Following the feedback from my Interim exhibition it was discussed that my work was definitely taking a step towards what I was aiming for however I still need to show what target audience I am appealing to through my work and stick to that specific audience. In terms of quality of work and lighting etc my images were successful in this area it was just a target audience and aim that needed to be focused on. It was also discussed that I try some more product shots with perhaps perfume bottles etc.

The last Interim exhibition took place at the Queensgate market. I selected a hand full of images to showcase a range of work for my portfolio. I chose to showcase some product shots, standard portraits and then the main photographs of Fashion and Editorial.

For this shoot I chose an open location with a minimal and quiet location and took a model to shoot fashion and editorial. I was lucky with the weather for this shoot as it was a lovely sunny day. My aim for this shoot was to achieve the relaxed, “less posey” look often seen in fashion and editorial. I want my images to look natural and fun, I want my models to look natural and not the usual size 0 skinny, tall, super pretty and pristine type. Although this isn’t a bad thing I just want my models to represent the everyday natural person, a more realistic body image to appeal to a modern audience of people looking for body positivity and overall average body image of “Everyday people” looking happy and confident.

My intentions for this shoot were to strip back the surroundings and background of the photograph and focusing purely on the model and clothing however i wanted to try and make it fun and adventurous. For this shoot i hired out the Elinchrom Quadra kit – 8 lighting and set it up in the building i had chosen to shoot in. I started against a simply red wall and looked at model poses/photo booth poses for inspiration to give my photos a fun edge. I then moved into a corridor with old wooden flooring and a big door and white walls. All though these images were technically successful and covered what my intentions were i still felt as though i was still missing a theme, a style, a direction and target audience. This is something i really needed to focus on and work towards.

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Following my portfolio review with Sophie Traynor I decided to test outs the tips I had been given. I used this as a test shoot to explore the information I had recently gained. I chose to use a family member as a model, as to not waste a models time with just testing and experimenting. As this shoot came at such short notice as well as only being a test I couldn’t get hold of a MUA, Hair dresser or stylist however I paid attention to these details myself and made sure everything was clean and presentable. However, it gave me chance to practice and use my new 50mm lens. My original idea was to take Ellie on to the beach front in our hometown as there is some beach huts with coloured doors that she could stand against. However, it began to get very cold and began to rain. So I quickly took some photos against a fence, white wall and on the open road. Some issues I faced were the direction of my model, I struggled to direct as she wasn’t used to modelling and looked a little awkward and uncomfortable in the shots. The photos on the open road on the street were more successful than the fence and wall, as them two looked like I just dumped her in front of tattys back drops. However, in the road and street shots there were a lot of distracting factors such as cars, bins etc and which I didn’t notice until reviewing the images, so going forward this is another factor I need to pay attention to.

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I had the privilege to have a portfolio review with the lovely Sophie Traynor. I presented Sophie with some of my chosen portfolio images to discuss together. Sophie was extremely helpful in building my confidence back up having recently lost all confidence in my work and hit a brick wall, producing work at a very slow pace. Sophie gave me some suggestions such as lighting tips, composition tips and angles to shoot from, background tips such as choosing minimal and basic but effective backgrounds and surroundings such as brick walls, garage doors, open fields etc. as a busy and overly interesting background can take the attention away from the meaning and focus of the image (the model and Fashion). Another tip from Sophie was to pay attention to detail, Models makeup, Hair and the clothing and this is why building up a team to have on photoshoots is essential. My peer review with Sophie left me feeling a lot more positive about my work as she had said my work is very close to industry standard I just need to keep pushing and take these tips on board. Something I will work towards on my next shoots.

I had the opportunity to have a portfolio review with the lovely Karina Lax. Some tips and encouragement I gained from this session was to choose a path, to make a decision in what it is I want to shoot and what direction. Do I want to do catalogue/website fashion or commercial/editorial fashion? Do I have a running theme/style? Some other tips I gained from Karina was very similar to that of Sophie Traynor’s, to build a team up and focus, pay close attention to detail. Another suggestion from Karina was to plan ahead, find a specific spot to take a photo and photograph it first without a model, then with a stand in model so you know what it will look like on the day. From this specific spot you can shoot around the area and on track.

Following Sophie Traynor’s wonderful workshop I decided to practice my newly informed skills, techniques and tips. I booked a studio slot and the lovely model Nikita and got to work. I chose to do some basic head and shoulders shots to test the lighting tips Sophie had given us, One I had got the lighting how I wanted it to be I decided to bring in a coloured background to brighten the image, I chose yellow as this complimented my models blue hair perfectly. After getting some shots I was happy with I took my images away to begin, practicing the retouching/post production techniques gained from Sophie, this proved to be a lot harder than I thought, Sophie made it look so easy and effortless. This is something I will have to practice over and over again so keeping head and shoulders shots like the shoot with Nikita are perfect to do so.

Today’s work shop was with the lovely Sophie Traynor. She discussed with us the process she goes through when shooting with models in the studio and then the retouching process she goes through afterwards. Sophie began by explaining how she always has her camera set to 1/125 F8 and ISO 100 and begins with one light only on half power and then adjusts and builds up the lighting according to what she has set out to achieve. Sophie gave the tip of having all the lights you are using set at the same power to start with and if they need adjusting, adjust from there.

Sophie then moved on to talking us through her post-production and retouching processes in photoshop. Like me Sophie doesn’t like to retouch too much, she likes her model to still look as natural as possible and usually only uses the Dodge and Burn processes. From this tutorial i learnt some new retouching tips and techniques to go away and practice.

Today I had booked to work in the studio which I haven’t done for a long time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a model to work with. However, I didn’t want to waste my chance to practice in the studio or waste my booking slot so I took is as an opportunity to have a go at Still Life Fashion/E-commerce and build up my skills and expand my portfolio.

I decided to shoot Doc Martens, as I am a big fan and I feel like they reflect me. I gathered up some objects that would work well together as a theme and set them up in the studio. All though this was very much a practice run as I had not been in the studio for a long time I was fairly happy with the result.

Today’s Peer Review session was with Richard Mulhearn.