Portfolio Wk 3 Photo shoots

Wk 3 (13 Oct – 17 Oct)

Portfolio progress
What have i done this week?

• Confirmed shoots this week for three models.  Two females (Pata and Paris) and one male (Chris).  
• I have organised two hairdressers to come in and do my females hair
• I have taken practise shots of my model Cecilia, who i will shoot at a later date.  I did the practise shots similar to my previous model.  Using outdoor lighting and experimented with different angles.  I also tried taking photos just above her eye line.  From this shoot, i was able to use the photos to research different poses which would be flattering for her.  Her eyes are very sensitive and she often squints in bright light or whenever she is tired.  One of the things that she was concerned about was appearing washed out or tired in her photos.  I will be sure to organise a time with her when she is well rested and using some make up to even out her skin tone and frame her eyes.  Below is the contact sheet of practise shots i took with Cecilia.  

Photo shoots

With these photo shoots there was alot of organisation which was needed.  The first thing i made sure to have was an assistant.  I drew up a schedule for the day and briefed her on how the day would run.  This was the plan for the day:

9am - Set up Studio (Cecilia and I)

Lighting:

• 3 point lighting 
• Side light with snoot

930am - Set up dressing room for make up and hair - use moving image studio (Cecilia to set up)

• 2 x hair and make up students
• 2 x models
• Table to equipment
• Extension chords and multi plug

945am - Set up food station (Sepa)

• Sandwiches
• Fruits
• Water bottles

10am - Male model shoot (Sepa)

12pm - Break

1230pm - Hair and make up to arrive (Cecilia to supervise)

1pm - female models to arrive

2pm - Photo shoot with females

4pm - End of photo shoots - clean up (Cecilia - Moving image studio, Sepa - Photography studio)

5pm -  lock up and leave

Research
The vision for the shoot was to capture a classic glamour look, however after my first shoot i decided to change that to a more personalised photo of each model.  With that in mind, I met with my female models to discuss how they wanted their hair done.  Seeing as i had already organised hair dressers i thought id check in with my models to see what hair styles they would like to have.  These were the examples they selected:

Here is a photo of the moving images studio where the girls had their hair done:

Here are my models with the hairstyles:

What worked?

• Having an assistant.  It was a full on day, i had three models to shoot as well as the hairdressers.  Not to mention setting up and pack down the studios.
• Having a plan.  Without it we would be in complete chaos.
• Collaborating.  Being able to call on other students within MIT.
• Experimenting with lighting, different shots and angles.  This allowed my subjects enough time to relax in front of the camera giving me strong photos which i could potentially use for my final portfolio presentation

What did not work?

• Not placing the light on the right place of the subjects face.  This was resolved by raising the model light so i could see where the light was sitting before taking the photo.
• Not checking to see if the back light was visible in the photo before snapping a shot
• The model's hair looked as though she had another face on the side of her head.  I didn't really notice this until i viewed the photos on my computer
• Having an open photo shoot.  The hair dressers had asked to stay on and watch the shoot, due to my lack of experience i had agreed.  This turned out to be a challenge because whilst the hair dressers was in the studio my model did not feel comfortable telling me she did not like her hair style and that she wanted to actually take it out.

What next?

• Definitely have a CLOSED photo shoot next time - no extras unless the model requests it.  Having people in the studio was distracting to my models as well as for me.  It was a good lesson for me, because i know now why this is important.