Assignment 5

So the plan of video taping a photo shoot fell through. I did do the photoshoot, and got some great images, but just no video. Eventually, I may still montage these together to music.  My boyfriend was not able to get the camera that he wanted (which is what I was planning on using) so I changed my plans. I did still follow through with a stop motion piece that I feel turned out very successful. It was surprisingly fun to make and really put me in the Christmas mood.

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The way that I went about doing this was with fishing line and a stick. I thought that this project would be really tedious and annoying but I was surprised at how fun it was!


For the second part of this assignment, I decided to give fashion photography a whirl (Set 4). Completely different from what I am used to doing, but it was a nice change. My roommate's friend made her this peacock costume for Christmas, so we went out a couple weeks after and shot a bunch of different photos. She wasn't too keen on modeling, but her friend, the designer, was there and helped with the posing as well as the other aspects of fashion photography that I am not familiar with. Despite the twenty degree weather, it was pretty fun and I feel that for my first go around at this, we got some pretty good images.

Written Statements:


Decorating Delight


Composition: I had to really play around with framing when I first started. I began with a vertical frame with not much space around the tree, and then decided to flip to horizontal because of the orientation of a video frame. I also knew that I needed some blanks space for the bulbs to run around in. I chose a pretty low and level perspective to feel as if we were on their level and not looking down on what is happening. I think this really emphasized the linear feel to the moulding, the floor line, and the paneling. It also gave an asymmetrical balance to the frame too.


Concept/Aboutness/Idea: I feel like this project is about just a cutesy Christmas feeling. I knew going into this that I wanted to animate inanimate objects. I really liked this idea because I knew that once put to an upbeat song, it would be really fun. I wanted to convey the idea of teamwork and kind of follow the leader.


Method: The way I went about this, required a lot of help from my boyfriend. I set up a tripod, framed the scene and then handed my wireless shutter release remote to him. From there, I nudged everything here and there for each image while he hit the button. It was a lot of diving into the scene and then jumping back out so he could snap the photo. I lit the scene with two overhead fan lights from each side as bright as I could because I knew that I was going to have to shoot slow with the f-stop I was using. I chose a higher value for my f-stop because I didn't want to have to worry about focusing on whatever was the highlight in each scene. Everything was in focus at all times, except for in the end when I purposely went out of focus for the credits. This was a new process and technique for me and I really like the results!


Motivation/Context: My motivation for this film came from the time and motion class that had to do all of the stop motion pieces. I was just in love with all of the videos that I had seen on their blog and since then, have always wanted to give it a try. My work relates to this same idea because I made a short film and brought life to inanimate objects. This piece may or may not relate to larger issues outside of art. I guess that you could say it relates to the fact of pure viewing joy to bring a smile to people's faces. I have posted this video on my Facebook and everyone is really enjoying it. Outside the concept of the film, a lot of people like seeing how it looks when it is all put together and are almost surprised at just how many images it took to make a one minute movie.

Peacock Fashion

Composition: I chose to do a horizontal frame for this photo to really show off the full body of the model as well as the awesome mossy rocks around her. I did play around with vertical photos too, but they weren't as effective. I also chose to shoot a diagonal composition to make it feel more posed and almost statue like. The level photos that I shot felt too static to me and too static for the funky pose.


Method: My method was very experimental and lengthy for this shoot because I had never shot any type of fashion photography before. A lot of this was guess and check for my framing, lighting, compositions, and so on. I lit my subject at about a 45 degree angle each time with my off camera flash. I was struggling though because it was so cold and windy and gray outside, that I had to shoot slower than I would have liked to.


Concept/Aboutness/Idea: I feel that this image is about nature and the beauty and almost mystery behind it. A peacock is such a majestic creature and I really wanted to convey that in my photos through the use of color and scenery. The mossy rocks is exactly what I pictured in my head before we even left my apartment. I knew right off the bat that that is what I was looking for. Her off camera glare just adds to the look I was going for.


Motivations: Because I have never shot this type of photography, everything was my motivation! I know that sounds funny, but before I shot, I took a look through google images after searching for things like fashion photography, nature fashion photography, outdoor fashion photography, and so on. I think it's because I am so used to shooting fairly normal portraits for my seniors, but I was really interested in the bizarre ones. I liked the funky poses and colors and editing because it is a line I never get to cross with my senior portraits.


Context: My work relates to a lot of society. We are surrounded with advertisements everywhere we go whether it be billboards, television, the internet, magazines, or anything. The idea is that photography doesn't always have to be about people, but also about clothing too and that was a really hard idea for me to grasp.