even spread of light, blocking out any harsh sun light from the subject. I am hoping for an over cast day, although preparing for all other conditions. I think that with an overcast day, we can make the lighting much harsher, and bring out the contrast and nastiness in the sky, making the overall image look meaner, and I think that this will fall into GQ's genre. If it is sunny, I think it could also work, as we'll have the model very well exposed and the lighting could also again be quite harsh, which is good for this type of shoot. I will be placing the model against graffiti, or some bricks to give it quite an urban feel, and also giving us more dynamic in what I do with the shoot. Although quite nervous for how the shoot will go, I am also really excited to see how it develops. I think that the tattoos will stand out massively against blank space in the background.
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9/04/2016
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David Thompson DSLR shootWhile photographing in the studio, I thought that it'd be a good idea to take my digital camera to 'perfect' an image before taking it on the medium format camera. These are some of the images from the shoot. Obviously I found it a lot easier, because I could look at the image afterwards and take multiple photographs of the same thing. This shows the grey background that I was planning on using and also shows how the tattoos do not pop as much as they do on a white background, and therefore showing the reason why I switched to a white background. I really like the full body tattoos and will focus on them more in the outdoor shoots.
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5/04/2016
Rehahn - Hidden smile in VietnamRehahn again is a travel photographer like Lazar who I deeply admire. He photographed in Vietnam for a while and documented a story called "Hidden smile in Vietnam" and it is so beautiful. Evidently Vietnam has been through a lot in recent years and people still carry the baggage from it all, especially in their wrinkles. Rehahn has seemingly focused on elderly women in his story, as their wrinkles and their smiles seem to have the biggest affect than most. I really like the top image, as it is so close to the subject and the women in the photograph is without a doubt happy, and this shows that the photograph was not staged; he probably made them happy or laugh before the photograph. I really like the lighting in his outdoor studio work and again is something to look at when I shoot mine.
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1/04/2016
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David LazarDavid Lazar is a travel photographer from Brisbane, Australia, who captures moments of life, beauty and culture through photography. I have decided to choose David Lazar as an artist to research as his work inspires me so much, as I want to be a travel photographer and his work is incredible. Lazar's portraits, as well as his landscapes stand out to me as his focus points on the portraits are always so strong on the eyes. I have chosen these three images because the eyes in eacb image absolutely pop to the viewer. He mixes the colours in his images remarkably well too, as the foreground always matches the background, as we can see in all of these images. It looks as though he uses a soft box for his portraits to light up the subjects faces and also to make the eyes of the subject 'pop'. All of his portraits are outdoor shots and I think that he puts as much effort into the background used, as he does on the lighting of the subject. This will definitely be something to consider when I am photographing outside with my model. However, Lazar tends to have only a mixture of 1 or 2 colours on his subject, and therefore it will be incredibly hard for me to match the background with a full body tattoo, as there is nowhere in the world with all the colours on his body.
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28/03/2016
Phil Borges on site studioPhil Borges is a documentary photographer who shoots mainly outside of the studio. His series on Tibet is something that I have never seen before and his style and his edit is also something that I really like because it is so different to everybody else. Borges' portraits are shot using soft lighting that is also quite flattering. However, his edit completely desaturates the background and also slightly desaturates the subjects themselves. I think that this helps to focus on the subject, as he evidently strives for them to look directly into the camera. By doing this, we focus so much on their eyes, but the lack of black and white also gives us a sense of reality in the image because we can see the colour of their faces, jewellery and clothing. I think that this style would only work in places like Tibet and Africa because the background tends to be neutral, whereas if you shot street photograph or colourful places with a technique like this, it would look ridiculous in my opinion. I really like the soft lighting in Borges' work and will be something to consider when I shoot my outdoor shoot.
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26/03/2016
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Mamiya 645 tattoo shootMy first proper shoot for GQ magazine was with the librarian at my University- David Thompson. I decided to use him as the magazine focuses a lot on typical 'manly' assets. David has tattoos, a beard, a moustache and generally is classed as a 'cool' guy, and this is perfect for that of GQ, as they involve people like David Beckham on the front cover and also do a story on him inside. I decided to shoot in the studio with a white background after switching from a grey background because the colours on a white background popped. I initially wanted to shoot 'moody' portraits showing only a few of his tattoos in low key lighting. But after a few test shots on a digital camera, I figured that the white background maintained incredible sharpness in his tattoos whilst making the colours pop. I found this shoot a little easier than the previous one, as I was usually just stood up or crouching slightly. Although I found it really hard again to focus the camera, I had a few images that I really liked from this shoot and they were perfectly sharp also. One could argue wether or not the top image is a 'portrait' or not but I think that in a series of images, this one in particular tells us a lot about the man in question. In my next shoot, I will shoot on a tripod and also shoot using a high F number in order to achieve maximum sharpness. My next shoot will be outside and I intend on taking a full lighting kit with me and to find somewhere outside with a neutral background and a north facing wall.
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24/03/2016
Irving Penn recreation
This portrait from Irving Penn is one of many of his incredibly interesting studio portraits. My task was to re create this image with another person. By using a soft box high and above the left hand side of Izzy's head, we were able to create the detailed shadows and punchy contrast shown in Penn's portrait. The positioning of the hands were something to consider massively, as they affected the image a lot, for example if the hand on her chin was 2cm to the right, we would have completely different shadows on the arm and also the fingers.
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20/03/2016
Mamiya 645 first shootThis was only the 2nd time that I have shot with a medium format camera, and only the first time I have ever shot with medium format colour. I initially intended to photograph women in GQ magazine but changed my idea after getting in touch with a librarian with a lot of tattoos. This outdoor shoot, using natural lighting and a reflector saw Izzy (the model) try and act like a GQ model; a little bit quirky but yet still looking good. I really like the photograph of her laying in the flower bed, as it is very similar to the portraits in GQ magazine, they are colourful and quirky but still maintain the 'model-esque' that they intend/ have to do. I found it extremely difficult to focus the camera in this shoot, as I was shooting at various angles; sometimes on a chair/ ladder and sometimes I was laying on the floor. I think that this shoot has taught me a lot about how to shoot with a medium format camera and also how bright the colours are. I intend to (after looking at these images) shoot more colour, as they pop with film. The images against the wall and the sky are a bit plain, and I think that the top image blows the rest of them out of the water.
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15/03/2016
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Sahara breeze shootI was asked by a band if I could photograph them so that they had a potential cover for their album and also so that they could just have a few more photos in their portfolio. I thought that this would be a brilliant idea to implement my own photography ideas in to it without them knowing. I had this module in mind while shooting the portrait. As we can see, I wanted to play with triangles and other various lines and I also wanted to express their personalities in the photograph as they are a very colourful, vibrant band. The bottom right image is one of the first images that I took, note how I staggered the height of each person so: Small, tall, small tall. This was to divert the viewers eyes up and down; however I found this shot a little boring so I decided to find a more colourful background and play around with poses and personalities. In the top image, I asked the band to simply have fun, to which Connor on the right decide to jump on his friend and then everybody started doing their own thing and I thought that this brought out the best in them and also played with where your eyes go. I used only natural light for this shoot as it was very short notice, however if I were to go back, I would use a studio lighting kit to make them 'pop' out of the background.
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12/03/2016
My group portrait shootI took to the studio a couple of days ago to attempt my first group portrait in there and found it quite interesting. At first, I struggled with lighting and exposures and then I managed to sort it out and get a nice lighting for each individual in the portrait; next up was trying to organise the portrait. Luckily, I used a few of my friends so it was easier to direct them as they weren't awkward. I used 2 lights, one from the left and one from the right hand side, hoping to block out shadows on their faces. I had noticed in previous research that the use of triangles in group portraiture is very common, as you need to divert peoples eyes from each individual and essentially give the viewer a line to follow. In the first image, I decided to play around with triangles, so I put the smallest man in the middle and had him stare at the camera, and then either side of him I had the other 2 men lower down and edging out from the main subject. In the second image, I shot a more typical group portrait in the studio, using similar light with slight changes, I shot this to focus on each individuals personality and I think that this worked well, particularly on the middle and the right hand side subject.
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9/03/2016
Jean-Pierre Uys (wedding photographer)When I think of a group portrait, I instantly think of wedding photography, as it is what I used to photograph. There will be no wedding ever where there is not a large group shot, and then they slowly take away so theres 'main' family, family and then best men and bride maids. Jean-Pierre Uys captures the essence of group portraits at weddings perfectly. He is never 'boring' with his photography, you just have to look at the top image for this. He takes different angles and different scenarios and puts them into his images. The lighting on his images are particularly beautiful also, as he seems to use a mixture of both natural light and un-natural light, however natural light is used more on the bottom 2 images more than the top image. I found the top image really interesting because it really isn't a typical wedding photograph. The photographer has evidently planned this exact scene and lit it with artificial lights in order to have the sky 'moody' and the group well exposed. The bottom two images are more typical of weddings, but still has that creative edge that Uys tends to use in his group portraiture.
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7/03/2016
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Marcus MaschwitzAhead of my group portrait idea, I looked at this photographer; Marcus Maschwitz a photographer who takes group portraits a completely different way to others. I really enjoy his work and will look at his lighting techniques when taking my group portrait. I particularly like the top image of the group submerged in the water because it is very unique. I'm assuming that the group is of a band who wanted a 'different' band photo to every other band and therefore asked the photographer to do this for them. However, what Maschwitz does amazingly well is lights his subjects perfectly. Each and every subject of this seemingly has a light, perfectly exposing their face, yet the background still remains moody and well exposed. While looking through his wrk, I noticed that not one group photograph is the same and he changes the specification depending on the groups needs/ what they do. For example, in the bottom right image, they are either really good friends showing off their masculinity, or they are arm wrestling professionals; either way, the photographer captures this beautifully by exploring their personalities and exaggerating them in this photograph. I really like the lighting in all of his images and will look at him for my outdoor studio shots for this module.
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4/03/2016
Peter Hapak
Peter Hapak is a photographer with a very unusual style. He tends to make all of his portraits unusual somehow. This series of photographs are shot on a white background and is extremely high in contrast, therefore only giving us solid blacks, very faint greys and mainly white. This helps us to focus on the subjects features, usually their eyes. However, we see that the eyes of the subject aren't focusing on the photographers camera, thus distancing ourselves from the,. I really like Hapak's style and will look forward to trying his white on white approach to portraiture.
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1/03/2016
Ben Hassett
Ben Hassett is a very creative, artistic portrait photographer who focuses as much on the oddity of a photograph as well as the person in the photograph. I really like Hassett, as all of his work is far from an ordinary 'portrait'; this work for example, he has painted on the models face in an almost artistic way and then obviously asked her to play with her lipstick and squeeze in her cheeks to create an odd portrait. I don't know if this is actually the model just being a little weird and therefore giving us a sense of her personality, or it is the photographers own visions; either way, we see the photographers personality in his images and I think that this is what portraiture is all about, as well as seeing the models personality.
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27/02/2016
Yuri Yasuda
Yuri Yasuda is a Japanese photographer who photographs mainly for commercial reasons such as DVD covers. Although you are almost distracted by the animation around most of the photographers images, her studio work is exceptional. She caters for the film she is photographing perfectly in my opinion.. in the left image, the film is evidently a comedy and you can tell this by how she's photographed them; popping out of the frame and with a cheerful/ laughing face and with a relatively direct light on their faces. In the right image, the lighting used is very flattering and soft for the beautiful model and she has a light smile, acting as a reinforcement for the title of the film. |
24/02/2016
Double page spreadsTo produce a double page spread for my work means looking at other examples and layouts in a magazine I wish to produce for. GQ's double page spreads work really well because they leave a lot of blank space for writing and therefore not taking anything away from the image itself. We can focus on the image of each individual in GQ's magazine and then we can focus on the writing, without them distracting each other. I also really like each layout in the magazine, as it is simple, yet effective. I will have to focus on blank space when photographing for this module, instead of trying to fill the frame with the model, this is something I am not used to but something I could adapt to.
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20/02/2016
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Fashion, not portraiture"Fashion or portrait" is a question I constantly ask myself while either taking a portrait or looking at a portrait. We also had the discussion in class that got rather heated, as nobody could distinguish. It is like asking if the person is not looking at the camera, is it not a portrait? I think it is. However, in some cases I can disagree; for example in this image. I think that this is purely for the coat and I pay no attention the man wearing the coat. The image is shot in a standard studio with a white background and a soft light on the model. Although the model has a distressed look on his face, I merely think that this is just a pose and nothing to do with his personality and therefore not being a portrait in my opinion.
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16/02/2016
GQ Style?These images show what the women in the magazine are photographed like. In my previous post, I noted how the women are sexualised somewhat and I think that this is perceived in the bottom two but not in the top two. The top two are showed as the dominant, instead of the 'submissive' as the bottom images show. Andriana Lima, in the bottom left image is shown in quite a revealing, tight latex costume with vampire teeth in. This is seen as quite 'sexy' from a males point of view. The lighting in the images are quite like that of the Beckham portrait below; however, these are edited into black and white and I prefer this. The back drop is either grey or black and there is usually quite a flattering, full body light on the models and are potentially also back lit. I would like to try and re create some of these images as the lighting, the poses and the model are interesting to me. I also think that you could argue if these are actually 'portraits' or not because the image is as much about the clothing as they are about the person themselves. I think that personality in a portrait is a must and these portray that perfectly.
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13/02/2016
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GQ MagazineGQ Magazine or "Gentlemen's Quarterly" is a magazine for typical British men. It features things such as fashion, advertisements for cars and women (of course). On the front cover we see the most British, most 'manly' man of all - David Beckham. The photograph itself is evidently shot in a studio on either a white or light grey background; with Beckham looking directly into the camera, it gives the male reader something to look forward to, because obviously every British man strives to be David Beckham. Inside the magazine, there are various studio shoots of women and men, mainly to do with fashion, although the women in the magazine are slightly sexualised, the men are based solely on the fashion. Beckham, however is slightly sexualised if the magazine was for female readers. The photography in this magazine is particularly pleasing, because the portraiture is incredibly good, however the lack of outdoor portraits is worrying.
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9/02/2016
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Recreating photographsThis was my first attempt at re creating a photograph from a magazine. In my opinion, my efforts were not too far off, however, the light could've been harsher on my models face. I tried to recreate this image with 2 lights; 1 full body soft light and 1 single bulb light. i noticed that there was one light central, yet slightly to the left, which is where i positioned my main light until i got the desired shadows inside his jacket and on the right hand side of his face. the other light was positioned to the right of the model, lighting that side of his body up, without fading any of the harsh shadows which i needed. one critique of this image would be the way I positioned my model, he needed to be more central.
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2/02/2016
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Semester 2 - Studio'Fun Ashore' is a travel magazine and includes places to visit, food to eat and stories of adventures. This 2016 version of Fun Ashore tells the story of comedian Kevin Hart and his rise to fame from being the target of bullying. To create this image, the photographer seems to have used a standard sized lens; potentially something like a 50mm. As the portrait is pretty much full frame, it is evident that the photographer was relatively close to the subject. We notice that there is a black/ grey back drop in the studio where this was shot, with the bottom of the backdrop grey and the top is black. This is because of the direction the light is coming from; the right hand side. The photographer seems to have used a single, harsh flash to light up the subjects face, leaving the left hand side of his face under exposed, creating quite a dramatic feel to the image. However, we notice that his suit jacket is over exposed on the right and exposed correctly on the left, this could be down to another light, positioned lower to help fill in the light that was missing on the person's torso. Fun Ashore has an interesting selection of different photographs,where there is a lot of studio work, there is also many travelling photographs.
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