C A P T U R E technical journal & notes
PHOS330: photography final major project portfolio, mnhp level3 issue
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CONTENTS 4 - 5 Notes From The Author
SHOOTS
6 - 17 Shoot One Portraiture 18 - 25 Shoot Two Storm 26 - 37 Shoot Three Laura&Jahnico 38 - 47 Shoot Four Hannah&Nicky 52 - 61 Shoot Five Sadie&Nicky 62 - 67 Shoot Six Jess et al
EDITED 12 - 13 Airbrush
16 - 17 The Crop 62 - 63 Ethic Manipulation
SERIES 48 - 51 Reflections 68 - 69 Seperation 3
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NOTES\\ FROM THE AUTHOR. \\ISSUE one of Capture is a chronological
presentation and discussion of the first shoots undertaken for the yet untitled project being
produced for Module PHOS330:Photography Final Major Project Portfolio within the Marine and
Natural History Photography course at Falmouth
University.
Within this Issue all aspects of the shoots
will be discussed including, location, set up, technical decisions and equipment. The main part of this issue will however focus on the images being captured,
with the best from each shoot being highlighted and
critiqued and any Post-production being explained and evaluated.
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SHOOT ONE\\ Portraiture LOCATION\\ Studio 5 DATE\\ January 2014
\\For me starting a project is normally the hardest part,
so to get the ball rolling I decided to attempt my first studio based portraiture shoot.
One of the main things I want to achieve in this portfolio
is to widen my photographic range and attempt techniques and styles I have never tried before and I decided to start
with portraiture. The theme of mans relationships or lack
of relationship with the natural world has been one that has
always run through my work, so I have decided to first focus on
photographing people to the best of my abilities and see where it takes me.
For this first shoot I wanted to just focus on lighting the
face of my model and achieving a very even lighting across the
face and a plain white background. For this I used the small studio 5 area with the white backdrop. I used three flash heads during
the shoot, two at either side of the model with medium sized soft boxes, with the right hand side one set slightly brighter than the left one. The third light was positioned behind directed at the
backdrop; it was fitted with the spill head and was used to give the backdrop a even brightness.
TUTORIAL - STEPH – 14/02/2014 I personally didn’t find this tutorial particularly helpful,
however I was given two books to read that could be helpful for
this project. These books are ‘A Dream of England’ by John Taylor and ‘Edgelands’.
When I say I didn’t find this tutorial helpful I mean
that although I plan on reading these two books that were
recommended, photographically I was given limited feedback, as
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mainly I just need to go out of start taking photographs.
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\\Here is a selection of the different composition I got my model to do for me during this shoot. They range from simple
clean head shoots to incorporating the arms and movement. All these image were taken on a Canon 5D Mrk II using a tripod at a downwards angle, with the model sitting cross legged on the floor and camera point down at 120 - 140â—Ś.
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\\This first example shows the simple head
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\\The second pose I decided to try was to involve in
shot format that was my original aim of the shoot. I wanted
the arms of the model in the composition. I did this in two ways
that is surprisingly difficult to get a model to do. This blank
this would add more interest to the composition, although not
to achieve a blank expressionless look in these images, a look expression and blanket even lighting is very popular at the
current moment in portrait and fashion photography, and is
one I wanted to incorporate. Although the model did not always achieve the blank expression, the slight anger in her eyes also works quite well. My only real issue with this image and the
images similar to this in the batch is the models black straps that can be seen on the shoulders. Unfortunately I was not
aware of this until half way through the shoot. After noticing
I got the model to remove the straps but in the first ones there presences is a slight distraction.
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this first example shows the model holding her hair; I thought
bad I do think the plainer pose is more effective and powerful.
I do however like the expression on the model in this particular image, the slightly raise eye brow makes a very intriguing
image. If or when I shoot this again I would ask the model to remove the watch, the bracelets however I like.
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\\This image is just one example of something that only
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\\This was the last composition, where I have tried to
occurred to me to try when in the studio. T hroughout the shot
incorporate the dress and the arms into the image. Although
was one of the main reasons I decided to shoot this particular
however really like the facial expression and the model looking
I was particularly draw to the texture of the models hair (This person). Although technically these worked well and I managed to freeze the movement of the hair in complete focus, however
a lovely image, to me this is far to fashion-y and clique. I do down, as to me it gives the image a more intimate feel.
with the model focusing on the hair flip, it wasn’t possible to get a decent facial expression and as this was my main aim I don’t think these work as well as the others.
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\\ISSUE 1\\CAPTURE#1\\2014 \\This image was the first I picked out
from the shoot to do a full edit with. I pick this one for the simple fact that I feel the slight confused expression on the models face makes for a very
thought-provoking image. With this expression and the eye contact that can be achieve between the
viewer and the model, for me this makes the image difficult to look away from. I also think that the
confused expression makes the viewer think more
into the narrative of the image. The lighting on this is very even, which is the look I was trying to achieve, though the left side of the face has a slight burn out that I may decide to remove in post. Overall this
image is one I think I may print and use more in my final product.
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EDITED\\
Airbrush \\In the final edits of these image I have
decided to airbrush the skin of my model in
Photoshop. I did this for two reasons, the first because I wanted minimal distractions in the
image so any skin flaws or blemished needed to
go and second because it’s a technique I wanted to try and perfect as I may come in handy in my future photography.
The airbrushing technique I have used
is a simple but effective one. To begin I decided to start with a subtle skin retouching method that uses the Yellow channel to reduce skin
flaws. I went into the Image menu and changed the colour mode of the image to CMYK. Then
using the channel panel I copied only the Yellow
channel and returned the image to its RGB mode. The next step was to paste that yellow layer onto the image and rename that layer ‘Flaws’. I then inverted this layer and changed the layering
mode to ‘soft light’ and lowered its opacity. This gave the skin a softer flawless appearance. The next and final step is to remove all blemishes. I
did this by copying the base layer and moving it to the top. On this layer I then removed all skin marks and blemishes using the spot heal tool.
The images on this double page spread show this image on each step of the airbrush process and the final result.
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\\For the second part of this first shoot I decided to
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\\This second image is one that I am divided on. The
remove the hair texture element so I could focus more on the
light is improved with a more equally blanket lighting, however
variation in these examples like the ones previously shown,
think it works strangely well. The intensity of the eye contact in
lighting of the face and the expressions. There is no massive
however I have picked out this shoots in particular because of
the subtle differences and the effect of these subtle differences. This first image I put in because the light from the left side is
slightly too strong and has created a small amount of burn out on the left hand side of the face.
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the expression is not what I was originally after. I do however
this image I think will really draw in the viewer’s eye and create a kind of unease. Having the model slightly higher in the frame is also a lot better compositionally.
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\\This third example I find very interesting, I wanted
the model to look sideways so that the main focal point of the
image would be her eyes that are a very prominent feature. Like before the expression is the main thing that drew me to this
image, the idea of the model looking out the frame really adds
interest to the image and draws the viewer’s eye into the image
and then around the image, as if searching for what the model is
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\\This last image is another interesting composition and
like the last one the direction of the gaze of the model though
a powerful aspect. However I feel the model is now to far up in
the frame, but the main issue with this image is the focus is not there, making it a unusable image.
looking at that’s just out of the frame.
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EDITED\\
The Crop \\Although I would prefer to get it
alright in the camera, it’s not always possible as composition ideas sometimes will only occur to
me when reviewing the shoot. I thought it might
be an interesting experiment to have the minimal amount of the model in the frame, to maximise
the negative space and to see if it’s as effective as
the whole shot. Personally I think by cropping the image to just show the eyes and hair of the model makes for a more aesthetically pleasing and interesting portrait.
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PRINT CRIT – 05/02/2014 For this first print crit I was only one shoot into this
portfolio, this shoot being a basic studio portrait shoot. My
feedback was positive, with praise on the fact that it was overly or obviously lit. I was criticized on the uneven background of
images, and people think the choice of paper printed on worked
well, as I currently have the idea of mixing mediums and painting on my images.
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SHOOT TWO\\ Storm LOCATION\\ Portreach&Newquay DATE\\ Febuary 2014W \\This shoot was a bit of a step
away from the direction I was taking my
portfolio, however when a storm hits and
the biggest waves you have even seen are set to hit the north coast of Cornwall it
would be a shame to waste the opportunity. So on the first Saturday the storm hit, I got myself a Canon Mrk II with the standard
lens and a 85mm wide angle lens and took
myself off to Portreach and Newquay to try and capture the power and atmosphere of the storm.
Overall I am not overly impressed
with this shoot outcome as I feel I didn’t
capture anything different or interesting. I am also as of yet unsure about how to
incorporate this shoot into my portfolio
idea, except maybe to be used as overlay images.
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\\These two images are I think the best
out of the landscape shots. Although not showing
the storm very well the texture the tide going out had created in the sand is very interesting and
gives the images more depth than just a straight forward image of the waves on the horizon.
These two images were taken at two different
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angles, the one to on the facing page shows
mainly the water, whereas the one of this page
shows mainly the sand. Both have a different feel to them, I think personally the water one, where there is a less indefinable between the sand, the sea and the sky.
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SHOOT THREE\\ Laura&Jahnico LOCATION\\ Studio 4 DATE\\ Febuary 2014 \\This shoot is my first attempt at capturing the
separate components I need for my final image ideas. This
is also my first attempt at a more elaborate lighting set up,
as before this I had only ever used the studios to light macro subjects and the occasional portrait, in these small shoots I was only ever working with one or two light heads. In this shoot however I end up using five.
For this shoot, I used Studio 4 at Tremough Campus
which is equipped with 4 Elicrom lights on ceiling mounts
and 2 Elicrom lighting heads with separate stands, a small
Manfrotto and floor stand. I also used three soft boxes, one regular cone head and one snood. To capture the images
I used a Mamiya Leaf Credo with a digital back and had it
tethered to capture-one software on the studio computer
system. I also used a large mirror as my main prop and two models.
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LIGHTING\\
Getting it Right
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\\I started by placing my mirror on the left hand side of
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\\This example above shows the effect of the
the set and had it angled towards the camera. I then placed my
composition with only the two front facing soft boxes and
lit my model from the front. I adjusted the angle and strength of
the main one that I tried to eliminate next was the dull and
model in the frame and using two Elicrom heads with soft boxes each until I achieved a blanket light. This result was very basic and didn’t show any particular lighting skill. At first I tried to
compensate this by over exposing the image, which was a bad choice.
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with the right exposure. There are a lot of issues in this image, shadowed background.
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\\To do this I removed the model from the frame and
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\\My next problem was when adding the model back into
added a third light to illuminate the backdrop, this took any
the frame; she seemed to be lost in the composition. I managed
possible in the top left of the frame on a high power and with
This light was a single light head with a snood attachment
attempts and alterations, until I finally placed it as high as
a soft box, to create a kind of window light effect. This worked well as it gave the background a more constant white, and
removed some of the shadows created by the mirror. I also
added a floor light to the back right corner of the frame to both illuminate the back bottom area and to try and remove, using light, the numerous marks left on the white backdrop left by
to combat this by adding my fifth and final light into the mix. at a low power from shining at the model from behind. This
backlighting effect although subtle makes the model stand out
a surprisingly large amount from the background. With all five
lights at the right angle I think I have achieved a lighting that is both effective and professional looking.
previous users of the studio.
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EDIT\\
Cleaning it Up
\\Although I choose to shoot this in the
studio because I wanted a clean white background
for my image for two reasons. One; because I didn’t want anything in the background that maybe
distracting, and two; because I thought plain white areas would make any extreme post-production easier. However as the studio is used by many
different photographers for many different shoots,
the white backdrop in there is no longer completely white. I tried to combat this mainly in the studio using the lighting to illuminate the backdrop
enough to burn out the marks, this worked for the
most part but some marks needed removing in post.
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I removed the marks on the backdrop, but
simply using the spot heal tool on Photoshop. The area that caused the most problem however was
the reflection. This mark, caused by the reflector I placed behind the model to create a white
background. This reflector however had a black
band around it, which I needed to remove in Post. I removed this by lassoing the area and filling it
with the content aware tool. This works to a certain amount, however it’s not a clean fill and I needed to use the clone tool to tidy it up.
Although not a major edit, it does create
a cleaner image. I think if I do decided to continue down this root I will have to ask the studio
technicians if I can change the white backdrop roll,
as it would condense the amount of post my images need.
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REFLECTION\\
Angle&Expression
\\After I had the shot I wanted of the
model in front of the mirror, I devoted the second half of the shoot to trying to capture the models reflection. This didn’t for see as a challenge as I
didn’t think I’d need to change my lighting. This however was not the case.
The main challenge with this part of the
shoot was getting the angle right. This involved a
lot of dialog between me and the model to get the
position right. I also needed to adjust the lighting so that with my model in the new position she
was still equally covered by the soft box lights.
Also with this shoot the expression on the models face was an important factor, as it will be the
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expression that hints the viewer towards the
desired narrative of the images. We first tried different body postures, which didn’t seem to
be the way to go. So then I decided to change the models eye line, and have her gaze in different directions, which seemed to work better. I am
not sure I have achieved the desired expression in this shoot, as I think the model fall a bit flat.
This is something I will need to work on in future shoots, as I think the main problem was my lack of confidence when instructing the model on
what I wanted. My problem with directing is one of the main issues I need to overcome to make these images work.
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SHOOT FOUR\\ Hannah&Nicky LOCATION\\ Studio 4 DATE\\ Febuary 2014 \\This shoot is simply a repeat of shoot three; I
am using the same lighting, though I have tweaked some areas and have experimented with the strength settings of each flash head. I am with the shoot simply trying to
recapture the composition from the previous shoot using two different models.
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THE MIRROR\\ Reflect or Not? \\The idea that inspired these compositions is
based on the concept of swapping out the reflections
with the natural world, this means that the mirror area
of the image was unimportant during the shoot, though
I did try and keep the reflection area as empty and clean as possible to make the post-production easier. In these images I have simply shown the effect of removing the
reflection, and even though the reflection is just turned a blank white, it does show the impact of changing the one
area, as people have a certain expectation when looking at a mirror.
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Reflections
Double image compositions questioning the diconnect between people and the environment.
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his idea actually came from finding the
amazing mirror and my want to incorporate it into
my imagery. Not only this but throughout my research I have found that the use of reflections is currently
trending in photography at the present time. The idea behind these images came from me wanting to show
peoples disconnect from nature in an artist way, and the idea that humans are a reflection of our environment. By showing people looking into a mirror and seeing an environment reflecting back I hope to provoke a feeling of nostalgia in the viewer, and by reversing
the composition to show a reflection of a person in an environment to show that people are implicit in the destruction or salvation of our natural world.
Overall I believe the concept works, however
there are quite a few criticisms to be made and aspects
that don’t work, the main issue with these images is that,
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I think the concept might be a bit lost and the viewer
may only understand my meaning in the images if its
accompanied by a text explanation, which would be a serious down fall.
The second criticism is that the mirror in the
environment images are not as well done, it is quite
obvious that the mirror is placed into the environment in postproduction and personally I think this makes
the images look amateurish. This could be improved by retaking the image and physically taking the mirror to
the environment, this I feel would make a more realistic and powerful photograph.
Overall I think this idea works better on paper
than it does in actuality, therefore I don’t think I am
going to continue down this route, however that is not to say that this has been a waste of time, I have learnt a lot from producing this mini series. The main thing I shall
take away from this is that I need to produce images that show a clearer, easier to understand message.
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SHOOT FIVE\\ Sadie&Nicky LOCATION\\ Studio 2 DATE\\ Febuary 2014 \\After attempting the same compositions in my
previous shoots I have come to the conclusion that it the
composition idea that is not working and I need to try to come at this concept from a different angle.
After a rethink I have decided after more thorough
research to shoot my models in a more traditional pose and have them facing away from the frame to make the viewer more interested in what the model will be gazing at in the
frame, by doing this I hope to make it so my models are almost a secondary thought when viewing the work.
I still wanted to stick to using my mirror as the point
in the frame where the meaning changes, as my portal into
the new way of thinking, however after tutorials and critical review groups it became obvious that this aspect of the
image idea wasn’t working and I need to re-think the way I
was combining my images to show my concept. In this shoot I decided to try my original idea with the mirror, which did
not work in the way I envisioned it, then move forward to just shooting my standard portraits.
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\\To begin this new direction I booked out the large
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\\I wanted my models to be as plain and simple as I
studio on Tremough Campus and only use two models so I
could make them so I decided to ask them to remove all items
by simply setting up the Elinchrom flash heads with two soft
only the texture of their hair as a focal point. This was mainly to
could spend my time really getting the lighting right. I started boxed placed either side of my model to create a nice even light
coverage. When I achieved the flat lighting I wanted on the skin, I then added a window light to illuminate the background to
give the backdrop a flatly lit white effect. Finally I added a low set flash head with a snood head directed behind the model to push the model out of the frame more.
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from their upper half to have a completely blank canvas with
stop the model becoming the main focal point in the final image when this image is added into to the wider, final composition.
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\\With my second model however this wasn’t completely
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\\When displaced next to each other you can really
possible due to the tattoo on the centre of her back. At first I
notice the aesthetic difference between the images create with
when using her for lighting practice I found that the natural
items. It is only when directly viewing them you can see how
decided due to this I didn’t want to use her in my work, however subject nature of her tattoo it worked well and did not distract by almost added a new narrative to my final idea.
model wearing items of clothing and the image without said
much of a difference this simple adjustment makes to the final image.
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SHOOT SIX\\ Jess et al. LOCATION\\ Studio 5 DATE\\ Febuary 2014 Because shoot five ended with me changing my
composition idea near the end of the shoot, and decided that the mirror wasn’t working in the way I had envisioned. This change in direction needed a seperate shoot to develop this composition.
I started this shoot with my one main model and set
up my lighting, using the same light set up as the pervious shoot with the adjustment of having the model sitting on
a stool instead of the floor, which I decided on because of
convenience. After working out the best possible light set up and powers I used the same studio set and simply switched
models. With every model however I found that the lighting needed slight tweeks and I also found that the images was
alot more detailed and powerful when I instructed the models to sit up straighter with their shoulders back, as this created more creases in their backs.
When I had shoot a few different models, I still had
time left in the studio so I decided I wanted to attempt some nude images as this is something I had never tried before. I did this as I was inspired by a series of images entitled
‘Immortals’. So by looking at these image I attempted to recreate a similar feel with my nudes.
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EDIT\\
Ethical Manipulation? \\This may seem like a step in the wrong
direction within this project, however I was
extremely fascinated with the idea of re-touching and if I was even capable of doing it.
Firstly I want to explain what exactly I
have done to turn the photo below into the photo to the left. I started with the arm and cloned the detail of the arm against the back and moved it
in slightly and using a combination of the clone
tool and the blend tool I blended to make it look
as natural as possible. Then I zoomed into 100% and fine edited out all marks too make the skin flawless. I then added my original method of
airbrushing over the top, to completely change the image and give it an over edited almost fashion look to it.
Although I mainly wanted to see if I had
the ability and patience for this level of post-
production in doing it came to think about the
ethical dilemma of this level of manipulation for both self-esteem of the person being edited and
the issue that manipulation has on the ‘truth’ in photography.
Personally I don’t think this image is
improved by the high level of manipulation, more I believe, it changes the meaning or narrative of the image, it makes it say something different. It does
to me bring doubt to the ‘truth’ of photography as a medium, however by ‘truth’ I am not talking about the truth of the art form or the ability of this art
form to revel truth because I will always believe
this, however the truth I am looking at here is the idea that people may lose faith in the belief that
what they are looking at is real or reality. But more importantly does it matter?
With is mind I think that this level
of manipulation is only needed under two
circumstances; the models request or to change the intended meaning of the image.
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Seperation
Double image compositions questioning the diconnect between people and the environment.
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his series is my second attempt at using
multiple image composition to show peoples disconnect
from the natural world, completely inspired by the series ‘Immortals’ by Vee Spears. In her series, as evaluated in issue one of ‘Vision’, it was the ultra reality feel of
Spears work that I am trying to achieve in these images. The key point of these images is that the model is shoot separately in the studio with very even lighting and quite over the top airbrushing and then cut out and
placed into the image of the environment using photo
shop, to create an image of a person looking out into a landscape but with a separation between said person and the landscape they have been placed in.
The concept of these is again this disconnect of
people, especially young people and the natural world
and the fact that even when people are outside they to
me still seem separated from it, either by the technology they have with them (phones/ipods, ect) or the new
discomfit felt by the younger generation who don’t know
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how to enjoy the outside world.
The main draw back to these images is not the
concept of the imagery, but my lack of skills in post-
production. I wanted the model to be placed in the scene in a way that at a glance it looks like the person was in
fact photographed in that setting and only with a closer look does the viewer notice that may not be the case. This I don’t feel has been achieved due to the lack of
knowledge of more complicated photo shop techniques. After creating these images I needed to decide
if the concept and idea worked well enough for me to
spend time perfecting the photo shop skills needed to make these images of high enough quality for a final
year portfolio. After asking peers and evaluating what I
personally enjoy doing photographically, I have decided that I don’t think the idea is strong enough. I also
don’t have a strong enough desire or passion for postproduction to spend that much time on photo shop as
that isn’t the type of photography that really interests
me. This realisation as made me think I need to go back to my roots in this portfolio and start using film again.
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EVALUATION\\ Change Of Direction \\After working solidly for the first 4 weeks of this project on studio portraiture I have
unfortunately decided that portraiture is not the direction I should be going with this project and that I need to completely re-evaluate what I want to show in this portfolio.
This change does not discredit the shoots I have done thus far, in fact I would not be in this
position to move forward in a direct and potentially better direction if I hadn’t spent these weeks working through my original ideas. If I hadn’t shoot these images I would have never found out that the ideas
didn’t work and it may have been to late to change. I have gained a lot of valuable technical and conceptual knowledge by spending these weeks working on studio portraiture, and am happy that I can now add
these works to my working portfolio even if they do not sit within the boundaries of this project anymore. \\So instead of looking at this change as a negative or the last weeks as a waste of time I instead
see this need to change tact as a important development in my practice. I personally do not feel I would
have had this new idea and potential breakthrough without the research and work I have already done.
“So it is not ‘out with the old and in with
the new’, but ‘develop the old into the new’!
TUTORIAL – GAYNOR – 24/02/2014 I asked for this tutorial specifically to talk about my change of idea,
and whether my new ideas would work or not. After discussing the idea of
using the observation guides and talking through the different ways of doing it we decided that the idea in principle could work but there is no real way of knowing until I create the imagery and see what it looks like.
We also discussed that the best way to make composition choices and
that is to ask as many different people from as many different backgrounds as possible.
This tutorial has given my the confidence to go ahead with my change
of tack and almost start my project afresh.
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