This shoot has turned out to be one of my favourites to date, simply due to how easily it flowed and how fast we got it finished. At the start of the day, me and my two assistants (Abbie and Nicola) had arranged to meet my model (Olivia) at Leeds Arts Uni. This was due to Abbie being able to drive us to the location of the shoot, which was a studio home prototype which was built to sell houses. I had scouted this location previous to the shoot since it is Abbie’s mothers workplace. I had noticed the hanging lights and seventies style chairs and figured these would work particularly well for my Moving Image module.
This module’s aim was to create a moving image piece and three stills based on a certain type of music, therefore i chose seventies groove. This is why i chose this location to shoot my three stills with Olivia. Anyways, Olivia soon turned up to the university and we made our way to the location. When there, Olivia revealed that she had brought some pieces of clothing for me to style her into, we had a look and i figured that i could get a good range of looks with the clothing provided. I chose to go with the themes of Glamour, Peace and Intoxication. Me and my assistants soon set up the equipment that we had borrowed from the university and got started with the shoot.
For the Glamorous shot, i chose to make use of pink gels upon the lights. I had the lights so that they were above Olivia and made use of a reflector on the right side of her face. I chose to style Olivia in denim overalls and a shaggy, seventies style coat. This worked really well with the fur blanket that was draped across the sofa she would be modelling upon. The shots of Olivia sat up worked very well and were easy to frame, she was very easy to direct and worked with me in terms of thinking up poses and ideas. I then chose to shoot her laid down with her head at the end of the sofa, this was more of a challenge. This being due to the shape of the sofa and the leads from the location lights being in the background, therefore i have had to crop the image in post production. (Images shown below, shot by me).
The next shot i wanted to focus on was based on Peace. Within this image i wanted to use a yellow gel, since yellow is a symbol for happiness or friendship in western cultures. This gel was less saturated however i think it made the images look good still. I styled Olivia in a mustard tie up shirt and some sparkly blue jeans, I then asked her to sit upon a small straw like chair and cross one leg underneath the other. She did so and the images looked good, I then asked her to hold a cigarette so it looked a little more stylised, which she obliged. I really love these images as i do think they speak of Peace and the summer of love. I had asked the model to smile in some shots so that there was more of a warm concept to the images, which looked great in my opinion. (Images shown below, shot by me).
For the last image, based on intoxication, i chose to make use of both lights and place different coloured gels on each. I chose green for one, to represent drug use and red for another to represent lust. I think the lighting worked very well and made sense with the styling of the image. In terms of the styling i chose to put Olivia in a graphic tee and brown flared pants. This styling spoke very casual seventies to me and therefore i found it perfect for this theme in particular. In terms of location, i had made note of a rounded chair that was decorated with hanging lights. I thought this set-up was pretty seventies and would make for a good image. I then gave Olivia examples of poses i wanted her to do and she gave me exactly what i wanted. (Images shown below, shot by me).
In conclusion, i really enjoyed shooting with Olivia and i found that the images came out exactly how i had wanted them too. I am very pleased with the outcome as well as the feedback from my model whom stated it was her favourite shoot to date. This then proves to me that i am talented when it comes to conversing with models and making them feel confident and comfortable both in the photoshoot setting and afterwards too.
ELL SIRS
ELL, FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY 