Final Evaluation...

My website address...

www.jessicalouiseblackburn.carbonmade.com...

When initially thinking about this project, I was quite excited about getting into planning my images of incorporating animals into my fashion images. I had 4 initial ideas for my open brief, which were the following; Animals incorporated with models, Models being treated as Animals, Animals being represented through Model’s clothing, Animals being represented through Make-up and Hair. I created a lot of research on each of these 4 themes, using other photographers work and my own research on animal characteristics, as a way of broadening my knowledge on the theme that will therefore lead to my images having more meaning and depth to them.

Once I had gathered enough research on my theme, I started to pursue my first shoot which incorporated animals into the images. I decided to use my friend and fellow photographer, Rebecca Aubrey as the animal I was using was her horse. In my opinion, I would have preferred to use a different model (a professional) compared to Becky in order to make the images more affective The main reason I chose to use Becky was because I wanted her horse to be comfortable and at ease so that I would get the best out of him. I did all of the styling myself and in reflection I think I should have collaborated with a stylist in order to get the best out of this shoot. I decided to destaurate the images to drain some of the bold colour and I think this gave a sort of film aesthetic to my images. If I was to create this shoot again, I would use a different model as I did like the idea of incorporating animals in the shots but overall, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be and therefore I decided to move onto the next sub-theme within my Animals brief.

When pursuing my next idea, I wanted to try and use models and clothing in the studio with the correct lighting to try and represent an animal. I started to research into animals and what connotations come from certain animals such as Tiger, Leopard or Bear. Each of these animals is very domineering and I wanted to try and show this through certain garments. My original model would have been very good for this shoot however, I did have difficulties on the day of my shoot were my model failed to show. I therefore had to use Becky again as she was assisting me at the time and fortunately fit into the clothing. The shoot went very well considering the initial problems and I was able to gain the correct lighting set-up that I wanted and the styling of the clothing was very successful. Once I had edited the images, I began to really see the potential in them, my model Becky works very well in front of the camera and the overall aesthetic of the shots instantly gained my attention. Therefore I decided to shoot again and search for another model. I booked out the studio again and used the same style of clothing; however, I wanted my images to be more successful than last time. In order to do this, I needed to use professionals in the preparation of the shoot. I collaborated with a MUA and with my new choice of model; it was a lot more affective. The MUA created a style that made my models eyes pop in the images and this worked to my advantage as she started to represent the animals I wanted. Overall this shoot was a lot more successful because I was more in depth with the range of posing and even the work of the MUA made a great difference.

In reflection of this shoot, I do believe that collaborating with MUA is very effective, she was able to create a mood just simply with the colours of eyeshadow, I do also like the fact I chose to create both of the shoots in the studio. I did contemplate creating this shoot out on location but within a studio, I could control the lighting to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere that I would have found hard to do on location. The lighting is also exactly as I’d planned before the shoots therefore I am very happy, technically. The dark black background created by the lighting forces my models to stand out from the images.

As I had to re-create my second shoot with a new model and a lot of planning was taken to arrange this, I realised that I was coming to the end of the assignment. Therefore I didn’t have time to carry out the other two ideas that I originally planned to do and stated in my Statement of Intent. I was giving myself a lot of work to do when I initially planned my ideas and I was hoping to complete them all, however due to complications, I was unsuccessful. If I had more time and maybe in other projects, I will be able to complete my ideas, but unfortunately for this project, I have only completed two.

When deciding on my final images and looking through my final two shoots, I came to the conclusion that some shots from my first shoot of Becky in the clothing where stronger than those of my 2^nd model Danniella. They had very different looks and I couldn’t decide on a certain shoot to finalise on, therefore I have collaborated both of the shoots and chose the strongest images from each. I have 3 images from the 1^st shoot and 2 images from my second shoot. I arranged them in an order which will be shown in the prints and on Disc that I think shows a strong link and connection to each other. I have edited the images the best that I could to professional magazine standard and printed them to A3 specifications. My A3 prints were quite expensive as I wanted to get the best quality print I could and I think it has proved a good idea as my models stand out very well and the colours in the image are very striking.

I have also created a website using ‘Carbonmade.com’, I looked into creating a website a few months back and found that Carbon Made was the best site for price, quality and professional standard. My website address has been stated on my blog and also on the cover sheet of this Evaluation. I have also placed other images from other assignments on this website to show my work off to the best I could.

Overall, after looking back over this project, I have realised that I may have spent too much time planning both of the two final shoots which incorporated the clothing. If I was to re-do this whole assignment again, I would concentrate on creating the other two ideas that I had at the beginning of my project, so that I would have more variation than I do have at the end of this project. I have also realised that my blog and research is a lot stronger than my actual images but I am working on improving my concept building and applying it to my shoots. I have learnt a lot from this project and hopefully it will help me when pursuing more projects in the future.

Editorial Layout...

I know I have already stated that I want my final publication to be large format prints and on a website that I have set up. However, I wanted to create an editorial so that I could see what my images would look like if they were published into a magazine. I was going to create this editorial on an on-line magazine such as Issue.com but I didn't have the time to set up an account and produce something so elaborate, therefore I decided to create this layout on Photoshop. It was very easy to create and I think it shows my images off very well, especially the second and third images as my model stand out very well against the black background.

I have also given my editorial a title and credited the people involved in the production.

If I had more time I would have loved to create an on-line editorial to publish my images but because the deadline is approaching, my images will just be shown through prints and a website.

Chosen Outcome...

When thinking about the outcome for my images I wanted to leave it until my final images was decided so I could see what kind of publicity would suit them the most. As I believe my images are quite high fashion shots that have been edited as though they where going in a magazine, I think that the final outcome should be on line. As I already have a website set up, I will publish them on there under the title Animal Instincts and also create large A3 prints to a professional standard. I have not created my Prints yet therefore I cannot comment on the outcome but in my evaluation, I will note how they have turned out and if I am happy with the final images and quality.

Chosen Final Images...

Here are the images that will be my final choice for the prints. As there was some images within both of the shoots I did for the clothing, that I really liked, I have decided to use both models in my final images. In some of the shots, my second model Danniella worked better and in others my first model Becky worked better, so to get the best out of my images, I am mixing them together. I have edited the images ready for print and here are the Jpeg versions of my final images.

Preferred Shoot...

Within this assignment, I have created three shoots altogether, my first one was model with animals incorporated, the second and third were both the same both using different models as I had problems with the first shoot and organising a model.

Therefore out of the two ideas for shoots, I prefer the clothing idea which I created two shoots for. I think I will use these images instead of the animal ones for my final Prints. I have edited the images for both of the clothing shoots that I want to use and they will be shown in the next post.

Shoot Evaluation...

When looking back over the day of this shoot, I think by having a new model, I was able to create more interesting shots than the first model, only because I could use her hair as a prop. She has an afro and because of the animals I was trying to represent, her hair and the colour of her skin worked to an advantage for me and made my images more interesting. The image of my model, which shows her leaning into the camera, with her hair coming across her face is one of my favourite images from of the shoot. Her hair and the way she is posing makes her seem very domineering within the photograph and this links in very well with the animals she is representing. The bear and leopard are both strong , domineering animals in the wild and I think my model shows this very well.

I also think by having a MUA for this shoot also made my images more affective. In the first shoot with Becky, I didn't use a MUA and we did the make-up ourselves. There is a definite difference between the work of a professional and an amateur. Her eyes pop from this images which instantly grab your attention and I think this makes my images in the second shoot more affective.

Edited Favourite Images...

Out of all of the images from my shoot these are two of the images which stand out the most to me, I chose my favourite one from each of the clothing shoots and here they are.

In my opinion, these two images are very strong and the lighting is very good and makes my model stand out from the image. With my choice of model, her hairstyle was perfect for this shoot as it was very wild and big which suited the representation of animals. Especially in the second image where she is leaning into the camera and it makes her seem dominating in the shot which represents a strong animal such as a bear or lion.

I have also edited these images to a high standard in my opinion and tried to show high fashion airbrushing to show off my model to the best she can be. As edited images, I think they are really strong and they get the point across.

Over Exposed Images...

These are a few images that were taken on the day that somehow was over exposed. As we had to use a flash gun to set off the lights there was a slight delay on the lights going off to the actual image being taken. Most of the images worked but here are some of the images that came out over exposed because we caught the light going off at the wrong time. I do like these images and think that the lighting does really work with my models hair and lights them very well. If I was to use these images, they would need a lot of edited to burn in to the lit areas in the background and make the light on the hair stand out more. However, I don't think there is much variation in the pose within these images and I would have to use them all if I was going to use them as my final images. Using one of the images as well as properly exposed images wouldn't look right as a set therefore I don't think I will use any of these images in my final prints but would like to edit them anyway for personal use.

Photoshop or Not to Photoshop?...

I will be uploading iamges soon from this shoot and before I do I wanted to see whether the images needed editing in any way. I have decided that I AM going to edit my favourite images from the shoot. As this shoot is supposed to be a high fashion (Magazine Editorial), I want to completeley over thetop airbrush my images just like the images you see in magazines such as Vogue or Harpers Bazaar. I will post the uneditted and the editted images here on my blog once they have been completed.

Day Of Shoot...

On the day of the shoot, I arrived at the studio with...

2 Assistants - Martha Lee Birks and Becky Aubrey

MUA - Callie Marie Callighan

Model - Danniella Jean Joslin-Jackson

Here are some of the images that I took during the day, showing the make-up that was being done etc in preparation for the actual shoot.

New Chosen Model...

I have found a new model for this upcoming shoot. She is of Mixed Black African Ethnicity and I think this would work really well with the type of images I am going for. With the whole animal instincts theme, her skin colour would compliment the clothing and overall look of the shot.

Model Name - Danniella Jean Joslin-Jackson

Age - 20

Occupation - Student (Fashion and Brand Promotion at UCLan)

The Next Step...

After analysing my images from the shoot, I have now got to start thinking about where to go next. I do want to re-do this shoot and I have got time to do this shoot again before the dedline so I am going to have to put all my efforts into making the shoot better than the one I have just completed. I am going to look for another model and hopefully arrange another shoot which will be more successful. I have had a tutorial with my tutor who saw these images from the last shoot and he agrees with me, that they are not as strong as they should be when representing animals. I think this has a lot to do with the fact the model wasn't the right model for the shoot and this is something I am working on sorting out. However he did say the clothing, lighting and the general photographic technical skills are very good which only motivates me even more to do this shoot again. Before doing this next shoot, my tutor has advised me to go and research into animal behaviour more and try to undertsand why the animals act in this way and what makes them stand out against all other animals. I will pursue this idea and hopefully it will give me more ideas for poses etc in my upcoming shoot.

Evaluation of Shoot...

When thinking of this shoot, I was initally really excited to get to grips with animal manerisms and how they behave. To express this through clothing is something that I am really interested in and wanted to push myself with. On the day fo the shoot and my model didn't turn up, it was a disaster! Luckily, fellow photographer and assistent on the day was able to stand in for me as she was the same szie in clothing which was very fortunate. In my opinion, the shoot didn't go as successful as I'd thought and I wasn't as happy with the final outcome as I wanted to be as I had planned and planned before the shoot. The lighting, choice of black background and styling of clothes was all exactly what I wanted, thereofre on some level, I am happy with the outcome of the images. At least I know next time if I was to do this shoot again with a different model then, I would be able to perfect the lighting etc as I had already done it before and could easily set up again. Becky my model on the day did really well though seeing as though she wasn't the original model, she adapted well to the type of shot and in some of the images, she managed to even get the poses that I was aiming for. Although I don't really want to use these images for this assignment, If I re-do the shoot with a different model on a different day and they don't turn out aswel as these images, then I will use these images for my final prints. I haven't edited any of these images as of yet only because I don't want to edit them untill I have created a new shoot to see if I will use them. I think if I did edit them, then they will look a lot more polished and professional then they do now.

Shoot Outfit 4...

This is my fourth and final animal representation, I did really like the snake images from the last shoot so I have decided to create more but with different poses and different clothing. I also tried a different lighting set up because I wanted to light my model from top to bottom instead of just her top as the main animal clothing was on her bottom. The leggins and the bra work really well together and I think they are very simplistic yet effective because they work with the poses my model is creating. I wanted her to stand tall and arch her back in different ways to show a snakes movement. I know that it didn't really work that well as it is very hard to represent a snake and my model's face expression isn't exactly what I was looking for. This is my fault though I suppose and should have directed her more. Overall I do like the clothing and the lighting but I dont think this choice of animal has worked very well in this shoot.

Shoot Outfit 3...

This is my third shoot that I wanted to create and again using different clothing that will represent a different animal. I decided to choose snakes for this one. I know the animal in general is a little hard to represent but I really liked the clothing and wanted to try and show through suggestive posing, that it was a snake that I was representing. In my opinion, I dont think these imagesd work aswell as the other shoot especially the first shoot with the bear clothing, only beacuse the animal isn't obvious through the pose etc. However, disregarding the concept I was aiming for, I really like the images and how they have turned out, the pose etc is very flalttering and different.

Shoot Outfit 2...

Again I have created an online diagram of my lighting set up, it is only an example and is not the actual shoot shoot exactly as I shot it.

This is my second shoot with the second outfit which represents a leopard and here are a few images that I feel represent a leopard the best. I wanted my model to come across as fierce yet beautiful in the images which in my opinion represents a leopard really well. I don't think these images work aswel as the last outfit choice only because I feel that my model gets repetative in the pose and doesn't show as much variety as the first outfit.

Shoot Outfit 1...

The first image shown here is a diagram of the shoot layout, where I was stood, the model and the lighting set-up. It is only an example fo the lighting but it doesn't show exactly the lighting I used. Here are a few images of the first shoot idea that I think are the best of what I took. I wanted my model to portray a bear for the animal choice in these images. I used a fur coat and a black bra so that the coat would stand out most. This also shows a dominering item of clothing which can also relate to the animal I am representing. In my opinion, I think the animal presence does come across in these images, some more than others but overall I think they work really well. The first, second and thrid images are my favourite as I think the bear resemblance is very clear.

Day of Shoot - Complications...

The day started like a complete disaster!!

Got to the studio at 8 in the morning and started to set up for my friend Martha's shoot as I was being an assistent for this, her shoot went just the way she planned andI was then ready to move on to mine. I had everything ready, such as the clothing in my models size, the lighting idea's I had already planned etc.... and my model didn't show up!!!! I was waiting for around an hour for her but she wasn't even answering her phone. I know we shouldnt use our friends in the shoots we plan but at least our friends are reliable.. Any how, I ended up asking my friend and assistent on the shoot becky to stand in, luckily she was the same size in clothes as my orginal model and has modelled before so I was happy for her to do it.

When planning my next shoot, I want to have a model I trust and that I know will show up or at the very least, I will have two models so that I have a back up if one of them doesnt show up.

The shoot with becky went very well and I was able to get want I wanted from her. This shoot will only be able to be classed as a test shoot for this assignment as I want to try again with another model preferably with dark skin as this is the vision I originally had. I did however manage to get the different lighting techniques I wanted to achieve and also the poses etc, I think I even managed to get across what I wanted by signifying through clothing. I will therefore use this as a test shoot and be able to set my shoot up again next time with ease and just simply use a different model that will suit the clothes more.

Concept of Shoot...

This was really hard to put my finger on when planning this shoot. I had an idea of using animal clothing but at first I wa sunsure of what the point was of showing animal clothing. We had a lot of lectures on concepts and it got me thinking about what the real reason was that I wanted to shoot clothing and what I was trying to portray.

I decided to use the different animal clothing to show animals personalities through the models. By using the manerisms and body language, no only shape but the way the animals act, I wanted my model to pose like the animals. Not so that it is really cliche and cheesy but by only hinting at the animals through the pose as a sort of signifyer through meaning. The animals I have chosen to portray are very dominating animals so I want my model to come across as very dominating, through eye contact and contract with the camera. Hopefully this will come across in my images that I produce in the shoot.

Location Vs Studio...

In a recent meeting my my personal tutor, he got me thinking about locations for my shoots. I do like the idea of shooting this concept out on location but I wouldn't know where to start when thinking of the locations because it would really have to fit the clothing and ideas of the shoot in order for it to work. However in the studio, I can focus my attention more on the lighting and making sure the clothes are lit well enough as well as giving a modd of a dominating animal. I feel that if I was to do this shoot out on location, I would be worried to much about getting the correct location and not putting my effort into what I believe is mroe important and that is the clothing and representing the manerisms of animals.

For this shoot, I have decided to use the studio, purely on the basis of that I think the clothes will be the main element in the images and there will be no distractions in the background of the images. I will see how this shoot goes first before I start to think about maybe moving the shoot out on location. It may be good to see this variation from studio to location and see which works best for the concept.

Clothes Chosen...

Here are the clothes that I had purchased for the shoot. Some of the clothes is borrowed from friends etc that I knew wouldn't mind me borrowing. I have layed the clothes out on the white floor in the studio so I can show the clothes before being worn by my model.

Shoes For all Shoes

Black Heels - Schuh £60 - Already Mine

Outfit 1 - Snake

Snake Skin Blouse - £38 Topshop
Black Bra - £25 Ann Summers
Cream Jodphurs - Borrowed

Outfit 2 - Bear

Black Bra - £25 Ann Summers
Fur Coat - £90 River Island/Borrowed



Outfit 3 - Snake 2

Black Bra - £25 Ann Summers
Snake Leggins - £20 Topshop
Brown Belt - £3 Primark

Outfit 4 - Leopard

Leopard Print Top - £30 Topshop/Already Mine
Cream Shorts - £28 Miss Selfridge

Sourcing Clothes...

When thinking about sourcing the clothes I wanted I really had to think about the style I was going for. The animal Prints I really wanted were Tiger, Snake and some sort of Fur that would represent a Bear some way. I went into Preston town centre and used ideas from another photographer Martha Birks and also my Friend Clare Ryan from the Fashion and Brand Promotion course. I used clare to help me come up with ideas and put items together to get the right style I was going for.

I tried shops such as Topshop, River Island for the main Items, alongside Primark and charity shops for the little things that I wouldnt be able to get in larger marketing shops.

I knew I would be spending a lot for the styling of this shoot therefore I decided to pay for all of the items and take them back at a later date to get my money back.

Styling...

I will be doing the styling for this shoot, I am not very good at styling to begin with therefore I wanted to use a stylist from the Fashion promotion with styling degree. However, I wasn't able to get a stylist at such short notice, I had already booked the studio for my shoot and thereofre had to get womebody who was willing to work in a short time and this wasnt possible. If I am to do this shoot again, which I think I will because I really like the idea and concpet for this shoot and would probably want to develop it, I will try to use a stylist to push my ideas further.

As I said before, I'm not exactly amazing at styling but I do have a passion for fashion and on some level know what is already out there in terms of collections by designers, so I think I will be ok for the styling on this shoot. Wish me luck!!!

Chosen Model...

Here is my chosen model that I have recently found.

Name - Chinyere Stapleton

Age - 20

Dress Size - 8

Occupation - Student, Ba (Hons) Business, UCLan

This is just a simple picture of my model to show what she looks like, her size and features and hair. She also has very very very long dreads on her head that she ties up and covers up on a dily basis. I think for my shoot and depending on the clothes I will try a few images with her hair covered and a few with the dreads down. They may suit the images better with her hair down. I am happy with the model I have chosen for the shoot, she is exactly what I was looking for and is very comfortable in front of the camera. Lets hope the images will show this.

Model Type...

I have been thinking about this for a very long time now and I didnt really know were to start looking for a model and what I wanted my model to look like. After looking around and scouting for models, I knew that I wanted a model who was dark skinned only because I think that the clothes and overall style of the shoot would look a lot more effective. I also wanted somebody who was tall, slim and who was comfortable in front of the camera as they would have to be able to take direction quite easily.

I will continue to look for a model for my shoot.

Lighting and Technical Aspects...

The lighting aspects of this shoot is very important in order to show the clothes in the best way, and in order to gain the best out of my model and clothes, I will be relying heavily on my technical skills. I am not amazing at the technical aspects of photography but I do believe I am getting better at understanding what looks good and how to achieve what I want. There are different lighting techniques I want to use for the different styles of clothing but all of the images will be taken on a black background so that my model can stand out from the background. When setting up in the studio on the day, I will be able to work out what lighting works best for the clothing before my model arrives and I will document this when showing the images on here later on. I will however be using a Canon 5D Mark 2 for these images in order to get the best quality images.

Animal Influenced...

Here are a few images that I found on the web whilst researching animals and clothing.

The top image is taken by David Lachepelle and features Leonardo Di Caprio. I wanted to show this image because Animal Print isn't actually shown in the clothing at all but it is shown in the background as a wall feature that the model is leaning on. This image works really well as the background works well with the model and neither one outshines the other. It is as though the background is just as important as the model/Celebrity stood in front of it.

The Second image features Kate Moss for an advertisement, I cant find who or what she is advertising and this image was anonomously shown on the web sith no information but I do love the clothing she is wearing in the shot.I noticed she is lyng on a man in the shot and I think this works really well with the chosen clothing. She is dominating the male model just like an animal and I think the clothing represents this really well.



The final image i'm again not too sure who or what they are advertising but the clothing stood out to me because of the styles and colour palette. The colours, fur and animal print all represent wild animals in there own way and they have decided to take a classy and elegant route when styling and wearing them.