Bibliography

Auxiliary Magazine, 2013. Nevermore (viewed 20/10/2015) Available from:http://auxiliarymagazine.com/fashion/2013/11/fashion-editorial-nevermore/

HUNGER TV, 2011. MYTHS, MONSTERS & LEGENDS: RANKIN & DAMIEN HIRST (VIEWED 20/10/2015) Available from; http://www.hungertv.com/art-culture/feature/myths-rankin-and-damien-hirst/

(Viewed 20/10/2015) Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream

HIRST, RANKIN, 2011. Myths, Monsters and Legends. Rankin Photography.

Post Production

I shot all of Nicole's images in black and white but once saved they went back to colour. I edited my images afterwards on Camera Raw and changed these images back to black and white:

For Taylor's photos, I put them on the 'Sunlight' setting and then edited them to:

• Temperature: 5500
• Tint: +10
• Exposure: +0.15 
• Contrast: +10
• Highlights: +11
• Shadows: +19
• Whites: +5
• Blacks: -10
• Clarity: +10
• Vibrance: +10
• Saturation: +8

 

   

Moodboard

This is my mood board for my photoshoots. I chose mainly black and white images as I want my shoots to be quite dark, even the one that's in colour. The images that are in colour are very natural or have red in them. This is because the model for my colour shoot has reddish hair.

'Language' Mood Board

During this session we were told to create a mood board based on a random word. We got this word my closing our eyes and opening a dictionary. My word was 'Language' so i went through different magazines looking for images that I thought could represent this.

This is the mood board that I came up with first. I mainly used images that has text on the (some in different languages and some with unusual poses to reflect the idea of body language.

This was my final idea for the mood board. i removed some of the images as I preferred the ones using darker colours.

Final Shoots

For my final shoots, I decided to use Nicole and Taylor from my class as my models. I decided that I wanted a black backround for both of my shoots as I wanted the black and white one to be dark and felt that Taylor's hair stood out more with a black backround for my colour images:

I used silver reflectors and used black polyboards for both the shoots to help with contouring and shadows. Overall, I took about 200 photos for both shoots and had a lot that I liked but didn't get to use.

Practice Shoots

For these shoots we decided to practice on each other and try out different lighting techniques.

We tried out different poses using the different reflectors and trying out the polyboards as well. 

Ethics of Post Production

Retouching photographs has actually been happening since the 1860s. The terms 'airbrushing' comes from when people would actually use a brush to edit photographs. An example of some early retouching can be seen in George Hurrel's 1931 photograph of Joan Crawford:

Every image that we see is retouched even if this is just adjusting brightness and contrast. 

Some images that we see are extremely edited. An example of this is this image of Madonna before and after PhotoShop:

There have also been beauty advertisements that have bee banned due to over editing. An example of this is this Dior campaign, which was banned to to editing on the eyelashes and as said to lie about what the product being sold could actually do:

This campaign, by make-up brand Make-Up Forever, claims to have no retouching. Although there may not be a lot of editing, it's still very unlikely that the contrast and brightness hasn't been adjusted.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/70/d7/a5/70d7a50ae471e7a295a71bc046e7520f.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bRPMM6TfdIs/maxresdefault.jpg

http://cached.imagescaler.hbpl.co.uk/resize/scaleWidth/815/offlinehbpl.hbpl.co.uk/news/OMC/8E37C928-0F83-D4A5-8CD0C9EB4197909E.jpg

http://www.spiffykerms.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MAKE-UP-FOR-EVER_Canada-Contest-Win_HD-Complexion-Starter-Kit-Ad_Zink-Canada.jpg

Facetune

During this session, we took a photo of someone in our group and then had to edit it on the app FaceTune.

This is the original photo that we took of Nicole.

This is the image after editing. To get the image like this we first of all cropped the image so it was more centred around the face. e then used the 'Patch' tool to removes the freckles. We then used the 'Tone' tool to remove any dark circles under the eyes and remove any redness on the face. After this we used the 'Smooth' tool on the forehead, nose and under the eyes and added some detail to the eyelashes. We then reshaped the nose. lips, eyebrows, jawline and cheeks and added highlight on the cheekbones. Lastly we added the 'Sunset' filter to make the skin glow more and another filter to darken the edges around the image.

I personally prefer how she looks in the original image as I think that the edited one looks quite fake and doesn't really look like a real person. This was a good lesson to learn in terms of how I wouldn't want my photos to turn out after editing.

Lighting

What gives mood to a photograph?

• The Model
• The Lighting
• the Colour Palette

High Key Lighting: very bright, vivid, a lot of contrast.
High key lighting is better for bad skin, some examples of high key lighting:

Low Key Lighting: more natural, darker.
Some examples of low key lighting:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/31/9a/1f/319a1fcc4c979289293f9596ae076322.jpg

http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1280x1920/k_n/lana-del-rey-vogue-march12-p305-mario-testino_b.jpg

https://i-d-images.vice.com/images/articles/meta/2015/06/23/untitled-article-1435099729.jpg?crop=1xw:0.844574780058651xh;0xw,0.09970674486803519xh&resize=1200:*&output-format=image/jpeg&output-quality=75

https://fashionslop.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/lara-stone-i-d-magazine-fall-2011-5.jpg

Recreating Beauty Images

During this session we recreated some beauty poses.We decided to recreate this one:

We recreated it using sheets of white paper in a well lit room. This was quite different from the original due to the fact that the original had quite a lot of shadow in it.

Advice for Photoshoots

We were also given some points for when we were doing our shoots:

• To never work in a dark room for a beauty shoot.
• To keep everyone cool.
• To make sure the model stays hydrated.
• To try to make everyone on the shoot feel relaxed.
• To look after the models.
• To complete the make-up and hair look on model and let them relax while you set up the shoot (only call them in once you need them);
• To make sure to direct the model, especially if they are inexperienced or nervous.
• To make sure the model knows before you start an idea of what you want them to do.
• To try to keep the model moving all the time as the studio can get cold.
• Play music in the backround.
• To avoid silence during the shoot and communicate with the model.
•  Be honest with the model but don't be rude.
• Don't whisper so the model can't hear you or turn your back on the model.
• Don't let it show if you're having a bad day as it might bring everyone else down. including the model. 
• Fine tune the shot make sure you're happy with it and don't rely on post-production to fix mistakes.
• Encourage the model.
• Choose poses and an attitude for the shoot that suit the model.
• Always be ready to take a shot - some of the best photos can be taken when the model is completely relaxed.

6 Poses

For this session we had to research six different poses that we found inspiring and then bring them into class. One had to be from a fashion editorial, one from a beauty editorial, one from a beauty advertisement, one illustration/cartoon, one unposed image and one from a painting.

For my fashion editorial image I chose an editorial named ‘Nevermore’. The image shows two models (Ashley Espinal and Emily Hunt) in heavy gothic make up and outfits posing in the forest. The make-up artist for the shoot was the model Emily Hunt who posed for the shoot. The photographer was Olivia Witzke.

For my beauty editorial image I chose an image from Rankin’s book ‘Myths, Monsters and Legends’. He created these images along with artist Damien Hirst. The image shows model Dani Smith as Medusa as she is completely painted black and has snakes for hair.

For my beauty advertisement image I chose a ‘NARS’ advert for a mascara.

For my illustration/cartoon image I chose an image of the character Maleficent from the 1959 Disney film ‘Sleeping Beauty’. The image shows Maleficent and her raven Diablo.  

For my unposed image I chose a still from the 2011 series ‘American Horror Story: Murder House’ of one of the main characters, Tate Langdon. He is responsible for the death of a number of characters I the series ad is shown with skeleton-style make up. The character is portrayed by actor Evan Peters and the key make-up artists for the series were Eryn Krueger Mekash, Kim Ayers, Silvia Knight and D. Garen Tolkin. This image is taken from a flashback of the character on the day that he carried out a school shooting.

For my painting I chose the 1893 painting ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch. He actually created four versions of it between 1893 and 1910. The full name of these was ‘Der Schrei der Natur’ meaning ‘The Scream of Nature’. Munch painted his inspiration for the image on one of the pastel versions:

“I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.” (Munch, 1894)

Auxiliary Magazine, 2013. Nevermore (viewed 20/10/2015) Available from: http://auxiliarymagazine.com/fashion/2013/11/fashion-editorial-nevermore/

Hunger TV, 2011. MYTHS, MONSTERS & LEGENDS: RANKIN & DAMIEN HIRST (Viewed 20/10/2015) Available from; http://www.hungertv.com/art-culture/feature/myths-rankin-and-damien-hirst/

(Viewed 20/10/2015) Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream

http://auxiliarymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Auxiliary_Nevermore1.jpg?6d940c

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8a/e5/24/8ae52450e3f030f9fd3a9753027e6c04.jpg

http://beautystat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/NARS-Audacious-Mascara-Kohliner-main-2-660x330.png

http://static2.hypable.com/wp-content/gallery/maleficent-sleeping-beauty-changes/maleficent-sleeping-beauty-differences-changes-maleficent.jpg

http://img05.deviantart.net/5d07/i/2012/004/1/9/tate_langdon_by_xchiarax-d4latww.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/The_Scream.jpg

What to look for in Castings

We were given some advice for doing model castings. First of all we were told that we should always do a casting even if it is just over Skype or FaceTime but it its not possible then to possibly ask the model for an untouched picture (a picture with no editing).

We were also told to look for the following things in a portfolio:

• A wide variety of poses.
• Skin
• Features

And to also keep in mind the genre of the shoot. For example, for a beauty shoot to look for good bone structure. 

Cameras, Settings and Equipment

The cameras we were using were (sfgs). We were shown the settings on the cameras that were best for beauty shots. First of all we were told to have the camera on the 'M' setting (for Manual), the iso to be set to 100 and the shutter speed to 1/160. e were also told about the other equipment we would be using:

First off, we were told that we would need:

• A Flat hot shoe adaptor to use the camera.
• An SD memory card.
• A USB memory stick or portable hard drive.

I got a 4gb SD memory card and a 16gb memory stick. we were then told about what the equipment we were using and what it all does.

Hot Shoe Adaptor:
This is used to put onto the camera to plug the flash into.

Tripod:
What the camera is attached to for positioning and so that the camera stays still.

Sync Lead:
The lead that is used to plug the flash into the camera. The plugs into the hot shoe adaptor.

Spill Kill:

This is put on the flash in order to direct light.

Reflector:

These are materials used (normally white, silver or black) under the face/shoulders to reflect light onto the face. These help to brighten the face, fill in pores and flatter the skin. 

Modelling Bulb and Flash Tube:

These together make up the flash. The flash can be turned up or down to control how harsh or soft the lighting is.

Booms:

Normally what the flash is attached to, can be moved easily and mini ones used mainly for shots when model is sat down.

Beauty Box:

Can be used instead of a Spill Kill for softer lighting.

Polyboards:

These are big boards that can be used like the reflectors and can be used in different ways for different effects. These are normally back or white. White for reflecting the light and making it brighter ad black for creating shadow and contour.

Umbrellas:
There are two different types of umbrellas, a shoot-through and a reflective umbrella. The shoot-through is used to soften the light and the reflective is used to make the face brighter. 

Explanation of Brief

For this module, our brief was to:

1. Using a white, grey or black backround, produce one colour and one black and white beauty portrait emphasizing natural beauty. We had to produce three photographs for each, showing the front, side and back of the head. The theme was 'the perfect base' and we were tld to take into account the skin tones of our model and to use minimum Photoshop.

2. To create a mood board to explore the concept of natural beauty and to include research into the chosen colour palette.

7 Photographs that Changed Fashion and the Photographers

Rankin (born John Rankin Waddell)
He is an English photographer, famous for his fashion and portrait photographs and for being the founder of the magazines RANK, Another Man, Another Magazine and Hunger. He has worked with many famous make-up artists, including Alex Box, the co-founder and creative director of Illamasqua. They collaborated together to bring out the book Alex Box by Rankin, a book of 40 portraits shot by him. He has also worked with a number of celebrities, including Marilyn Manson, Debbie Harry, Liv Tyler and Katy Perry. In the BBC show Seven Photographs That Changed Fashion, Rankin recreated some of his favourite images from iconic photographers David Bailey, Erwin Blumenfeld, Cecil Beaton, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Guy Bordin and Richard Avedon.

David Bailey
He was born in 1938 and is a photographer from London. He is very well known for his use of black and white with his portraits, one of his most famous images is a photograph of Jean Shrimpton, taken in 1963. He also shot celebrities such as Mick Jagger, the Kray twins, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. More recently he has photographed Kate Moss, Johnny Depp and Will Smith.

Erwin Blumenfeld
He was born in Berlin in 1897. His best known work as the cover of Vogue in January 1950, known as the ‘Doe Eye’. The shot was of Jean Patchett and most of it was erased, only leaving her mouth, a beauty spot and one eye. During the 1940s and 1950s he was one of the highest paid photographers in the world.

Cecil Beaton
He was born in Hampstead in 1904. His ‘Hat Box’ image was featured on the cover of Vogue in 1934.

Helmut Newton
He was born in 1920 in Berlin. His shot of Rue Aubriot wearing the famous Yves Saint Laurent suit taken in 1975 was taken in Paris in 1975.

Herb Ritts 
He was born in in LA in 1952 and is also very well known for his black and white photography. He shot the image ‘Fred with Tires’.

Guy Bourdin 
He was born in Paris in 1928. He was a very famous fashion photographer especially during the 1970s. He shot for companies such as Chanel and Versace and worked for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

Richard Avedon

He was born in in New York in 1923. He worked closely with Dovima, an American model and shot the image ‘Dovima with Elephants’ in 1955. The dress she is wearing in the image was the first evening dress designed by Yves Saint Laurent when he was assisting Christian Dior. The image sold for over a million dollars in 2010.

Mario Testino

He was born in Peru in 1954. He was worked with lots of companies including Michael Kors and Calvin Klein.  

http://rankin.co.uk/media/RANKIN-101.jpg

http://www.phaidon.com/resource/baileylook-p017.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02566/doe-eye-cover_2566036a.jpg

https://ikemuotoh.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_0415.jpg

https://leclownlyrique.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/helmut-newton-rue-aubriot-french-vogue-white-women-paris-1975.jpeg

http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/d51650/d5165021l.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k30Wu2fwhEQ/hqdefault.jpg

https://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/avedon-elephant-picture1.png?w=700&h=445

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