Image and exhibition review

The Level 3 Photography group participated in this Portrait Studio Exhibition at the Uclan PR1 Gallery in the Victoria building. Their photographs were framed in black frames with 18x20inch prints. Big prints are effective because it allows the viewers to look at details in the photographs closely, and also shows more detail, whereas if the prints were to be smaller there wouldn't be as much visible detail. These students have put in a lot of thought whilst curating this work, they have made sure that whilst hanging their framed work none of them clash and that they all look good together, stand out from each other and not just put their work next to their friends. They have put prints next to one an other where the colours won't clash together, for example the image I have shown of 3 students work hung in their exhibition spaces, they are all different colours and do not clash. They also work well together because they are all different themes, which makes each image stand out individually from each other. Aimee Greenwood's print has many strengths and also some areas of development. Some strengths being the effect and mood this print gives off to the viewers, which is a very happy mood, in which the pastel colours and brightness of the image contributes towards this, as well as the fact that she is smiling, it makes the viewers smile too. Another strength within her print is that she has stuck to one theme and I can tell she has put some thought into this, as there is a particular flower theme going on. In this print I like the positioning of the model, as well as how she isn't looking at the camera, it helps to make this print stand out and these are also areas of strengths. The model smiling whilst looking away portrays a factor of what her personality could be, and this print portrays she is a happy person but is also shy, due to the fact of her looking down whilst smiling, which I think is a good strength and factor to help towards the succession of her print. Some improvements to be made in Aimee's work in my opinion would be to take off the jewelry on her wrist as it doesn't fit in with the rest of her print. I also think that she could improve on this by capturing more of the models face, although this is also a strength as it gives it a sort of hidden meaning as to why she is hiding her face, I also think photographing from a different angle could be helpful to be more successful in the future. Sophie Szmit's print also has many strengths and also areas for development. There are many interesting factors within her print, such as the positioning and the body language of this model, this as well as the dark colour theme of the print gives off the effect that this person in the print is very mysterious at this point of time, and this just all together makes the image look mysterious, which is what I like about this image. I think that this print is simple but has a very interesting side to it which is one of many reasons why I like this print. Although as always I think that there could be room for improvement for this which would be to maybe shoot from a more interesting angle. Within this exhibition I also enjoyed Aimee Postle's work, which shows areas of strengths throughout. One thing I particularly like about this print is the painting of the models hand but also the contrast of the colours between that and the background, they are the same colour but not to the point where it blends in, which helps the two colours to contrast well. I also find it interesting that this person in the print is covering half of her face with the painted hand, it makes me want to know what the message was behind this in the process of it being taken. There could also be areas for improvement, such as the lighting, as parts of the background look brighter than others. Overall I think that this exhibition has been successful, the students have produced very high standard quality of work and has been very interesting to see and look at hung up together in the exhibition, the was it all has been layed out and the thought has gone into the curation of the whole exhibition. They have used the space well and wisely. All of these factors together have helped towards creating very good individual exhibition pieces and the exhibition as a whole.

Shoot 2

Going back into the Uclan studio I start my second and final shoot, I had made sure I had come prepared to ensure I got the outcome I wanted. This time I changed the outfit choice in the attempt to add in flowers, which I did by changing the outfit, which in the second shoot consisted of a flower clip in her hair and also a flower top and kimono, with shorts. The color of the kimono also fits in well because it contrasts well with the colour of the backdrop, it doesn't blend in and look boring, it stands out very well. I also think that the colour of her hair contrasts well with the colour of the flower clip, it helps the flower to stand out very well. I have continued to use plenty of light to get a bright, high key image, this time I used a soft box to light up the background, a beauty dish to contribute to the complex of the models face and structure and a snoot to contribute to the brightness of the image and make it as high key as possible without making it to over exposed, again using the correct camera settings with the help of a light meter to ensure I had as much time as possible shooting with the model. This time I started off by having the mode standing up and shot close up as well as full length, which both give of different effects. I then decided to add in the stool again for the model to sit on, as I feel that it will help give a better effect to my outcomes and also helps to make it look more natural.
The full length images show off more of her body language and how she is stood, whereas the close ups focus less on her body language but shows the theme slightly more as it focuses on the flowers on her clothing and in her hair, and it also shows her facial features a lot more. An improvement to be made on this would be to have more light facing towards the floor towards her feet and the stool to prevent shadow. Another improvement to be made is to make sure of the framing of the image, so that the edge of the backdrop isn't visible within the images. I think that the images where she is looking away from the camera are particularly interesting, as in some of them it looks as if she is looking at something off camera, which can make viewers wonder what she is looking at. I think that the style of my images is very feminine, which is shown with the colours, of the background as well as the clothing, which includes nice purple and pink pastel colours, as well as the pattern of flowers. My idea was to create a set of happy bright images and I feel with these outcomes this has been successful, they give off a very happy mood with the brightness and the theme of them. With this being the second time shooting with this model I found the process of directing her much easier and enjoyable. Within my images for this shoot there are some that I like more than others, but overall I am happy with the outcome of my idea and shoot and have turned out how i wanted and planned. I am happy to move this shoot on by selecting and editing one image from this shoot as my final image to be hung in the exhibition, I will choose carefully, one that will stand out but also show the message I want to show and give off a good feeling to the people looking at it.

When researching I researched into summer lines on clothing websites and found this image, which has inspired and helped me to figure out how to compose my images. In this she is wearing slightly similar clothes to what i wanted my model to wear in my shoot and has the same summer and flower pattern theme. I think this has helped me to research into this, to help me get a better idea how I want my images to look and how to compose them etc, and what type of mood I want to show within my photographs. It also helps me to take my work further and experiment a lot more.

These are the two images I took from the shoot to decide from for my final exhibition image, which I edited on Photoshop, resizing them to make sure that they would fit into the frame correctly, and also adding effects to touch up the image and also brighten it slightly. These two images give off different effects. The first is close up which pays more attention to the detail of the flower pattern and her facial expression. I also chose this because of her facial expression, the way she is looking down and also smiling, which is helpful as I want it to give off a happy feeling, which I think that this image does in many ways such as being bright image with nice pastel colours, a summer theme with a flower pattern which this image shows all of this very clearly. Whereas the second image shows more of her body language as well as portraying the theme well. I like that she is sat on the stool, it makes it interesting and stand out. The way that she is sat also helps to create a successful image, as well as her body language. In this one she looks very serious but all the other aspects of the image help to create a happy image. Overall I think that these two images are very successful and would look great hung up in an exhibition, but I have chosen to use the first one, as it completes the whole idea I was aiming for and would stand out more within the exhibition. After choosing and editing my final image, I will move on to framing it and hanging it in the exhibition space, placing it in the most suitable space.