Evaluation
Fashion advertising
For my fashion advertisement I chose the brand Deathwish. Deathwish is a skate company originating in America, it is the sister company of the prolific Baker skateboards.
This shoot came together by accident, starting as a practice shoot where I was trying to get to grips with the location lighting and everything just fell into place creating this great image. I talk about how this all happened on the 'Photo shoots page'.
In this image I photographed my model wearing the Pentogram Deathwish hoody again a black glossy chipboard walk. I used a location light with a reflective umbrella attached and a green gel over the strobe to give the green lighting.
At first I was planning on using a totally different image (image to the left), the image was of the model jumping touching the top of the wall but this image was portrait and quite close up so the image looked cramped and messy when I tried to add the the Deathwish logo. So I started looking through the rest of my images for inspiration. I settled on the landscape shots of the model with the chipboard wall leading off to the rightI liked these images as the focus was on the left side of the image the model the lighting and the right side was empty and almost full black. This was perfect for for placing the logo into.
I started by cropping down the image so it only had the main part of the chipboard and not the top part which was plain. I then used the clone stamp remove the metal bolts which had been picked up by the flash, then finally I used the burn tool to full black out the right side so there was nothing drawing the viewers gaze away from the subject.
Once I was happy with this I started on the logo, I looked around on the internet for a suitable Deathwish logo I really wanted to use the graffiti style logo that featured on the hoody but after hours of trying to cut it out correctly trying loads of different images I settled on the regular logo which worked perfectly. I wanted to stick with a small colour pallet so I went for a really bright green but it didn't look quite right so I used the pipet tool to use the bright green of the pentogram of the hoody. This looked brilliant. I did the same for the text bellow the logo also. For the text bellow the logo I wanted to keep it simple just describing the product which is what I did. I chose the coding style letters as I thought it went with the image, I then experimented with other text (image to the right) but decided to stick with the coding style.But I thought it needed a little bit more, I looked at the advert and thought to my elf that it looked like a teaser campaign, not showing a huge amount of detail just getting the audience interested so I added the 'coming soon'.
I had now finished the poster but it still wasn't quite right, it needed that bit more of a punch so I raised the vibrancy and brightness slightly giving the green that bit more of a pop. I changed the text to match and then I was done.
While shooting we didn't really meet many problems the only real problem was the sun. Midway through the shoot the sun decided to come out shining right into the reflective umbrella at first I didn't know what to do not really thinking of the easiest option I tried lowering the light so it was directly catching the sun but this didn't work. I was thinking of packing away when my friend said why not just turn it away from the sun. So I did and it worked, should have really done that first. You don't always think of the simplest option.
For inspiration on colour schemes and backgrounds I looked at modern street fashion brands HBA (Hood By Air) and Pyrex. Both company use a very limited colour pallet in their clothing and also in their advertisements. Usually shooting in black and white or shooting in places of minimal colour blacks, white, greys general colour you would find in or associate with cities. There work inspired to use a limited colour scheme as I realised how eye catching it could be. So I only used black and neon green.
I also looked at Urban Industry's 2011 look book where they had shot in a studio using a dark back drop and dark lighting making the colours in the clothing stand out. I thought this looked amazing and really mad the clothing stand out, really adding something a bit different to the images. I used this as inspiration for my lighting, backdrop and the way in which darker lighting dosen't always take away from the image.This image I saw on a friends tumblr (image to the right) was very influential to my image. although its just one image its what inspired me to use the green gel to change the colour of the lighting and I feel the green lighting is what really sets my work apart from others. This one image really helped my work.
Overall I feel this image has been a great success, it actually looks like a professional advert, more than that it looks like a Deathwish advert. I am pleased with this advert and I don't think there is anything else I need to add to it.
Evaluation
In this shoot I was working on food photography, More specifically Watercress. I started by walking to the stream near me and picking two good hands full. I then took the watercress back and started shooting. I shot this shoot in a garage, I used the the body of a chair as an infinity wall and an old mining light as my main light source (This is spoken about in much more detail on the Photo shoot page).
I took inspiration from cook books and Sainsbury's adverts while creating this image.
When I first decided on watercress I was going to shoot on location as well as in the studio showing the journey from the stream to the plate and how the watercress was from a good source. After looking at adverts in more detail I decided again this and went for a more traditional approach. Making the advert simpler and more to the point, focusing on the product instead of were it was from.
This is why I chose a much closer up image of the watercress instead of getting the jug in to.
While I was shooting I used a Canon 500D and a 18-55 lens, this worked well as I was having to lie down and get close to the subject. I used photoshop to edit the final image.
As I have already mentioned I used a chair as an infinity wall/backdrop and an old mining light as the main light source/spotlight. (Image of the set up to the right). I talk about how I made my makeshift studio work in much more detail on the Photo shoot page.
While shooting I encountered a few problems I had expected there to be a few problems as I was using a makeshift studio. The first problem was the shine that the chair produced. The shine hitting the chair was quite a big problem. As the chair wasn't completely straight and was painted with a glossy finish. The light bounced of in certain parts of the chair, giving bold lines of colour. This was hard to over come. I started by moving the light away from the subject but this made the images darker and duller. So then I got down at a lower angle, this helped partially. I messed around with the position of the lighting until I got the best results.
Another problem while shooting was keeping the watercress alive, if you leave the watercress to long after picking it will go limp and lifeless. I didn't want this so I shot straight after picking it and put it in water as soon as possible after picking it. I had tried leaving it after picking it before and even though I left it in water the watercress soon wilted.
I noticed the watercress didn't look quite as appetising as I wanted it, so I sprinkled it with water giving it a new lease of life.
I took a load of different shots while I was doing this shoot. For my final image I decide to use one of the more simple images I had taken. The image showed the watercress in the bottom half of the image and the top half was empty. I started by cropping the image down so 80% was filled with watercress and 20% was filled with background. I added cooling filter (80) to this image at 40% to take a small amount of the orange away from the background. I like the orange colour that the background has, it livens up the image making the watercress seem more alive.
I then added the title 'Freshly picked Watercress'. I chose to use a flowing more hand writing style font as this incept with the adverts I had been looking at. I then deleted the text I had written out and wrote it again but this time making 'Freshly picked' and 'Watercress' two separate files. This way I could make watercress much larger than 'Freshly picked' so much larger that 'freshly picked' would fit on top of 'Watercress'. I then made the W of watercress 200 font sizes larger than the rest of the word and resized the rest of freshly picked so it would fit snugly on top (Like so. Title on the right).
I used the grid tool to fit the title in the centre of the image 2/4 squares from each side. I brought the title slightly down from the centre of the image just even it out as it would have the logo above. I made the title white.
I then added the classic 'by Sainsbury's' logo. I used the same text as the title for the buy section and lifted the Sainsbury's part from the internet. I painted the 'Sainsbury's' text white and added it to the image. I made it much smaller than the title but still central. Using the grid tool I placed it roughly 5 boxes from the top of the advert.
I then added the pricing bellow the title '£1 per 100g'. I chose a very uniform and straight forward font for this as it was a more focused and serious part. I made this text much smaller, making it 100 font size. (
After I finished the adverts I realised that the orangey background wasn't maybe the best idea, it made the watercress look dryer than it should and less fresh. To correct this I went into colour balance and moved the slider to 20+ on the green side and 10+ on the yellow side. This made the greens more vivid. I then raised the vibrance 10% to give the image more pop.
These small touches gave the image that extra freshness.
(See for your self, image on the left of the advert before the final touches)
For inspiration on this advert I looked at a series of adverts Sainsbury's did. These adverts featured many different products but all kept the same minimalistic style. I used these adverts to influence the way in which I set out my text and the text its self that I used.
I also looked at the work of Joakim Blockstorm. This food photographer uses a very minimalist style when shooting and uses textures such as stone and wood as the backdrop. Even though I didn't use any of the shots with objects supporting the Watercress He inspired me to use the small chopping board in the shoot.
Overall I am very happy with my end product. It is simple and straight to the point which is the style I was going for. I wish I had taken more close up shots of the watercress but the image I used was good so this wasn't a massive problem.
I would say this was a success.
For this final image I had the idea of rolling a ten pound note up into a cylinder and getting my model to hold it like a cigarette, then later add smoke rising from the note as it was being smoked. The advert was supposed to show how smoking burns through your money.
While shooting I encountered a few problems I had expected there to be a few problems as I was using a makeshift studio. The first problem was the shine that the chair produced. The shine hitting the chair was quite a big problem. As the chair wasn't completely straight and was painted with a glossy finish. The light bounced of in certain parts of the chair, giving bold lines of colour. This was hard to over come. I started by moving the light away from the subject but this made the images darker and duller. So then I got down at a lower angle, this helped partially. I messed around with the position of the lighting until I got the best results.
Another problem while shooting was keeping the watercress alive, if you leave the watercress to long after picking it will go limp and lifeless. I didn't want this so I shot straight after picking it and put it in water as soon as possible after picking it. I had tried leaving it after picking it before and even though I left it in water the watercress soon wilted.
I noticed the watercress didn't look quite as appetising as I wanted it, so I sprinkled it with water giving it a new lease of life.
I took a load of different shots while I was doing this shoot. For my final image I decide to use one of the more simple images I had taken. The image showed the watercress in the bottom half of the image and the top half was empty. I started by cropping the image down so 80% was filled with watercress and 20% was filled with background. I added cooling filter (80) to this image at 40% to take a small amount of the orange away from the background. I like the orange colour that the background has, it livens up the image making the watercress seem more alive.
I then added the title 'Freshly picked Watercress'. I chose to use a flowing more hand writing style font as this incept with the adverts I had been looking at. I then deleted the text I had written out and wrote it again but this time making 'Freshly picked' and 'Watercress' two separate files. This way I could make watercress much larger than 'Freshly picked' so much larger that 'freshly picked' would fit on top of 'Watercress'. I then made the W of watercress 200 font sizes larger than the rest of the word and resized the rest of freshly picked so it would fit snugly on top (Like so. Title on the right).
I used the grid tool to fit the title in the centre of the image 2/4 squares from each side. I brought the title slightly down from the centre of the image just even it out as it would have the logo above. I made the title white.
I then added the classic 'by Sainsbury's' logo. I used the same text as the title for the buy section and lifted the Sainsbury's part from the internet. I painted the 'Sainsbury's' text white and added it to the image. I made it much smaller than the title but still central. Using the grid tool I placed it roughly 5 boxes from the top of the advert.
I then added the pricing bellow the title '£1 per 100g'. I chose a very uniform and straight forward font for this as it was a more focused and serious part. I made this text much smaller, making it 100 font size. (
After I finished the adverts I realised that the orangey background wasn't maybe the best idea, it made the watercress look dryer than it should and less fresh. To correct this I went into colour balance and moved the slider to 20+ on the green side and 10+ on the yellow side. This made the greens more vivid. I then raised the vibrance 10% to give the image more pop.
These small touches gave the image that extra freshness. (See for your self, image on the left of the advert before the final touches)
For inspiration on this advert I looked at a series of adverts Sainsbury's did. These adverts featured many different products but all kept the same minimalistic style. I used these adverts to influence the way in which I set out my text and the text its self that I used.
I also looked at the work of Joakim Blockstorm. This food photographer uses a very minimalist style when shooting and uses textures such as stone and wood as the backdrop. Even though I didn't use any of the shots with objects supporting the Watercress He inspired me to use the small chopping board in the shoot.
Overall I am very happy with my end product. It is simple and straight to the point which is the style I was going for. I wish I had taken more close up shots of the watercress but the image I used was good so this wasn't a massive problem.
I would say this was a success.
Evaluation
Smoking Awareness
For this final image I had the idea of rolling a ten pound note up into a cylinder and getting my model to hold it like a cigarette, then later add smoke rising from the note as it was being smoked. The advert was supposed to show how smoking burns through your money.
For the adverts I photographed my models holding the rolled £10 in front of a black background. I only needed a small amount of background as I was only shooting the models hand. I lit the shoot with two strobes fitted with soft boxes, I shot with a cannon mark 3 and a 24-70mm lens.
The that I later added onto the image was lifted from the internet. I wanted to use my own image of smoke but I couldn't find a location suitable to get the right shot so I decided to use an image from the internet.
Although my final image is quite similar to my initaial ideas it did change. Initially I was going to show some one rolling a cigarette and super impose it so that the rolling paper was a £20 note but I decided against this idea as I didn't think it would work as the £20 note is alot bigger than a rolling paper. I then decided I wanted to show someone smoking a cigarette in a similar hand position that I used in my final image. I would then super impose a £50 note onto the white part of the cigarette as if they are smoking a £50 note with a filter. I decided against this idea too as I thought it looked to fake.
Finally I decided to just use a rolled up £10 note, as I wanted to make the advert as realistic as possible.
For the black background that I used I mounted a roll of thick black paper onto a pedestal and clamped it into place, I ran the paper toward myself to create a curved infinity effect. As I was shooting I noticed you could see alot of the backgrounds texture. I really liked the texture of the background and the off black colour it created, I'm planning on using this type of back drop for a fashion shoot in the future. Although I really liked the textured look, it wasn't right for the shoot. So to get a darker and more even colour I moved the model further away from the back drop creating a shallower depth of field. I also moved the strobes further to the side of the image so they were shining on the models hand at a 40 degree angle instead of a 20 degree angle, this meant there was less light shining directly on the backdrop. Both of these things darkened the background sufficiently and the last little touches I did with the burn tool.
Getting my models hand to look natural was one of the hardest things. As I shot I noticed although my model was holding the note correctly their hand looked a little awkward and stiff so I decided to try a new technique. Instead of just holding the note I asked my model to mime as if they were smoking and I took the shots as they brought the note down. This gave the image that bit more life that it needed, to make it look real.
I tried out quite a lot of different positions while shooting, some with just the hand against the backdrop, some with parts of the arm in shot and others shot from the models waist showing there trousers and top. Although the ones showing some of the models body/clothing looked good they weren't right for the advert. I decided on one of images with just the models hand and wrist showing.
To start I cropped the image down, cutting out part of the models wrist and some of the black backdrop. I then used the quick select tool to select the hand and note, I then inverted it so I could work on the background with out effecting the hand or not. After selecting the hand I used the burn tool to darken the background. I kept the area where the smoke would be added slightly lighter than the back ground, so that it would blend easier and wouldn't look obviously super imposed.
I then added the smoke image. I used the magic eraser tool to remove as much black from the back ground of the image as possible. I had to do this as the background of my image was a lighter shade than the smoke image.
Once I was happy with the smoke I added it to the base image. I resized it and placed the bottom of the stream over the end of the rolled up note. I then lowered the opacity and erased and erased the smoke that was over the not so it looked as if it was flowing out of the end of the note like an actual cigarette.
Once I had done this I thought it looked good but could still do with something extra, I deided to use the burn tool to darken down the note and the point the smoke and note. This added shadow worked perfectly for that extra realism.
I then needed to add the strap line. I came up with 'Would you do this? Then why smoke?' Meaning you wouldn't burn your own money, so why would you smoke.
I liked the idea of this strap line but it was to wordy. So I came up with a new idea 'Smoking, your burning your money' This is more direct, more to the point and more agressive. It worked but needed that little bit more I so for that extra punch I replaced the comma with a full stop.
I made the text bright red to juxtapose the black background. The text was all one size at first but after talking to my peers about my work I changed the 'Smoking.' part to 600 font size and made the rest of the text 425 font size. To give the advert the final punchy, eye catching element.
I then added the final touch. The stoptober logo in the bottom right of the image.
Finished.
For inspiration on this advert I looked at at the Indian Network Advertising anti-smoking series. This is where I got the inspiration for focusing on the models hand. I found theses adverts simplicity really made you focus on the message. I also got the inspiration for using a foreign object in place of an actual cigarette, except my ad is more literal in it imagery.
I also looked at a lot of adverts that used a cigarette as the main focus of the adverts, whether that be the colour of it, the shape or using the cigarette to show the harm it can cause. Although I didn't take inspiration from these ads directly the gave me a lot of ideas and helped when I was think of a snappy strap line.
I am really pleased with how this advert has turned out. I have had a lot of positive feed back and with help from peers I think I have tailored it to a high standard. If I were to do this shoot again I would have used an image of my own smoke. The only reason I didn't get one this time round was because I couldn't find a suitable place to get the shot. I wasn't able to burn anything in the studio or at home and to get a high quality shot like the one I have used you would have to be indoors with good lighting and a black backdrop. Although the smoke I found on the internet worked perfectly it would have been nice for it to be my own image.
Overall the shoot was a success.
Although my final image is quite similar to my initaial ideas it did change. Initially I was going to show some one rolling a cigarette and super impose it so that the rolling paper was a £20 note but I decided against this idea as I didn't think it would work as the £20 note is alot bigger than a rolling paper. I then decided I wanted to show someone smoking a cigarette in a similar hand position that I used in my final image. I would then super impose a £50 note onto the white part of the cigarette as if they are smoking a £50 note with a filter. I decided against this idea too as I thought it looked to fake.
Finally I decided to just use a rolled up £10 note, as I wanted to make the advert as realistic as possible.
For the black background that I used I mounted a roll of thick black paper onto a pedestal and clamped it into place, I ran the paper toward myself to create a curved infinity effect. As I was shooting I noticed you could see alot of the backgrounds texture. I really liked the texture of the background and the off black colour it created, I'm planning on using this type of back drop for a fashion shoot in the future. Although I really liked the textured look, it wasn't right for the shoot. So to get a darker and more even colour I moved the model further away from the back drop creating a shallower depth of field. I also moved the strobes further to the side of the image so they were shining on the models hand at a 40 degree angle instead of a 20 degree angle, this meant there was less light shining directly on the backdrop. Both of these things darkened the background sufficiently and the last little touches I did with the burn tool.
Getting my models hand to look natural was one of the hardest things. As I shot I noticed although my model was holding the note correctly their hand looked a little awkward and stiff so I decided to try a new technique. Instead of just holding the note I asked my model to mime as if they were smoking and I took the shots as they brought the note down. This gave the image that bit more life that it needed, to make it look real.
I tried out quite a lot of different positions while shooting, some with just the hand against the backdrop, some with parts of the arm in shot and others shot from the models waist showing there trousers and top. Although the ones showing some of the models body/clothing looked good they weren't right for the advert. I decided on one of images with just the models hand and wrist showing.
To start I cropped the image down, cutting out part of the models wrist and some of the black backdrop. I then used the quick select tool to select the hand and note, I then inverted it so I could work on the background with out effecting the hand or not. After selecting the hand I used the burn tool to darken the background. I kept the area where the smoke would be added slightly lighter than the back ground, so that it would blend easier and wouldn't look obviously super imposed.
I then added the smoke image. I used the magic eraser tool to remove as much black from the back ground of the image as possible. I had to do this as the background of my image was a lighter shade than the smoke image.
Once I was happy with the smoke I added it to the base image. I resized it and placed the bottom of the stream over the end of the rolled up note. I then lowered the opacity and erased and erased the smoke that was over the not so it looked as if it was flowing out of the end of the note like an actual cigarette.
Once I had done this I thought it looked good but could still do with something extra, I deided to use the burn tool to darken down the note and the point the smoke and note. This added shadow worked perfectly for that extra realism.
I then needed to add the strap line. I came up with 'Would you do this? Then why smoke?' Meaning you wouldn't burn your own money, so why would you smoke.
I liked the idea of this strap line but it was to wordy. So I came up with a new idea 'Smoking, your burning your money' This is more direct, more to the point and more agressive. It worked but needed that little bit more I so for that extra punch I replaced the comma with a full stop.
I made the text bright red to juxtapose the black background. The text was all one size at first but after talking to my peers about my work I changed the 'Smoking.' part to 600 font size and made the rest of the text 425 font size. To give the advert the final punchy, eye catching element.
I then added the final touch. The stoptober logo in the bottom right of the image.
Finished.
For inspiration on this advert I looked at at the Indian Network Advertising anti-smoking series. This is where I got the inspiration for focusing on the models hand. I found theses adverts simplicity really made you focus on the message. I also got the inspiration for using a foreign object in place of an actual cigarette, except my ad is more literal in it imagery.
I also looked at a lot of adverts that used a cigarette as the main focus of the adverts, whether that be the colour of it, the shape or using the cigarette to show the harm it can cause. Although I didn't take inspiration from these ads directly the gave me a lot of ideas and helped when I was think of a snappy strap line.
I am really pleased with how this advert has turned out. I have had a lot of positive feed back and with help from peers I think I have tailored it to a high standard. If I were to do this shoot again I would have used an image of my own smoke. The only reason I didn't get one this time round was because I couldn't find a suitable place to get the shot. I wasn't able to burn anything in the studio or at home and to get a high quality shot like the one I have used you would have to be indoors with good lighting and a black backdrop. Although the smoke I found on the internet worked perfectly it would have been nice for it to be my own image.
Overall the shoot was a success.
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