Advertising : Photoshoot

Location lighting/Deathwish shoot

This shoot came together by accident. I was doing a practise shoot getting to grips with the location lighting.
I chose an interesting textured black background and began shooting. My model was wearing a black Deathwish hoody (a well know skate brand) with day glow lettering and a large spray painted pentagram on the back.

I began shooting trying different light intensities, positions etc with the location light. Earlier in the day I had been researching how different coloured lighting can effect an image after seeing a beautiful portrait on a friends Tumblr (image on the right). I researched an the image but couldn't find any an artist. So while I was shooting I decided to go back and get one of the gels that are used to alter the colours of the lights. I got a friend to hold the gel over the light while was shooting and it worked PERFECTLY. It gave the images a brilliant green glow which complemented the green of the models hoody really well. I moved the strobe around my model to find the best position for the lighting, moving it further away and closer to created different types of shadow. Placing the strobe in different positions gave different intensities of colour making the green brighter of darker.
I also shot quite a few images with my model wearing a denim jacket, there images worked well but weren't suitable for the final advert I wanted. But were successful.

The dark yet textured background went so well with the green flash the parts that the light hit created an interesting texture too look at and the sections it didn't hit were very dark creating nice contrast.

The images for the shoot weren't even supposed to be used but not I feel I have to use them for my fashion advert.

The contact sheets below are from the shoot.

Used as the logo on the final image

Wild watercress shoot

It took me a while to think of the best way to do a food advert. I started by thinking about photographing whole meals or people cooking but then while I was walking next to a nearby stream I noticed the abundance of watercress and thought that it would make a great field to plate campaign.

I decided to shoot as many different images of the watercress as possible, thinking about how the images would be created in a professional advert. I really thought about the ways in which I should set up the images so that they would complement the images I was going to add later.
I took a collection of images (the images bellow) trying different styles so that I would have a selection for the advert.

While shooting I tried alot of different settings, using a fast shutter speed to get a sharp crisp image and as the cress was in moving water it would stop the water dead not showing it as a blurry blob.
I was also using a low aperture so that there was a narrow depth of field in the closer up images, creating an interesting focused effect to the front or back of the image.

I feel the closer up images work the best, I like the images that fill the whole frame with the watercress but I don't think they will work that well beside the additional images. The images that are close up but show the surrounding area e.g. the stream work better.

The images bellow are the photos from this shoot.

Watercress/make shift studio shoot

I wasn't quite sure on the best way of creating a salad advert. My fitst idea was to focus on the freshness and how it was picked from wild streams but after thinking about it I decided to go for a simpler option. I picked the watercress from the stream and then did the shoot straight after. I did the shoot straight after as the day before I took the salad home and left it in water planning to do the shoot later on in the day but by the time I came back to it it had wilted and gone limp. I thought it may revive its self over night but by the time I came back to it some of leaves had shrivelled making it look un appetising.

For the shoot I used an indoor location. I used the garage at a renovation project we are working on as it is very close to the stream where I picked the watercress. I had first planned to use a sheet as a backdrop, I wasn't too keen to do this but I didn't really have any other option. While I was setting up for the shoot I was moving some of the stuff in the garage around.While I was moving some chairs I noticed they were a nice curved shape, very similar to an infinity wall. I set one down as it was only the top of the chair and not the legs. I placed the light over the top and it worked perfectly, giving a smooth and even background. The chair was also a muted grey colour, perfect as it didn't take anything away from the cress.

Now I had a backdrop I just had to sort out my lighting. I thought we had a lot more lighting at the house than we actually did, but it turns out all the lamps were in the loft at home. So all I had to work with as the main light in the garage (which was quite dim) and the mining light that was wrapped around a beam on the celling. Despite my lack of resources I managed to make it work. Although the mining light was quite bright it worked well, I used string I found in the garage to suspend the light in different positions around the subject trying to find the best way to work with the shadow and the light intensity.

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. Images of the makeshift studio (Left and right).

While shooting I first placed the watercress in a small jug, it give a country feel to the image. The porcelain jug was covered in flowers, helping the fresh natural image of the advert. This also helped my keep the watercress alive for longer. I then also placed an amount of the watercress on a chopping board and shot. I then combined the too objects for some of the images.

Over all I think this shoot was a success, I got some good quality image even though it took me a little longer than usual. Even though I was working in a make shift studio with lights I had vey little control over the shoot worked well. I will use this space again but with proper location lighting both with the makeshift mini infinity wall and just using the bare brick walls.

Thinking back maybe turning out the main light in the garage may have been a good idea but then again it may have enhanced the shadows. if I do another product shoot I will be sure to find out.

Used as the Sainsbury's logo in the final image.

Smoking awareness/studio shoot

In this advert I wanted to raise awareness for smoking and the way in which is burns through your money. I chose to show this through someone holding a rolled up £10 note like they would hold a cigarette, then after the shoot superimpose smoke coming from the rolled up note as if it was lit. Showing quite literally the money burning.

I wanted to keep the shoot quite simple, so that the viewer would focus on the message of the advert. I chose a black background as it would make the smoke and the note stand out more than a background of a different colour. For the black backdrop I used a large piece of thick black paper and clamped it to a pedestal to keep it upright. I then used two strobes with soft boxes attached to then as the light source.

For the shoot I used a Canon mark 3 with a 24-70mm lens.

As the paper was black the light bounced of it and although this gave a nice texture I needed a background that was a dark as possible. To do this I moved the models hand further from the back drop and moved the strobes around to the side of the subject this meant that the light hitting the backdrop was less intense and softer. The light being less intense contributed to the backdrop getting darker, also as the models hand had moved further away from the back drop it meant the depth of field was shorter contributing to the backdrop getting darker.

While shooting I got my model to try out various positions of holding the note, all of which can be seen in the contact sheets bellow. I really liked some of the images that had a more original angle e.g. the images shot from the models waist, although these images were interesting in a fashion style they weren't quite right for this campaign. The image I chose, the more straight forward and minimal approach was perfect for the idea I had.

One of the problems I encountered along side working out how to make the background darker was how to make the hand look more natural. I noticed the hand looked a bit lifeless and stiff. I asked my model to mime as if they were actually smoking (raising the note up, taking a drag and then bringing the hand back down. I shot the hand as it came back down, this small action added an extra level of life to the image.

I really liked the background I used for this shoot, I will be using it for future shoots. I loved the textures it gave when it was lit up but I also like the option of being able to turn it fully black too. I will make a brilliant back drop for a fashion shoot more specifically street fashion.

I think this shoot was a success overall. The images came out very crisp and the lighting was perfect for my advert.