Practise makeup for my black and white photoshoot

With the makeup for the photoshoot it must be natural as stated in the brief for this project. Also with the models eyes I couldn't use anything too dark as i wanted the eyes to appear bigger.

To follow the brief, I chose to do very smokey eyes so that the makeup was simple and not too dramatic.

One thing that was important when designing/creating this make up was to ensure it stayed natural as in the brief it explains how it is focused around being quite natural and not having loads of touch ups as it's out first photoshoot. I wanted to avoid using eyeliner on the eyes too as it would have looked too dramatic and could've possibly made her eyes seem smaller which wasn't something I wanted to ensure that the eyes were the main focus in my black and white shoot.

Practical - Angles and lighting

Here are some images from one of our practical/practise shoots in the lesson working on lighting and poses/angles to see what types of angles and lighting we would like to use in our final photoshoots.

Call Sheet

Here is my call sheet for both shoots.

Project Moodboard

Here is the moodboard I made for my 2 shoots. This shows where my inspiration came from for lighting hair and makeup and clothing as we had to choose 1 colour and my colour was burgundy.
With my shoots I wanted to make the skin look radiant and natural as the skin can look really unnatural if you put too much foundation on the skin. Also with poses I wanted to try and make the model feel comfortable and to ensure that I didn't ask them to recreate a pose that would look unnatural or uncomfortable. 
With the lighting I wanted to use a beauty dish for the colour shoot as it makes the lights less harsh on the face which is something that can make the skin look nice and soft. Planning my shoot I want the model in the colour shoot to wear a burgundy 'off the shoulder' top as it looks nice with my models skin tone. With the black and white shoot I want my model to wear a lace black 'high necked' top as the models hair will be up and the detail of the top will show.

Reflection - Mood Boards

In this lesson we were required to pick a random work from the dictionary with our eyes closed.
My word was Labyrinth. When trying to decide what to actually pick to be in my mood board I struggled as Labyrinth isn't an everyday word. After thinking about it I thought of the film called labyrinth and how it would make someone feel to be in a labyrinth or maze which is where the pictures came from as I decided to choose images where people looked lost, frustrated or upset. Also with my mood board I felt text was a good idea as my moodpboard would have been confusing otherwise.

Here is my moodpboard after we was asked to remove one image that didn't really add to the mood board much and I chose to remove the blurry image of a model looking into the camera as it doesn't really contribute to the mood board and now looking at the mood board with that image it looks better as all of the pictures are relevant and its easier to focus on the images present and less confusing. Also with there being less images it is easier to focus on the text that has been incorporated as when you know what the mood board represents the text makes more sense.

This session allowed me to understand the importance of moodpboard and how when creating a mood board an finding images it is important to crop the image so the relevant part is showing to save confusion. This lesson also taught me that if you use text in your mood board it needs to stand out as if someone is looking at your mood board they need to be able to understand what your trying to put across straight away as its visual and peoples minds understand visuals very easily.

Photo Editing using the Face Tune App

In this lesson we looked at all of the different ways of editing images and tried using the Face Tune app which can change the look of someone completely depending on how many of the tools you use.

When we was trying the app out in our groups we wanted to make subtle changes as we don't think models should have such drastic changes made to their appearance.

With the image of Simona we chose to crop the image to get rid of more of the negative space. We also chose to give the image a Black and White (with a silver tint) filter as it meant that the image looked softer and also made her skin look more radiant.

We smoothed out the skin also to make the skin appear more even as the colour of the skin was a little uneven in the original image.

We decided also to erase the dark circles under the eyes as they looked quite harsh with the black and white filter we chose earlier on.

With the image of Justine not many changes were made as we run out of time which showed us that when in the process of post production we need to give ourselves enough time to ensure we get it done to the best of our ability.
With this image we gave it a Sunset lighting filter to intensify the colour of her hair and this also brightened up the skin.
We as a group also decided to add some contouring onto the cheeks and jaws which then lead to us having to smooth the contour lines as it came out quite harsh at first.


The problem with photoshop and retouching images is that it has become difficult to know how far you can actually go and there are too many false representations of women making people feel as if they should live up to these unachievable expectations. The difference made with photoshop are shocking as it can change how someone looks completely which can kill the models confidence.

Colour Theory

Analogous

Selecting colours that are touching in the wheel created a narrow, harmonious colour scheme. Similar to monochromatic colours. Analogous colours provide a predominantly warm or cool feeling, depending on where they lie on the wheel.


Complementary

Colours from the opposite end of the wheel provide the most contrast. If you can stave off the temptation to add more colour, limit them to only two to create a powerful (or even starting) look. But arrange them wisely so they don't clash.


Monochromatic

Using variations of the same colour can create a striking palette. but its difficult to use colour effectively without adding black, white and shades of grey for contrast. Select colours with a broad range of tints and shades to provide enough contrast.

References
Image 1 - Colour theory | unique & limited edition typographic posters (no date) Available at: http://postography.co.uk/poster/colour-theory/ (Accessed: 8 December 2015).

The different poses

Fashion Editorial -

To me this image is inspiring as the model in this image looks so dominant and fierce which is something you don't usually see in images as women are stereotypically seen as weak and represented that way for the men to co e across as the more dominant sex. This image represents and denotes a role model for young girls and she is independent and wearing a very bright and bold colour which suggests that the photographer and designed of the dress wanted the model to be as bold as the colour.









Beauty advertising campaign -

Within this image the model looks perfect and is almost glowing which is one of the reason why I find this image inspiring. The model just looks amazing and confident which is what most girls and women would aspire to be as this image would appeal to an audience of aspirers and they will want to get the mascara that is being advertised. This image suggests to the audience that this mascara will fill you with confidence and will make you look amazing.

Beauty Editorial -

Within this image it just shows how close the models have to be and how comfortable they would have to be with each other which is inspiring as when I was looking in to photographers and the images they created it occurred to me that models really do have it hard as they have to do what they are told and have to try and make the images come out as good as they can as you won't get another chance to shoot the images.



Famous Painting - Agnes Cecile

This is one of my favourite paintings I like how the artist uses the paint as drip painting is very difficult and the level of detail in this is high quality considering how it was painted. This painting inspires me as the pose the model is in is quite dominant and makes the model look very fierce which is something as an audience is very rare to see as a lot of models are made to look childish or sexualised (male gaze theory).

Unposed Image -

With this image its natural and not at all posted which you can see as it doesn't look forced and sometimes when you look at an image you can see the models discomfort within the image which is something no-one would want to capture.
Sometimes a natural image can come out better than a posed one.









Illustration/Cartoon -

Here is an illustration I found which is inspiring as the women isn't doing a very drastic pose and looks more natural than most in illustrations. Also the pop of colour just catches your attention and draws you to the the models figure which is where the rule of thirds fits in as the rule of thirds is where the dominant features of a women face or body is in the centre of a magazine or illustration/painting. This will draw peoples attention to the dominant parts of the women's body representing her in a sexualised way.







References
Image 1 - Eszter Boldov by Damon Baker for InStyle UK march 2012 (2012) Available at: http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/eszter-boldov-damon-baker-instyle-uk-march-2012/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).
Image 2 - Giorgio Armani beauty fall 2012 (Giorgio Armani) (no date) Available at: https://models.com/work/giorgio-armani-giorgio-armani-beauty-lip-maestro-fall-2012/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).
Image 3 - Black out beauty ⋆ Claire Harrison Photography (2014) Available at: http://www.claireharrisonphotography.com/my-favorite-new-beauty-shoot-black-out/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).
Image 4 - Rituale necessario (2012) Available at: http://agnes-cecile.deviantart.com/art/rituale-necessario-313145943 (Accessed: 7 December 2015).
Image 5 - My own image.
Image 6 - Illustrations (2013) Available at: http://blog.mrsjonesandco.com/illustrations/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Different lighting in photoshoots

Side Lighting

• Side lighting is when the lighting is coming from the side which usually provides a great deal of contrast and can create long shadows and adds depth to the image. This type of lighting can make the image look more dramatic.

Back Lighting

• Back lighting is when light is behind your subject and is directed at you and your camera. This type of lighting creates silhouettes quiet easily. Combined with certain atmospheric conditions such as fog or airborne dust you can get dramatic lighting effects.

Rim Lighting

• When light comes in at an acute angle it can create highlights along the edges of your subject. The stark contrast that it provides highlights shape and form. This type of lighting adds impact to wildlife and nature photography.

Spotlight

• Very simply Spot Light is when a focused amount of light highlights a particular section of your subject or scene. This type of lighting can create strong shadows and contrast. Spot light can add dramatic impact to all genres of photography.

Artificial Lighting

• The most obvious type of lighting is Artificial lighting. This can be generated from a variety studio lights, and built in or external flash units. There are few genres of photography that Artificial lighting cannot be used successfully. 

Frontal lighting

• Frontal lighting is lighting that comes either from behind the camera or from the camera itself. Frontal lighting has one big advantage as it evenly illuminates your model. 

Low Key Lighting

• Low key light accentuates the contours of an object by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast.

Hight Key lighting

• High key photography is a modern lighting technique that is based on using mid-tone greys through to bright whites. The use of bright lights and lighting to eliminate shadow reduced the contrasts in the picture.

When setting up a shoot and deciding what equipment you need it is important to take in account what skin type you are photographing as some things don't work with certain skin tones.

For example in one of the practicals we were using white polyboard's either side of the model for the light to bounce from the boards onto the face to reduce any shadows around their face.

References 

Image 1 - (no date) Available at: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQXiygw0CVHqYvtafYN7Oh5xzGLjyRAsxgy327zEft7vZwhNqVY (Accessed: 7 December 2015).\

Image 2 - Go for natural Backlighting | | Peter LikPeter Lik (2010) Available at: http://www.peterlikexposed.com/go-for-natural-backlighting (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Image 3 - 12-01-2014 PHOTO by Rio Febrian (2014) Available at: http://www.photoone.org/editors-award-honorable/editor-award-honorable-january-2014-11097.html/attachment/12-01-2014-photo-by-rio-febrian (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Image 4 - In the spotlight — drama 16 stage lighting (2013) Available at: http://drama16.info/?tag=in-the-spotlight (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Image 5 - Artificial light has its place (2011) Available at: http://www.kirklandphotosblog.com/travel-photography-tips/2011/08/playing-in-the-studio/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Image 6 - (no date) Available at: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0c/38/b9/0c38b9507a7b7d8180b132dce9cf2e27.jpg (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Image 7 - Low key lighting - Rembrandt lighting | velocity photography studio (no date) Available at: http://lancashirestudiohire.com/2011/08/low-key-lighting-rembrandt-lighting/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).

Image 8 - Martin (2009) Photos from last weeks course. Available at: http://londonphotographycourses.co.uk/studio-courses/photos-model/ (Accessed: 7 December 2015).