Photoshoot Project

   
 Presentation Proposal (two ideas)

Idea 1- Rare Italian Renaissance Painting

 Use a dark background or take a picture of a carpet and add as a layer on Photoshop.  would ask/ work with a make-up artist to create a pale and young face.have some hair accessories that I could use and perhaps get some leaves to add in the hair.For the boarder I could either find an image on google or find a photo frame. I could even ask my brother if I could borrow some of his wood and great a varnish effect.  For the frills on the arms and neck I could gather some white material which I have at home.I could wear some small silver earrings for earring and a red beaded bracelet.

I would wear a white long sleeve top and a purple dress that is short sleeves, so you would see the white sleeves on the arms. To get the gold detail on the dress I could experiment on Photoshop or cut some shapes out of gold card and pin on my dress. 

Idea 2 =Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and wife

 Jan van Eyck - Painted 1434

Early Renaissance Art Mixed with The Legend of Zelda.
 - For this I have a make-up team to help me create the sinister look of the face of the man and the sweet pixie  of the lady.

    - I would wear a  purple dress.  It would be a ballgown dress for the long drapery effect. I have a flower head piece to  create the light elegant effect.For the man my friend has said she would take his place as she has a black hat and long black coat.She would wear a purple top and a mid length creased brown  skirt underneath the coat. 

    -For the light effect I am going to have the light come in at an angle from the left. I will be taking my picture in the studio downtairs and then place my drawing in as the background on photoshop.

-For the background I will use soft pastels to create an interpretation of the  bedroom . Unfortunately I could not read the writing so I did my own version of the date and put my name on in .

 Close up of the mans face. 

I am going to take idea 2 forward because I feel it would be more challenging and I would have a more sophisticated outcome as there is more detail and interesting aspects. such as colours, angles body positions and there is a more complexed background.

Over the holidays I am going to prepare my background and collect any necessary materials or object needed.

Shopping list 
Head piece - Claire's £5.00

Models 
Claire Edmundson - elf lady
Milly Reeves - Man

Scene - down stairs in the studio, so I can use the lightening facility.
The photos
These were my photos that I used to create my final outcome. I was experimenting with light and body positions to try and get the best results I could.

Photoshop
1. Firstly I chose the best images then I opened three layers and used ctrl v to paste them in.  Before I could do anything I had to get rid of the padlock on the background photo so I could make changes.
2. I used the levels tool to change the colour to try and match the original image of the people.
3. I used the quick selection tool  and magnetic lasso to cut out my people and get rid of any excess.  While I was doing this I also used the refine  edge button (select - refine edge) to clean up the outline. I then used the clone tool to add pieces in that it cut out by accident like hair as this is thin selections.
4. When it got to editing myself (the lady) due to the similar tone I had to change the tolerance when I got round to the dress and the grey background. After that I had to use the magnetic lasso and carefully make sure all of my body was in. During this I used the zoom in (ctrl =) and zoom out tool(ctrl -). 
5. To make my self look pregnant I was going to use a cushion but because my  dress is tightly fitted I used the liquefy tool on Photoshop. (Filters - Distort - Liquefy) 
6.When placing my people in to position I was finding the background too small so I used the clone tool to make it bigger and made the canvas bigger.
7. I also made my arm shorter to make the hand position work. To do this I used the quick selection to cut part of my arm off. Then I used the free select tool + shift ( to keep the aspect ratio) to place my hand back in place.
8. I used the the spot human brush to fill in the man's coat and the clone tool to get rid of the t-shirt as I decided i didn't want it to be seen.
8.Finally I used the merged layers to combined the 3 images together because I found that having them as separate layers made the image look separated.
9. I altered the colour saturation and because the photos were one it changed everything.

Issues I had
During the process of 'cleaning up' my photos and merging them into one outcome I was finding that because my background drawing was a drawing and the people were photographs the people looked very sharp and out of place. I then took a experimental approach and used some of the artistic effects and filters to alter my photo.

The experimental photos 

Normal. 
This picture there is limited filters. I felt that the people look to sharp and it doesn't look natural.I like this because the colours are strong.

Canvas with white border 
Personally on Photoshop I felt this simple white border finished the picture of and gave it a finished look.

Antique effect with canvas and border.
I liked this black and white effect because I think it makes the photo old looking so is suitable for when the picture was set in the renaissance times.






 


Final photo with limited filters





Canvas
I added this canvas filter and i felt it bleneded in perfectly because it softened the people and created an painting look which the original looks more like.

Evaluation 
Overall I am very pleased with my outcome considering the whole photoshoot has been an new experience. I fell that my outcome reflect the effort I have put in because I have thought about different aspects such as lighting, background and angles and not just used a phone to do a quick snap. Also from a fashion point of view I tried to included the ruffles/layers in the dress which were the style long dress were painted in the renaissance time. I think my background worked extremely well because I focused on shade and light. The colours work well compared to the original image because there is a large empathise on the blending in of the soft pastels. When editing on photoshop I was finding it difficult to have my people in similar positions due to the arms being long, so I had to edit them. Personally I like the bold colours and i think they do work well however becuase the background is a drawing and the people are photographs it does stand out massively. If I was to do this again I would plan my time better. Ideally I would have liked the make up students to create the sinister face of the man and even have created the elf  ears. We were given the opportunity but I never properly arranged it.Furthermore If I was given the change to do it again I would try and get the people and the background all in one shoot. This again was due to planning and time, if I did have just the one shot it would have made editing easier because everything would all be in place. I could have also focussed on more minor detail such as the hair and hand positioning if I had one photo.

Fashion Photographers Research

Nick Knight

Born 1958
Studied at Bournemouth and Poole college of art and design. Graduated with a distinction in 1982

He is among the world’s most influential and visionary  photographers.  He likes to challenge ideas and is known for his ground-breaking creative ideas. He He has been involved with leading fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Yohji Yamamoto. Also he has helped clients advertised such as Swaroski and Levi Strauss.  
He first published his own book of photographs in 1982. He has also published  Nicknight, which is  a twelve year retrospective,  series of flower pictures, they were published by Schirmer Mosel. He has worked on a range of often controversial issues during his career - from racism, disability, ageism, and more recently fat-ism. He continually challenges conventional ideals of beauty. night's work has been exhibited at Saatchi Gallery, the Photographers Gallery and Hayward Gallery.  

I like how Nick Knight uses plain backgrounds to emapthise the dynamic poses. I like the middle picture paticularly because she has an emotional body position that makes us want to help her. I think the colour blue help represent her sadden mood.

Websites used : http://showstudio.com/contributor/nick_knight
http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/nick-knight-biography

Mario Testino

Born 1954 in Peru 

studied economics at college

He has shot numerous magazine covers for high-profile magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair. He likes to shoot the very best of the best in terms of models –Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, , Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Britney Spears ect. He is popular with the royal family so when they decided to be profiled in a luxury publication, there he is. He shot Princess Diana for Vanity Fair magazine in 1997, and he has photographed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince Harry and Kate Middleton. He came to London in 1976, took a flat in an abandoned hospital near Trafalgar Square, and began selling portfolios.  He is well know for his polished and exotically bright campaigns and exquisitely styled photographs. 

I really like the angles and body positions of Mario Testino shoots. I think there is a high focus on the face. I get this impression because of the lighting and intense make and hair. When I take my photo I am hoping to create the shadow effect and empathise on the face.  I am going to also think about angles and body positions of my people what ever picture I do. Proportionally I am going to use sizing to strengthen the focus on the lady of the Arnofini wedding or just like the heads are bigger on these picture.

Websites used:http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/fashion/top-10-photographers-in-the-fashion-industry/ 

http://models.com/people/mario-testino 

Timothy  Walker

Born 1970

studied -Walker’s interest in photography began  London (Condé Nast libary).he worked on the Cecil Beaton archive for a year before university.After a three-year BA Honors degree in Photography at Exeter College of Art, Walker was awarded third prize as The Independent Young Photographer Of The Year.  Graduated at university in 1994. 

Timothy walker has grabbed readers attention in the view magazines month by month with his extravagant staging and romantic motifs characterize his unmistakable style. Walker worked as a freelance photographic(takes photos to make money) assistant in London. Later he moved to New York City and became a full time assistant to Richard Avedon. When he moved back ton England, he  concentrated on portrait and documentary work for British newspapers.  At the age of 25 he shot his first fashion story for Vogue, since then he has photographed for the British, Italian, and American editions, as well as W Magazine and LOVE Magazine. 

Website used-http://timwalkerphotography.com/biography

I love how Timothey Walker uses such delicate and detailed backgrounds to create a scene and create an atmosphere. I also Like how all of these shoots have the same sift floral aspect to them, this suggests he has a consistency. The lady on the left has a carefully considered facial expression. I am going to take this on board when I take my photo. To create this I am sure that Timothy Walker tried various facial shoots before settling for his final outcome so I am going to carry this out. Also I admire the carefully angled hand positioning. On the Arnofini painting there is a inspirational hand positioning between the man and women to show there love so I going to particularly focus on this as it is centre of attention, being in the centre of the page and creating that real love and affection feel.

Annie Leibovitz 

Born Connecticut 1949

Studied she studied photography at the San Francisco Art Institute, here,  (at 19) she took a photograph of Allen Ginsberg smoking a joint on an anti-Vietnam march.  

Annie Leibovitz is a sensentinal photographer and some people even believe she has created some of the most beautiful portraits that have ever been captured on the printed page. She has done some close work with the Rolling Stones including  photographing John Lennon and Yoko Ono for the magazine’s cover (while she was still a student). Annie Leibovitz work is ubiquitous(most popularly found in the vogue and vanity fair) it includes the pregnant shoot of Demi Moore and unforgettable ones of Lady Gaga. In her career she has also shooted for  President Barack Obama and the first family at the White House.  However she is back to the camera for her latest shoot featuring Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in the vogue maganzine with their new baby. Leibovitz style is perfectly tailored to celebrity-fuelled times.

Websites used: http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/fashion/top-10-photographers-in-the-fashion-industry/10/

http://artsinstitute.stanford.edu/events/fashion-at-stanford-annie-leibovitz-pascal-dangin/ 

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/oct/22/photography 

Anne Leibovitz photographs consists of ladies in big dresses, including acsented drapery this is similar to the Arnolfini wedding. I like how Annie Leibovitz uses light to make the faces stand out which is also a feature in both my planning ideas.