Shoot 1: 19/3/22 37 Images

Ideas

To photograph in the style of (book person) and experiment with foliage, lighting, camera angles and books. I will use fairy lights, plants and flowers and experiment with a variety of camera angles.

• experiment with lighting and camera angles

• What props I'll use for still life- Book, fairy lights, flowers, leaves/foliage

Artist model inspiration

Abelardo Morell

Evaluation

What worked?

In my opinion this was not a very good shoot. I personally didn't like the way lots of the photos came out. I didn't get the creative spark, so I think lots of my photos are a bit basic and cliché.

What didn't, how could this be improved?

In my room I have an entire wall made up of mirrors, meaning I would see my reflection in some of the photos quite often. So next time, I probably wouldn't shoot in my room. I would like to shoot with mirrors in the future however, so I could experience with that wall in my room.

What are you going to do next time to extend your idea?

Next time I want to possibly use a cracked painted mirror to symbolize a portal. I'll probably experiment a bit more with my props to try capture different ideas.

Random Toy photoshoot (To play around)

Shoot 2: 11/4/22 41 Images

Ideas

To use a selection of still life items (horse models and story books) and play around with composition, lighting camera angles. This shoot will be done in the professional photographic studio at school.

• experiment with lighting, composition and angles

• Shoot in studio at school

Evaluation

What worked?

After many technical difficulties I managed to sync my camera with the lights and found the reason why the light meter was being problematic was because I hadn't changed my camera back to regular settings after my last shoot (the reason why some images are too dark). However once I figured everything out, I really enjoyed using the studio and might use it again in the future.

What didn't, how could this be improved?

In the future, I want to have more time to fully experiment with different lighting, props, composition. After learning from my previous mistakes, I believe this can definitely be done.

What are you going to do next time to extend your idea?

Next time, I want to expand beyond horse models and use other toys. I also would try to make the props relate and blend in better with the books/background. I'd like to extend the idea of a story coming to life.

Shoot 3: 9/5/22 35 Images

Ideas

To feature the toys and focus on the foreground of the photos. I wanted to mainly focus on the subject matter, but I wanted the images to still appear to be mystical but mature (not tacky or childish). I also wanted to play with the idea of working props into the photos.

• Work on perspective and lighting

• Focus on foreground and subject matter

• Incorporate props

Evaluation

What worked?

I had to make sure the perspective and lighting was just right in order to not make the image look tacky or childish. Even though I wasn't focused on the background, I still had to think about the background heaps in order for everything to fit to scale, especially when including props.

What didn't, how could this be improved?

In the future, I want to devote more time to the photoshoot. The weekend I did this shoot, I was extremely busy, so I ended up racing against the sun to produce photos. Originally I started out by using a back drop image on my laptop but the images were not turning out at all.

What are you going to do next time to extend your idea?

Next time, I want to use different props and more of them. I would like to try create more of a story in my photos and I want to achieve that with the props I use.

Shoot 4: 24/5/22 69 Images

Ideas

To make a fantasy inspired set from scratch that tells more of a story. I wanted to give off the impression that we're looking into a different world. I love making props and sets that look really realistic, detailed and fits to scale. I wanted to make the image in my come to life. I wanted to get the lighting just right in order to not make the toys appear tacky and childish. I also played with depth of field as there heaps of different details to focus on.

• Hand make a set that brings a story to life

• Play with depth of field and focus on different details

• To make sure the lighting looks realistic

Artist Model Inspiration:

Olivo Barbieri

Evaluation

What worked?

I was really happy with how the set came out. I genuinely really enjoyed making it and it exactly like the image I had in my head. I was able to bring my fantasy idea to life. I also loved how it looked in the photos with the figurines. This shoot was by far my favorite and I'm pleased with the results. I also played around on photoshop and loved the end product. I want to try use more techniques in photoshop to make all my photos look magical.

What didn't, how could this be improved?

Next time I won't to produce some images that aren't as predictable. I want to have a variety images and to keep things interesting. Also the set making did take a long time, so time management is key.

What are you going to do next time to extend your idea?

I want to play around with some new ideas to make interesting, unexpected imagery. I also want to continue making different sets to carry on the story and bring the fantasy theme more to life.

Self Reflection- Evaluating all work

Self Reflection

Ideas:

I believe that I have a very clear theme idea. However, I do believe some some ideas could be more refined to eventually land on a single concept for the last few photos of my board

My theme has a large range of ideas and different areas to explore. It's also a theme that I really enjoy and am passionate about. I almost have too many ideas.

You can see that my ideas are developing as there is more of a story in my more recent pieces of work.

I think the most creative aspects of my photos so far are the handmade sets and back drops. I want to further explore this aspect to refine and further develop my ideas. I also want to explore some new ideas with different elements such as water and/or fire.

Artist Models:

I believe you can see how my chosen artist models have inspired me and influenced my work but I think it could be made a little bit more obvious.

I want to explore all of my artist models in more detail. I want to try out photos with smaller figurines, frozen action, different backdrops and including books more.

Layout:

At the moment my photos don't really flow or go together. I have photos of books and photos of fantasy, however I don't have photos that show the story is coming out of the book. This needs to be improved. I need to do photoshoots that clearly shows this idea. Nonetheless I would still like to do move photoshoots that just show the fantasy story.

Most of my photos were the same size on my A2 layout. There's none that really stand out.

I must have shot all my photos on a smaller setting on my camera, so when the image was printed it was slightly fuzzy most likely from being stretched to be made bigger.

For my next layout I want more images that flow and different sizes of photos to create interest.

Photographic Conventions:

There are defiantly more conventions I could explored as I haven't explored many. I've played lots with depth of field and perspective. I want to experiment with framing, leading lines and composition and I want to explore more of lighting.

Goals:

I am aiming for all my assessments to be excellence if possible.

I want to really enjoy and be proud of my final results. I'm hoping to produce a interesting board that still has the mystical feel I want.