Evaluation for Music Industry
What Went Well:
- Shooting A Trio
This was my first time shooting a trio in the studio. Obviously photographing groups is very different from photographing an individual. I now have to do more directing and I have to give stronger consideration to how the image flows.
- Use Of Photoshop
This was the first project where I’ve had to extend a background in Photoshop. This had to be done for all the images, mainly the CD book. Extending black was actually a lot tougher than I expected it to be.
- My Talent
My band was very onboard for this project, as you would expect when you consider they have just formed so they are in need of imagery. They were also on board because of the message that the band was all about with them being about trying to end/control knife crime and youth violence in the capital.
- Happy Client
The client was happy with the imagery that I’d created, I wish I could say the same
Even Better If:
- The End Product
For the first week after the shoot I was feeling pretty happy with the results. However all of a sudden I no longer felt so happy with the images. They felt very repetitive and I definitely didn’t feel inspired by what I’d created. I don’t want to sound like I’m hunting for sympathy but I wasn’t myself during the shoot. It happened two days after my nans death so I wasn’t exactly going into the shoot wanting to create fantastic imagery. I just wanted to have fun to end a week where I had experienced nothing but loss and now as time has gone on. I’m starting to think that maybe I could’ve just put a bit more effort in.
Apart from one image, my lighting feels very dull and doesn’t really do anything to the image apart from light them.
- Lens Choice
Another way that my images could’ve been better was my choice of lenses. I decided to go with the wide angle lens for my shots as I simply thought a wider lens would be better for photographing a trio. However, I think backfired this. As a result, the perspective doesn’t look right and in some of the shots the talent look like their uncomfortable which you don’t want in a portrait shoot. In hindsight, it probably would’ve been better if I took a step back and shot with the standard 80mm lens. This would’ve given my images a much nicer perspective.
- Typography
One of the places where I could’ve put a lot more effort into was the writing on the clothes. No More was very important as it’s the name of the band and there are loads of shots where it isn’t as eligible as I would’ve liked it to be.
Looking at the print, I’m wishing that the word No More on Sarah was straight because that is currently serving as the title of the image and it doesn’t seem that clear. I’m also not a fan of the skin tones but I need to remember that these have been printed on an ordinary printer so the colours aren’t going to look that good anyway.
Julian agreed with what I said about the Facebook image I need to give the subjects more breathing room and I need to bring the word No More higher into the frame.
Finally, we discussed my Billboard, which I’m putting most hope into, it is without a doubt my strongest assignment in ITP, but then again there isn’t really much competition from River Thames or Music Industry. After much debate and jumping backward and forewords, I came to a decision for my hero shot. It was different from the one I chose for the AoP awards. Julian liked it, he said that the side angle does the style the most justice. When Luke was shot straight on, the style could be perceived as contemporary. it could be a modern officer at the cenotaph.
I also asked Julian about a variant of the layout. Following on from POCP, I went back and masked the Poppy and leaf again, this time I used Auto Mask. I then inverted the mask and desaturated everything but the Poppy. It does feel like colour pop but Julian agreed with my thoughts of how this adds to the narrative of remembering those who have died.
I also feel I made a bad choice with the lens. I shot everything on the 55mm lens and as a result, I’m not overly impressed with some of the poses which look a tad bit uncomfortable, which I think the wide angle perspective hasn’t helped at all. In hindsight, I should’ve gone further back with the camera and used the 80mm. There was also an image that I was intending to use for social media where I should have used the Cambo tripod, the three subjects are on the floor and I thought I could shoot it with the normal tripod and now these feel like snapshots and don’t really look that good.
All this meant that I went into the shoot with a different mindset. I wasn’t really going in there wanting to get a great grade, I just wanted to go into the studio and have fun, hopefully, create some images that my Nan would’ve been proud of, and I must admit, I believe this has made me feel much more happy about my work, as I’m not going into the studio saying to myself I have to do this, instead I went into the studio to have fun and go with the flow, essentially seeing where I was taken. If I get a good grade come June, it would be a bonus because I had a lot of fun in the studio yesterday.
Firstly I’ve got a new digi op. Before sign off, I tried to contact Matt Vale. I messaged him twice on Facebook and once on Aula. To which he saw the first message but I never got a response to any of them. I mentioned to Julian that I hadn’t heard back and he said I was to let him know by the end of the day on the 8th if I hadn’t heard anything. After my sign off, I saw a friend of Matt and asked if he was about and she said that he had only been in for two days since Christmas, to which I went straight to Julian and told him.
I’ve now got a new Digi Op, Alisha Vatel, I’ve sent her a message on Aula and an email to break the ice, asking if she needs to know anything before the shoot on Friday. I must admit I thought this would’ve been sorted sooner than it had.
I’ve reached out to a minimal makeup artist who unfortunately isn’t available, I asked if she knew anyone else who would be happy to help but she didn’t. I’m still on the hunt for one.
I’ve also included a lighting diagram for the shallow depth of field portraits which won’t be part of the project but will be sent to the musicians for there own use, along with everything I shoot for the project.
The first and second image are going to be near-amount the same in a compositional sense, with slightly different lighting setups. For this one the key light is going to be an Octa 100 from a high angle above myself, I’m hoping for this to only light the subject at the front, hence the two poly boards either side.
The composition of this image is the same as the last but the poses are inverted. The subject in the middle now has his back to the camera and is looking over his shoulder at the camera, the two subjects on either side are looking straight at the camera with there backs to each other.
For the image for Facebook I was thinking about having the three subjects kneeling behind one of there shirts which will be on a black polyboard which will have one of there shirts on it. Key light will be the 60 x 80 W/Grid from a high angle on the right. A 90 x 110 W/Grid will come over the left from a high angle and there will be two barehead 500 on the floor to provide rim light. There will be a white polyboard on either side.
For the image for Instagram I was thinking about having the three subjects lying on the floor to form a triangle. All three would have there own light. I was thinking about a barehead 500 right on the floor to maybe lift one of the subjects from the ground but I’m not sure if that would work.
Finally for the iTunes image, I was thinking of having something very similar to the Enemy. I’m not a fan of the gel, but I really like the split lighting.
I would go with an Octa 100 as my key light on the right, maybe lighting all three of them, then the subject on the left would have filler on the left and the subject on the right would have a light over his shoulder to add definition.
This is the lighting diagrams for the shallow depth of field portraits I will shoot for the musicians on an individual basis. You can see the result of the diagram at the top in the portrait of Tiana.
This is the estimate that I am going to submit for my Music Industry shoot tomorrow. Getting to this quote was a bit of a struggle. I was trying very hard to find equipment in the same place but I initially couldn’t find a middle ground.
Ben Peters Digital Photography 