Photo shoot

The shoot in total took 4 hours not including the beginning of the shoot when I shared the brief with Dot and the concept I had gone for, so she had an idea of what she needed to do. She was the perfect person to be my model she knew exactly how to move. This could be down to the fact that she had previous experience with modelling for a bit when she was about 16, which I had no idea about. Also the fact that one of the few magazine she modelled for was i-D!! They gave her a Grace Jones look. What are the chances of that, the model I choose so happens to have had previous experience with the magazine that is sponsoring this competition. 

The shapes her body made in this shoot is perfect to work from. I can experiment on Photoshop with different techniques to give the photographs high impact. 

Behind the scenes shoot

I have done my photo shoot with dot, However I realised that a lot of the magazines now that I really like do behind the scenes footage of the shoot. Here are two example shown below. I also got my sister to film one section of the shoot to get a vibe of the shoot and how Dot worked as a model. 

i-D magazine 

Love magazine

my behind the scenes video of Dot the final section of the shoot

Preparation for the shoot

I decided to go with Dot as my model as I feel she embodies a lot of what All Walks is about. She is unique, fun and has the quirkiest style I know. Being a competition means that time is not really on your side so, I wanted to have the shoot as soon as possible so I had the primary sources to work from for the deadline of the 15th of February. Luckily Dot was available on the weekend of the 25th of January. So I had a week to plan the shoot down to every detail. I had to do the shoot in London as that is where Dot lives. I originally want to have the shoot at my local photography studio in Balham, Robbie's. However after calling and researching it, I realise that I need to be inducted to use the facilities. It was also £55 for an hour, £150 for half day, £240 for the whole day. This is weekend rates which would be the only time I could do it. Being a student I do not really have the luxury of having a massive budget like that. 

However I ended up using my basement which is a great big space to have a photo shoot. I rented a Gulliver kit and tripod from the AV store at Uni as my lighting for the shoot and used my own camera. My camera is a Canon  E05 1100D.

make up for the shoot I wanted a very natural look and did not want it to be a massive feature in the shoot, similar to Hepburn's make up in Funny Face it is very simple so not to draw away from her natural beauty. I research some natural make up tutorials on You tube and found the best was Burberry as it is for both dark and light skin. 

I want the wardrobe to be very simple as well, as the shoot is inspired by the scene in Funny Face when she does a crazy dance shown below. She is wear a black top and trousers which doesn't draw attention away from the different shapes her body is making. Majority of the outfits i used were black. All the clothes where the models own.

I took some photos of my sister to test out some of the poses Hepburn does in the dance scene as shown below. They are very ridged and stiff and does not have a natural feel like I wanted. They look very staged, I wanted that natural i-D vibe with weird poses that make the viewer look twice. The element of this shoot which is really effect though is the black clothing so the viewer can focus on the silhouette her body is making.

 

Style of photography

I looked at different photographers before I did the shoot to also influence the feel of it and so I would know what sort of outcome I would want. The photographers that I mainly looked at had one thing in common they keep their subject looking very natural. 

Juergen Teller

'Teller's technique – to attack his subject with a barrage of flashes from two Contax G2 cameras, one in each hand – reveals aspects of even very familiar people that other photographers simply don't capture.'

The brings forward different side of the people he photographs. For example even these photos below they are Big names in Hollywood but he makes them look like me mortals brings them back to being actual people which they are which we never really get to see. He is taking a snap shot into their life. He is also a massively sort after photographer who has shot many campaigns this year Celine and many Marc Jacobs. 

Mr Elbank

'Englishman, overseas. Passionate photographer, who likes the random in life, a dry sense of humour and cantankerous about most things.' 

'His subjects are real; they are people he has met and has some sort of connection with, and that shows through his beautiful, sensitive photography. He seems to bring out the desirable, creative, exciting side of people in his images, the kind of people I would like to get to know.'

he often emphasises a quality of his subject that is rare and makes them unique like the examples below; freckles and what can only be described as an epic beard.

Terry Richardson

'There are several repeating themes in Richardson's work, notably that of putting high-profile celebrities in mundane situations and photographing them using traditionally pedestrian methods, such as the use of an instant camera'

Practise shoot

As I have had no previous experience with a photo shoots I decided to have a couple of practise shoots with my sister. This was to get an idea of what I want for the final shoot; lighting, poses, props, wardrobe, photographing in colour of black and white, movement, and close up shots or wide shots. There are so many things to think about that does not even cross your mind when you think photo shoot. 

There are a couple of example of some of the photographs I took. One of the main elements I like about this shoot was that it was fun and relaxed which comes across in the photographs, she looks natural and like she is enjoying herself.

The only prop I used in these photos was a bowler hat which brings a quirky element to some of the photos. I particularly like the black and white photos they are natural and very striking. This shoot was influence by i-D magazine wise up issue with ‘you only live once’. The shoot was simple black and white photos with a white background, quirky outfits and movement.