TASK 1
The first task for our new topic Editorial was to recreate an image from a famous fashion photographer and mainly focus on the lighting techniques. The photographer I chose was Peter Lindbergh. Peter Lindbergh is known for his cinematic style in photography and is also seen as one of the most influencial contemporary photographers in the industry. He focuses more on reflecting a persons personality in his photos rather than making them look artificial. Lindbergh's photos often show simplicity and purety, an aspect he uses to redefine standards of beauty.
I chose the photo on the left for my shoot, I thought it was effective in putting across the authentic aims sought by the photographer, In present-day fashion photography, every detail is re-touched, theres no reality, or a sense of soul within the model who's being presented. Lindbergh's approach is focused on capturing what we can't see. The person from within and not their architecture from the outside.
This task was difficult, especially when its a photo from a really famous photographer that you're to recreate. I had to consider my model, it couldn't just be anyone, it had to be someone who had something to show from within. The lighting was another, difficult, factor that I had to practice. considering it was the first shoot I knew it didnt need to be perfect.
The result I achieved, in my opinion, wasn't good enough, but because it was the first shoot, I knew the main point was to practice and learn from the mistakes i've made in this shoot. The images I produced look similar to the original, but the image doesn't hold the same essence. The lighting and costume isn't right, the images turned out dark. One of the main reasons for the lighting was that I didn't have another person to help me out with the flashgun, I had to control it as I went on which was distracting and not an efficient way of shooting,
A few other shots I took whilst experimenting around, trying different angles and playing around with the light. I spent some time editing on photoshop, fixing some lighting issues, after the editing I think some of these photos are successful as individuals, although I think the lighting is still quite low. I think for a first shoot of editorial, this wasn't a total fail. Theres some photos that I quite like even if they aren't the same as Lindbergh's.
Second shoot: Andrew G Hobbs
TASK 2
For our second task in editorial, we were put into groups. This time we had to pick another famous fashion photographer, but this time not to recreate their work but to understand their technique and as a group produce sets of photos that would seem as though they are part of the photographer's work. We picked the work of Andrew G Hobbs. As a team the task would be alot easier because of the help we would be able to receive from eachother.We decided to shoot on a saturday. which coincidently was also open day. We set up a back drop of plain white paper and because our shoot would consist of alot of syled, party like photos, we bought our own background and balloons, equipment that would give us the result that we wanted. We ended up with a lot of experimented shots of the model. Only some of which came out good enough to be part of editorial. The rest of the shots came out a little to random to be a part of the shoot. The shoot could have been more successful if we had planned ahead exactly which of the photographer's image were going to focus on, and how we were going to set up our props. Because mostof our time was used up trying to set up and finding the perfect situation to shoot in.
Andrew G Hobbs focuses on fashion portraiture and also runs his own fashion magazine; Centrefold Fashion, which includes High Fashion and Art&Design. The magazine only gets distributed to elite in the fashion industry.
TASK 3
Third shoot: Peter Lindbergh
For this shoot, we had a similar concept, I decided to choose Peter Lindbergh again, wanting to improve on my skills, especially because I wasn't too pleased with the results last time. I used a normal kit lense, with a flash gun and a reflector. My plan was to follow the photographer's technique and research his methods to get the same results.
This time around I made sure to do extra research on the photographer to get similar results as the photographer's work. I tried to keep focus on the eyes as thats what Lindbergh likes to focus on. He tries to reflect the model's personality through his photographs, keeping it as authentic as possible, with no use of props or excesive makeup, the black and white image is purely based on the expression.
I think the shoot was successful in terms of capturing the essence of the photographers work, the lighting was in full effect this time, and I'm very pleased with the outcome of this shoot. The compostion could have been improved in terms of extra space around the sides which wasn't needed. Also the background in some wasn't right for the photo. The images in large are a few of my favourite that show good technique and understanding of the task. The many of the smaller photos I tried different positions and poses for the model as Lindbergh sometimes like to focus on. I think that this shoot by far has been my most successful one.
Self Assessment
My Work
The photographer's
In my opinion the shoot was successful in terms of capturing the mood the photographer tries to set with his work. I wasnt trying to create a replica of the image, which is why I didn't make my model have perform the same pose, I was trying to learn from his techniques and produce a work of my own using what I had learnt from him. The part that needs improving is getting the lighting right and also in my composition avoiding the extra space around the sides of the photo.
Fourth shoot: Architecture
This time the task had chnaged a little in terms of which field of editorial we shoot. We were given the freedom to choose a different categorie of a magazine e.g. food, architecture, fashion etc. I chose an architectural magasine, eVolo. 'eVolo is an architecture and design journal focused on technological advances, sustainability, and innovative design for the 21st Century.' The magazine is editorial focused so it seemed perfect. I wanted to go out and find some abstract architecture to photograph and with a bit of editing hoped to make it seem like a part of the magazine.
The two images above are the ones we thought came out successful, in terms of the mood and colours. However I dont think they're anyway near similar to the work of Andrew G Hobbs. The lighting isn't right and I don't think we managed to follow his technique.
andrews G hobbs work;
Lindbergh's photo;
Lindbergh's photo;
The images on the left are a few of the unseccessful shots. The first one doesnt work out because of the props and the positioning of items. Also the flash focused directly on the face and mostly on the background doesnt suit the picture very well. The head space also looks uncomfortable, so the composition could have been better.
I like the second and third photo, the pose and angles work well. I think as a shoot that isn't based on a ohtotgrapher's work, some shots could have been successful, with also a bit of editing they could be of good quality. But as the shoot was to take inspiration from the photographer's work, we weren't successful in the task.
First shoot: Peter Lindbergh
The image below, I think, is my favourite from the shoot. The lighting, the composition, there aren't any props, or any other forms of distraction from the model's face and expression.
eVolo; the website
My plan was to go to the British Museum and from there I went towards Camden. The shoot itself was not successful, I took a few random shots, and I think the main reason for not accomplishing was because I wasn't really prepared for what I was trying to do, and what I was trying to take inspiration form but the photos I took didn't work out well enough.
The photos on the left are the ones from the unsuccessful shoot, they dont have a single sense of purpose. They dont seem like they're a part of one shoot, and they don't fit into the websites criteria either.
I decided that I needed to shoot again and with some guidance I took out a wide lense and planned to go to Canary Wharf for the shoot.
TASK 4
TASK 5
Fourth shoot, Part two: Architecture
I was amazed by the results the wide lense was producing. It changed the perspective comepletely, distorting it, adding more space in the frame and improving the look of the composition, also giving a deeper depth of field. The lense exaggerated the size and distance of the subject. It was fun and interesting playing around with it an the high skyscarpers of Canary Wharf were a great subject. I took a lot of shots from the ground, focusing up, making the parts of the subject that were closer to the camera look huge, and the distance larger to the top of the buildings. In terms of relating it to the magazine, I think a high amount of editing, making the buildings look futuristic, and fitting in the editorial style of the magazine would have made them the shoot better. However doing some more research on magazines like TimeOut, these photos would've been perfect as a tourist attractions and succeeding in their purpose as editorial shots. The parts that i think need improving would be the composition of other objects and participants in the shot, such as the vehicles and people, i think i need more practice with how wide angle lenses make a photo affective with all these elements working together.
As a final shoot im pleased with the results, and i think having shot something other than fashion in editorial helped broaden my understanding of editorial photography. Below are a few thumbnails of some of the slightly unsuccessful shots.
