The Language of Advertising
Alice Wilson
For this shoot I planned to experiment with different lighting to help me pick my favourite lighting effects and enable me to decide and look further in to which effect I will use for my final shoot. For this shoot i have experimented with a range of different lighting extentions including numerous soft boxes, beauty dishes and snoots. I have decided not to use the snoot as I think hat the light is top harshly focused in one area- however i do think that it would work well if I wanted a harsh bleak composition. It was useful practicing with the different lighting as it gave me an insight in to the perfect lighting for my planned shoots. After putting these lighting extentions in to practice, I have decided that using a soft box will be most applicable for the style of shoot I hope to achieve. I think that a soft box provides more of a dull lighting set up which is something that I would like in my images. It gives an even coverage of light that is soft however depending on how used- dark and slick helping with an overall professional outcome, this will hopefully compliment my style of shoots, giving a raw street like quality.
I worked on positioning the lights in different areas and positions which enabled me to think about a set up for a final shoot. I would like to create a murky feel to my images and I plan to do this by using a simple set up. I think that shadowing in my images will make the compositions more dramatic, something that will be intentional.
To create the perfect looking magazine cover it is important for the model on the front cover to look flawless and perfect. In these images I used a soft box slightly over to the left which is why there is a subtle shadow on the right hand side. The soft box helped me to have an even coverage of light over each image which really compliments both models. These two images are both after post production where I have airbrushed them both and slightly edited colour and vibrance.
I think that this image overall is very flattering, the even defused light from the softbox has helped to soften the image and there are no unwanted shadows distorting the model. I believe that this image is well composed, with the right amount of negative space, meaning it would work well if I decided to make it in to a magazine cover. Although it is a simple image, the business of the hair and sunglasses help to add detail and create an interesting compesition.
Unedited image using a soft box.
I also used a soft box for this image which again has given a softer feel and an even coverage of light. Again this image is very simple, I purposely had the model slightly over to the left, as well as him not looking right in to the camera- this has helped with making the image more intense and the models gaze has a cheeky vibe. It was helpful working with a male model as I have not worked in a studio with a male before. Although I have decided not to use him in my work I will definitely like to progess with this in other porojects to come.
Unedited image using a soft box.
In the two images above I used a beauty dish. Although this lighting would work well as a magazine cover, I personally prefer the soft box as it gives an even coverage of light. I think that the beauty dish does give a flawless and already airbrushed effect but I have decided not to use this for my images as I want to create moodier lighting to compliment the style of shoot as well as idea and concept behind my shoot.
I plan to do my next shoot in the style as my final shoot idea, to give me inspiration and final plans for exactly what I want to do when it comes to my final shoot.