Photo shoot plan
This photo shoot is focussed on the outlines of silhouettes – the subject matter is shape. I took photographs of a dancer in a corridor, with her body aligned in different shapes. I also gave her various sheets and objects to hold – to add a more creative shape and flair to the images. This photo shoot was influenced by the photographer Versace, since she photographs images of people in a studio, wearing different items of clothing – and transformed it into a pitch black silhouette against a bright white studio background. I wanted to replicate the idea of her work, since the dark toned silhouettes really contrast against the bright, lighter toned backgrounds. Furthermore, the silhouettes also create really interesting, abstract shapes within the composition (subject matter). This photo shoot took place in the evening, in a hotel corridor – there was very little (artificial) lighting at this time of day, creating a mysterious, almost eerie effect within the images.
Within this photo shoot, it was difficult to capture a range of angles, due to the space restriction; I also didn’t want to capture too many angles, as the main focus (subject matter) of the photographs is shape. However, I did capture slightly lower angles and levels, as well as angles slightly to the side. Although, my main focus was shape, so most of my images were focussed on the dancer directly face on. As it was quite late in the evening, there was very little natural light. Nonetheless, there were a few spots of artificial light coming from both side angles on the walls of the corridor. I could use this light to my advantage, since I could situate the dancer so that most of the light was coming in from behind her, to really emphasise the outline of her shape (silhouette). Alternatively, I could situate her so that the light was directed onto her body. Overall, I used this light to my advantage, since it could add an eerie, creepy corridor effect to my photo shoot.
Personally I feel that the shape in this photo shoot was effective, due to the fact that the dancer and the objects she was holding created a range of interesting shapes and silhouettes within the frame. In addition, the dim, artificial light was able to add a mysterious effect to the images – creating an eerie mood/theme. On the other hand, the light was also slightly ineffective, because the quality of the photographs is poor (due to the lack of light). Thus, a slightly brighter or natural light may have improved the quality – to obtain a crisper, clearer focus. To develop these photos further, I intend to edit the images in photo shop, to change the body of the dancer to appear dark/black – to create a contrast between light and shade, to create a silhouette. I may also capture some more photographs in a studio, against a bright white background, to further enhance the outline of the silhouette. Within my mixed media, i also intend to crop some of the images of the silhouettes and create a collage of the dancer's different body parts - similar to how Versace does.
Within this photo shoot, it was difficult to capture a range of angles, due to the space restriction; I also didn’t want to capture too many angles, as the main focus (subject matter) of the photographs is shape. However, I did capture slightly lower angles and levels, as well as angles slightly to the side. Although, my main focus was shape, so most of my images were focussed on the dancer directly face on. As it was quite late in the evening, there was very little natural light. Nonetheless, there were a few spots of artificial light coming from both side angles on the walls of the corridor. I could use this light to my advantage, since I could situate the dancer so that most of the light was coming in from behind her, to really emphasise the outline of her shape (silhouette). Alternatively, I could situate her so that the light was directed onto her body. Overall, I used this light to my advantage, since it could add an eerie, creepy corridor effect to my photo shoot.
Personally I feel that the shape in this photo shoot was effective, due to the fact that the dancer and the objects she was holding created a range of interesting shapes and silhouettes within the frame. In addition, the dim, artificial light was able to add a mysterious effect to the images – creating an eerie mood/theme. On the other hand, the light was also slightly ineffective, because the quality of the photographs is poor (due to the lack of light). Thus, a slightly brighter or natural light may have improved the quality – to obtain a crisper, clearer focus. To develop these photos further, I intend to edit the images in photo shop, to change the body of the dancer to appear dark/black – to create a contrast between light and shade, to create a silhouette. I may also capture some more photographs in a studio, against a bright white background, to further enhance the outline of the silhouette. Within my mixed media, i also intend to crop some of the images of the silhouettes and create a collage of the dancer's different body parts - similar to how Versace does.
Photo shoot
Edits
Mixed Media/edits
annotation of edits
Within this photo shoot I was attempting to capture images of a dancer creating various shapes with her body; I wanted to further develop this to create pitch black silhouettes of her to focus on her shape, as well as create a collage of each of these silhouettes in attempt to replicate the work of Versace. Thus I only intended to take simple photographs, with no abstract angles or levels (composition), to make it easier for me to convert these images into simple silhouettes within photo shop. This photo shoot took place in a hotel corridor at roughly 20:00pm. I captured this photo shoot with a Canon Bridge Camera and the settings were on manual, with a shutter speed of around F5 – this was to ensure a clear focus, as the artificial lighting caused the image not to appear in brilliant quality.
The work of Versace influenced me in completing these images, due to her use of shape and also contrast between light and shade. Whilst creating silhouettes, she ensured her model created many body positions to provide a range of (organic appearing) abstract shapes; although there’s not a large depth of field, the placement and perspective of the image is effective, as it is simple to clearly outline the model’s body shape. Therefore, I attempted to replicate this with my dancer to create even more interesting, organic shapes. In addition, Versace ensured that the silhouette of the model is pitch black, whilst the background of the photograph is a really bright white colour. This creates a really dynamic diversity (between light and shade) that really pulls you into the image. Thus, whilst creating my edits within photo shop, I ensured that I filled the dancer’s body shape in a pitch black colour and also filled the background in a bright white colour to replicate this contrast.
I feel that the composition of all my edits is effective, due to the fact that I didn’t use abstract angles or levels (similar to Versace) – this is to focus on the shape of the dancer’s body rather than anything else). This also made it easier to further my images, since within photo shop, I cropped the images. Within the first step of my edits, I cropped the background slightly to make the silhouette appear larger in the frame – to minimise the amount of white space. During the next stage of my edits, I cropped out specific corners of the silhouettes (so different body parts can be seen in the image); then created a montage of a variety of these cropped images to replicate the style of the montage that Versace created within her images. This creates an almost mixed media piece that I quite like, as the cropped silhouettes provide a mysterious effect (especially because you can’t see the dancer’s whole body) – the monotone effect also emphasises this.
The contrast between light and shade, as well as the contrast between colours within my edits is quite abstract. Most of my edits are monotone, since (within photo shop) I coloured the dancer in a pitch black colour, whilst I filled the background in a really bright white colour. This was to really emphasise the boundary and also the outline between the organic shape of the dancer and the background – rather than use bright colours to deter from the subject matter. I also chose this because personally, I find a monotone effect quite mysterious and interesting; thus, creating a mysterious mood. However to experiment a little more creatively, I altered the colour of the background within one of my montages to a variety of colours (red, orange and green). Therefore, there’s red stripes, then orange stripes, then one green stripe moving into the centre - to create a more abstract and also creative background to the silhouettes of the dancer. These colours don’t really co-ordinate with each other, more contrast against one another, to create a really diverse and eye-catching appearance to the photograph. I like these colours, since they replicate my bold personality, creating a more personal and meaningful response to Versace’s work.
Within this process, I refined and developed each stage of my original photo shoot as I went along. For example, I developed my original photo shoot (of the dancer within the hotel corridor) by altering the shape of the dancer into a pitch black silhouette and made the background a bright white colour. Within the next stage, I combined these images into a montage and rotated these edits, as well as created repeating patterns from them - to provide a creative appearance to the photographs. Finally, I developed and cropped out specific sections of the first silhouette edits and created a more orderly (grid like) edit/mixed media from different sections of the dancer’s body parts; this provided a more sophisticated, mysterious effect. Now to further develop and experiment with my original photo shoot and edits, I will: select the dancer from the original photo, cut her out of the image, paste her into another copy of the same photograph and repeat her – to create a repeating pattern of the shape of the dancer within one composition. Being a dancer myself, I think this will look very effective, since it captures the beauty of the shapes provided by the dancer and enhances her skill. To finish, I will record the steps that I perform to create this developed set of edits, to show the process and techniques in which I used to create them.
The work of Versace influenced me in completing these images, due to her use of shape and also contrast between light and shade. Whilst creating silhouettes, she ensured her model created many body positions to provide a range of (organic appearing) abstract shapes; although there’s not a large depth of field, the placement and perspective of the image is effective, as it is simple to clearly outline the model’s body shape. Therefore, I attempted to replicate this with my dancer to create even more interesting, organic shapes. In addition, Versace ensured that the silhouette of the model is pitch black, whilst the background of the photograph is a really bright white colour. This creates a really dynamic diversity (between light and shade) that really pulls you into the image. Thus, whilst creating my edits within photo shop, I ensured that I filled the dancer’s body shape in a pitch black colour and also filled the background in a bright white colour to replicate this contrast.
I feel that the composition of all my edits is effective, due to the fact that I didn’t use abstract angles or levels (similar to Versace) – this is to focus on the shape of the dancer’s body rather than anything else). This also made it easier to further my images, since within photo shop, I cropped the images. Within the first step of my edits, I cropped the background slightly to make the silhouette appear larger in the frame – to minimise the amount of white space. During the next stage of my edits, I cropped out specific corners of the silhouettes (so different body parts can be seen in the image); then created a montage of a variety of these cropped images to replicate the style of the montage that Versace created within her images. This creates an almost mixed media piece that I quite like, as the cropped silhouettes provide a mysterious effect (especially because you can’t see the dancer’s whole body) – the monotone effect also emphasises this.
The contrast between light and shade, as well as the contrast between colours within my edits is quite abstract. Most of my edits are monotone, since (within photo shop) I coloured the dancer in a pitch black colour, whilst I filled the background in a really bright white colour. This was to really emphasise the boundary and also the outline between the organic shape of the dancer and the background – rather than use bright colours to deter from the subject matter. I also chose this because personally, I find a monotone effect quite mysterious and interesting; thus, creating a mysterious mood. However to experiment a little more creatively, I altered the colour of the background within one of my montages to a variety of colours (red, orange and green). Therefore, there’s red stripes, then orange stripes, then one green stripe moving into the centre - to create a more abstract and also creative background to the silhouettes of the dancer. These colours don’t really co-ordinate with each other, more contrast against one another, to create a really diverse and eye-catching appearance to the photograph. I like these colours, since they replicate my bold personality, creating a more personal and meaningful response to Versace’s work.
Within this process, I refined and developed each stage of my original photo shoot as I went along. For example, I developed my original photo shoot (of the dancer within the hotel corridor) by altering the shape of the dancer into a pitch black silhouette and made the background a bright white colour. Within the next stage, I combined these images into a montage and rotated these edits, as well as created repeating patterns from them - to provide a creative appearance to the photographs. Finally, I developed and cropped out specific sections of the first silhouette edits and created a more orderly (grid like) edit/mixed media from different sections of the dancer’s body parts; this provided a more sophisticated, mysterious effect. Now to further develop and experiment with my original photo shoot and edits, I will: select the dancer from the original photo, cut her out of the image, paste her into another copy of the same photograph and repeat her – to create a repeating pattern of the shape of the dancer within one composition. Being a dancer myself, I think this will look very effective, since it captures the beauty of the shapes provided by the dancer and enhances her skill. To finish, I will record the steps that I perform to create this developed set of edits, to show the process and techniques in which I used to create them.
development edits***
edit steps **** some
shapes.docx | |
File Size: | 1662 kb |
File Type: | docx |
edit_2_steps.docx | |
File Size: | 6505 kb |
File Type: | docx |