In this double unit, our project 'Vogue' was a rollercoaster to simply put it into one word. I think it had many ups and downs but it all came together in the end. The highlight of this project was getting to use the studio and doing some studio photography. Also, the second unit was all about designing which I thoroughly enjoyed. I enjoyed researching contemporary magazine designs and then using that to influence my own. Here's my evaluation for this project.
Fashion Photographer Research
This task was a good icebreaker because I got to look at fashion photography over the years and look at the codes and conventions. I think it was useful to look at contemporary and historical because you can see how we've developed fashion photography to this day. I think it gave me an insight on what I could be photographing but majority of the fashion shoots were done on location so it was interesting to think of how we'll use the studio.
Further Research: Studio Lighting Attachments/High and Low Key Lighting
In this task, I got to explore the different lighting attachments and see what effects it has on the image. It also gave me an insight on the different lighting set ups that I've never seen before like the beauty dish as an example. I also found some additional examples of attachments that is used in the studio. I found the soft and hard light interesting in the task because I thought it was similar to high and low key lighting. Till I did some research and realised it's more about how distanced the light source is from the subject. In the high and low key lighting task, I learned about the controls with the background and how to achieve the different lighting for a bright or a dark picture. Both of these tasks helped me with my studio shoots because I knew what lighting I wanted to achieve for my shoot as I was working with 3 different looks.
Further Research: Exposure Meters
With this task, I learned more about the direction of lighting and how a hand held meter is useful in the studio or on location. I also got to try out the meter and see how I managed to get half a picture in my accessories task. I got a better understanding of incident and reflective light and also looked at the difference with ambient and flash. I also included a exposure comparison to show you what sort of exposure would be right; and a exposure meter will help you read that.
Studio Shoot Planning
In this task, I had planned my looks and considered my research to help me figure out the lighting I want to use. I also did a risk assessment as additional initiative work to show the safety measures that need to take place in the studio. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to shoot and I had it planned out well. This helped me when I made contact with my model and arranged a session and planned it out from top to bottom. I had to ensure that she had the right outfit for the look, the right hair and make-up and she was there earlier than the shoot.
Studio Photoshoot
In the studio photoshoot post, I've analysed how it went in details so I will keep this short. I just knew that I didn't want to restrict myself to one lighting set up and I wanted to show a variety of ways because it just makes my work stand out. I also had to think what fashion would suit the different lighting and after I had it planned, I had to make it happen. I think the shoot was hard because the lighting wasn't going fully as planned and it just felt like a disaster with the hour slot I had. By the time we started shooting and got everything right, we had like 35 minutes to finish up. I had many other plans and ideas in mind that I've not mentioned in my blog because I had no time to start them in the studio. I think it would have been a better experience if we had more accessibility to the studio and more time in each session considering that we had to book our models in and do it in a professional manner.
Magazine Research
This has been my favourite task for the design unit. I just found it so fascinating to look at different designs and feel inspired. I think it's clear to say that I loved looking at the simplistic and minimal designs because to me, they had the most effect than just bombing the design with text. I found the task to be more interesting than designing my own which rarely happens. I think I enjoyed looking at the magazines and spreads because each design had a different fashion style/genre so I thought that was fascinating how each style had a similar design.
Creating Magazine Designs
At this moment of time, I knew exactly what images were going for which magazines and I just had to put it all together. I stuck to creating 3 main final designs and did lots more as additional/extras which was just me developing and experimenting with the designs from the research tasks. In the end, I am happy with my designs because I've gone for 3 different magazines, 3 different fashion styles and 3 different lighting under the tough circumstances with the studio.
Presentation Overview
The presentation I did for this project went really well. I felt confident in my work so I was content with the way the presentation went. I tried to put as much as I can within the presentation within the time limit but I think I just about made it. I made sure my aim and target audience and the looks were clear to understand and I made my presentation look very visual so there's hardly no text. The presentation went exceedingly well and I managed to explain everything overall.
Self Initiated work
This was the extra photoshoot I set myself. I think it went well and I was inspired by the accessories and street fashion task so I thought I'll keep it simple and actually go out there and photograph some bags as I didn't photograph bags in the project. I think it went well and I got some extra images that I've put time in.
Overview
The project was great in the way we started with bits and bobs and eventually it all came together. I think I learned quite a lot about lighting in the project and it will be very useful for the future. I think I done well with self criticising and I learnt as I went along. I didn't give up at any moment in this project and I kept putting the time and effort in after everything that would just go wrong. I liked the design unit that came in to it and it just allowed me to be creative and play around on Photoshop as I do. I spent time in doing extra work as much as I can and tried to put some creativity and individuality within my work. Now bring on the next final major project.
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