The object of this final assignment is to apply all we have learned
throughout the course to build a collection of 10-12 images on a theme of our
choice.
Throughout this
course I have had this final assignment at the back of my mind, contemplating
potential topics that will show a bit more of my own style and personality
through photography. I had a choice to make between two subjects which were
street photography and fashion photography.
I felt that street
photography would work as I have an interest in architecture and the combining
of traditional and modern buildings. What mainly concerned me was that would I
just be photography essentially what someone else had designed. I was unsure
how I could make it more my own. Alternatively I could have approached street
photography more as the people who are on the streets but I could run into
problems with seeking permission to shoot in various places.
I started to give
fashion photography more consideration as fashion is a big passion of mine. I
write for fashion magazines interviewing designers as well as writing reviews
on trends. I also have my own fashion blog which I regularly update. On top of
this I work with Cambridge Style Week (CSW) which runs for five days at the end
of March, so I didn’t have long to make my mind up. I felt that fashion was the
topic I was strongly leaning towards but wanted to approach it from a different
angle.
Research.
I began quite broadly by going through the course
material from start to finish refreshing my memory on what had been covered so
that I produce a thorough final assignment. I also re read my own assignment
submissions as well as my tutor feedback so that I can improve on my previous
work. I also like to take a look at what other students have submitted as I
think it is good to see how others approach the same assignments. For further
inspiration I watched a programme on Rankin where he recreated
seven iconic fashion photography images through history, looked at the style of
Kirsty Mitchell who has a brilliant
imagination and creates some inspiring images, as well as reading a Fashion Photography book.
I have come to realise through my work with CSW
that when it comes to fashion and fashion photography a lot of people just
think about the models on the catwalk and not about the amount of work and the
variety of people involved in putting a show together, let alone a week of
shows! So my idea is that I shall be photographing behind the scenes as the
shows are being put together, the lighting and the stage being put up and
of course the makeup artists and
hairdressers working on the models. I spoke to my tutor who provided me with
some links to work that I may find of interest and also mentioned that there
may be scope for some interesting monochromatic studies. I have never tried
anything like that before so I am really keen to experiment a bit.
Firstly I am looking at work by Roger Hutchings who is an award winning
documentary photographer. I really like the mix of colour and black and white
images in his fashion series and had never considered mixing them but I think
that it works really well. All the images that I was drawn to actually happened
to be in monochrome.
This shot is my favourite. I love the detail and how the different
textures have been highlighted here. I think the presence of the hand is very
important as without it the image would lose some meaning.
Time Photogallery also have some great backstage images which are a
little more stereotypical of what you would expect behind the scenes.
I don’t think that this image
would convert well to monochrome as I feel like there is not as much contrast
through the shot and you could lose detail.
Planning.
I thought that the planning would be easier than it actually was as all
I had originally thought that I would need to do would be to seek permission
from the director of CSW. I was due to be present at all of the catwalks shows
and would of course be there early helping set up but it then dawned on me that
I would need permission from the companies involved. The first show was to
start on the Wednesday night so during the day a lot of the setting up would be
taking place. Lighting and the stage were being put up on the Tuesday and we
had been told that no one would be allowed in due to health and safety reasons
as the truss needed to go up. I had to seek special permission to be in the
room which was thankfully granted and I have promised to give the company any
of the images that I take of them.
Giving equipment consideration I chose my 18-105mm lens and would also
take my tripod so that I would have it handy if required. Before setting
out I reset my camera settings. I have started shooting in RAW and JPEG fine so
my camera makes two copies. I also wiped my memory card so that I would not run
out of space, made sure my camera lens was clean, checked the memory space on
my laptop so that I would have room to transfer the images over and charged the
cameras battery. I also made sure that I had another charged battery as a spare
just in case.
The
Shoot.
Shooting
generally took place over the course of the five days as I was also working
managing all of the social media platforms, promoting the shows and live
tweeting throughout them.
I
first photographed on the Tuesday (before the shows began on the Wednesday) to
see the truss and stage being put together. It turned out that progress was
slower than I expected and I could only dart in and out of the room rather than
stay for the whole duration. This meant that I was only able to take 11 shots
which I am really disappointed with, but it made me more determined to get a
better selection during the week.
Lighting
was an issue for shooting as the hotel was rather old with many period
features, including the original windows which did not let in much natural
light. I am not a great fan of artificial light which was also quite dim. When
backstage while the models were being prepared for the shows I was unable to
use the flash on my camera so I had to compensate quite a lot – using a slower
shutter speed etc.
Downloading
the images.
I
downloaded all of the images onto my laptop in the pictures folder and then imported
them all into Lightroom 4. I have had Lightroom for quite a while now but I had
never really got on well with it but just recently I have been back out with my
camera a lot more and was able to make the time to sit down and properly test
it out. I am carrying on with my computer filing system and can easily locate
any images that I require.
Pictures>
Digital Photographic Practice> DPP Assignment5
Technical
Edit.
I
managed to take 91 images which is actually a lot more than I thought I had. My
next step was to edit out any of the photos that were unusable due to blurring
or not being in focus etc. I know when I was shooting I was intermittently
checking the LCD screen on my camera and some were immediately deleted if I
felt they were completely wrong. I deleted 11 images during this editing
process which is probably more than I would have liked.
The
Selects.
With
the 80 images I had left I went through and removed any duplicate shots. I had
taken quite a lot of the same image but they had slight variations in the
settings that I had used, such as aperture or shutter speed. I also removed any
images that I felt would not work in the series.
First
Selects.
From
the previous edit I was left with 32 photos. I went through these images again,
keeping in the back of my mind that I could only submit between 10-12 images.
Bearing in mind that I could only select up to 12 images to submit. I was quite
harsh and edited down to 15 photos which I then put into a separate folder so
that when it came to review them I was only evaluating the images I felt
strongly about rather than all of the shots I had taken.
Group
and Review.
I
left it several days before reviewing which images would make it into the final
series. I quite often make snap judgments and will delete an image and then
regret doing so. I find that leaving a gap of a couple of days during editing
allows me to review the series with a fresh pair of eyes. It was important to
me that I showed variety through the images I had taken making sure that a
range of team members were photographed. When I came to review the images I had
previously chosen, I was happy with my decision. I do think that it is
important to consider that in some instances it is not possible to leave
editing for a period of days, some professionals only have a couple of hours.
With this in mind when I next photograph I shall create my own mini project to
see if the outcome would be the same with the images I select.
A
Final Choice.
I
went through my final 15 and decided that I needed to be harsh with myself and
only submit the images that I really liked. I had put my first selects in a
separate folder so they were easier to review again and edit down. In the end I
found that I had 12 images that I particularly liked but two showed similar
scenes with the same team members so I immediately removed which shots I felt weren’t
as strong. This resulted in 10 images to be submitted.
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1/80
f5.3 ISO 1250 80mm WB Auto
With
this photo I was really trying to focus on the repetition of line and the
contrast between the period panelling that covered the walls and the modern
steel frame that formed the truss-you could also include the lines of the
radiator. I really like the shadow in the panelling and also how the diagonal
lines in the truss are mirror with the ladder. When it came to shooting the
room was very dark and rather than just compensating with a slower shutter
speed and higher ISO I should have also had a wider aperture. Even though
everything else was dark I still ended up with a bit of highlight clipping in
the lights behind the gentleman on the ladder, which I removed post production.
1/100
f5.6 ISO 800 98mm WB Auto
The
dedicated hair team spent hours working in the models all week. I wanted to
show the bored, almost vacant expression on the models faces, they aren’t even
speaking to each other while the hairdressers beaver away behind them. This
shot has been cropped slightly on the right hand side as I felt it was slightly
unbalanced and there was an unsightly clothes steamer which detracted from the
shot. Post production I also lightened the image slightly as it was a little
underexposed and removed any shadow/highlight clipping before converting to black
and white.
1/100
f5 ISO 1600 52mm WB Auto
I
included this image for personal interest as I used it to see how I could vary
the tone of a wide range of colours. I have included a screen shot below that
was taken straight after the conversion to black and white. As you can see the
tone of each colour within the palettes is quite similar and I wanted to
emphasize the difference a bit more. This involved increasing a decreasing the
different colour sliders in the black and white mix to create the look I was
going for.
1/60
f5 ISO1250 38mm WB Auto
Due
to them being so busy, this is the only shot I could get of the backstage team
all together. I wanted the viewer to be able to read the writing on the back of
the t-shirts as I think that provides some context. Backstage Manager Kim is
explaining how things will run for that evenings show and everyone is listening
intently. I do like this shot and I am glad that I managed to capture Kim
gesturing. I also like the repetition on the pattern on the carpet. Again due
to the poor lighting and being unable to use the flash, I have used a high ISO
and a slower shutter speed than normal.
1/100
f4.2 ISO 1600 34mm WB Auto
Again
a bit of experimentation here seeing how I can bring out different tones, I
really do want the assignments to be an extension of learning. Looking back now
I think that it would benefit from having the Backstage Manager in the shot
checking the outfits. I noticed that the light was forever changing in the room
so I was continuously changing the settings that I needed to use to try and get
the best shot. I would take several shots of the same scene and vary the
settings slightly, editing out images post production.
1/100
f5.3 ISO 1600 62mm WB Auto
Overall
I am happy with this image but maybe a different idea would have been to shoot
so that it was obvious make up was being applied to the model but position
myself so that it was the makeup artists face in the frame, making her more of
the focus. I think that I may have drifted slightly off my main aim. I am still
happy with the image, I like how the background is slightly blurred, and I find
that my attention is drawn straight from the stripes on the jacket to the hand
applying the makeup, possibly as the angle of the arm is almost parallel to the
stripes. In Lightroom I decided to crop the image as there was an unsightly
carrier bag in the frame which for some reason I didn’t notice at the time of shooting.
1/100
f5 ISO1250 50mm WB Auto
I
think that as I am closely linked to the fashion shows I forget that an
outsider may not instantly know what is going on in the frame. I wanted to show
the repetition of outfit after outfit. Only two of the names are clearly
visible and this is intentional. If you think about it, it doesn’t matter what
the models names are, when they are going down the catwalk it is as though they
are no longer a person, they are just a hanger for the clothes. It is the
outfits which are the main focus. I was able to use a slightly lower ISO as
quite a bit of light reflected off the white paper. I was trying to bring out
some of the tone in the shadows, which looking back I think I could have done a
little more.
1/100
f4 ISO1250 26mm WB Auto
Who
says modelling is glamorous. I really like this image; it is one of my
favourite in the set. I know I said that I wanted to shoot the team that work
behind the scenes but the assignment has developed into showing what happens
backstage. I think this shot illustrates well the chaos of backstage with bags
and boxes everywhere so that the viewer doesn’t know where to look. It almost
looks as though clothes have been left in a pile and then you realise that
someone is actually asleep. A huge amount of waiting around involved and this
model has decided to spend that time having a nap. There was some highlight
clipping present on the dressing gown which has been removed in Lightroom and I
have also tried to create a bit more contrast after the image was converted to
black and white.
1/100
f5 ISO1000 30mm WB Auto
With
this photo I wanted to show the contrast between old and new with the ceiling
and metal truss. I originally shot this with no model but I felt that the frame
was unbalanced. I am happy with this shot but I think that it could be improved
by the model being slightly nearer the centre. It would have also been good to
have had the Cambridge Style Week banner more readable at the back of the
stage.
1/100
f5 ISO 1000 52mm WB Auto
Everyone
is a photographer! This is my favourite photo in the whole series, I am really
happy with it. The model is obviously important in the shot but by only having
her body in the frame she has lost any identity. The audience are the focus as
they watch her, trying to get a photo on their camera, ipad or Smartphone. I
think this highlights how much photography has changed as the majority use
other devices to capture images, and with a variety of apps they can easily
alter them or apply filters. I was inspired by an image taken by Roger
Hutchings but I have shot it in my own style. I have not done much to this shot
post production as I was happy with it at the time of shooting; I just removed
some of the highlight clipping.
Reflective
Account.
I
felt that in many ways this assignment was quite a challenge. Due to falling
ill last year and then my mother sadly passing away I had not done any
photography for about six months. This meant that when I felt able to pick up
where I left off I felt as though I was starting from scratch all over again.
When it came to picking up my camera it almost felt alien and I am sad to admit
that I have lost confidence in my ability in some ways. However, I could not
have picked a better subject for my final assignment, fashion is what I know
and I was surrounded by people I had been working with for a year, which put me
more at ease. I also needed to remember to treat the final assignment just like
any of the other assignments; as a tool for learning.
I
think that I branched out a little from what I originally set out to do, but I
am happy with how the project naturally progressed. I don’t think you should
fight to stay set on your plan, you should allow it to naturally develop and
you may find that you are happier with your results that way. I really wanted
action shots of the people involved behind the scenes, and was not keen on
showing the models but I think they are necessary to provide context to the
images. At the start I did not think that I would have any shots of the catwalk
in there but again it was nice to include a few, but without the models being
the main focus.
If
I was to do the same exercise again I think I would alter the composition of
some of the images and maybe not have the makeup table in there. The clothes
rail would also benefit from having the backstage manager in the shot either
checking a list of outfits or labelling who is to wear each one.
Using
Lightroom for the first time was good and in some ways I prefer it to Photoshop,
once I could work out how to import the images. With anything practice makes
perfect and I think that watching tutorials online really helped me to get a
basic understanding of what can be achieved. I shall continue to use Lightroom
and of course perfect my technique, I have a long way to go with it but I think
that I have made a good start. It also made a change for me to focus on tone
and the different effects you can create when an image is in black and white.
As
usual I enjoyed researching for this assignment; I always think that when you
have a keen interest in something it makes it all the more pleasing. Looking at
other students work is of interest to me too as I think that we can learn a lot
from our peers and if we were in a standard university environment we would be continuously
doing just that.
Reflection
I
have taken another look at the assignment criteria and have tried to assess how
well I have done.
Demonstration
of Technical and Visual Skills – Due to a lack of confidence and a big gap in
learning and vital practice, my technical ability could be improved on.
Research, particularly with editing in Lightroom, has helped me a lot and I
feel that I have become competent, although there is always room for
improvement. I accept that I am still learning and I do always aim to apply any
new skills I have learnt where ever possible. I think that my visual skills are
good generally and that I need to have more confidence in my ability as
doubting myself is often what holds me back.
Quality
of Outcome – I think that this is where my ability is strongest as I have
improved on showing my workflow and feel that my notes are generally well
written. Combining the fact that I like to work neatly, with my research, I
think makes for a well rounded assignment.
Demonstration
of Creativity – While I do aim to be creative with the images I take, I do feel
that I could have shown creativity a bit more in a couple of my shots. I have
tried to work on how I can demonstrate this but I think that in this instance
my lack of confidence may have hindered me slightly.
Context
– I have been researching other photographers work as well as reviewing that of
my peers, I always carry out further reading and visit gallery exhibitions
whenever possible. I can be my own worst critic and will always find ways in
which I can better my work, but this is how we improve.
References.
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