Above is the contact sheet from my beauty queen photoshoot. I experimented with different poses and expressions although they were all rather similar so it would fit with the format of an official title holder photoshoot that I discussed in my planning post for this shoot. The hand on hips poses with the big smile were an attempt to capture the all-american beauty queen persona but the images just came out looking silly and pantomimic so I decided not to use them, after all the project was about trying to capture a slightly exaggerated version of myself rather than someone else altogether. I found the process of this shoot really enjoyable although walking to and from the camera to check the images as set off the shutter in a full length ballgown with many petticoats proved both difficult and time consuming.

Here are my shortlisted photos from this shoot. I selected these images because they both capture a flattering, exaggerated version of me without being garish or pantomimic. I edited these photos by cropping them in a way that framed the figure nicely as well as showing off the volume of the skirt an my full title printed on the sash. I also increased the contrast, brightness, colour saturation and levels. I used the spit healing tool to remove any blemishes as my skin was not very good on the day that I conducted this shoot. I smoothed out the back drop as there were still some wrinkles even after attempting to iron the vinyl. I personally think that I will use the image on the right because I felt that it is both flattering, serious and dignified which was something I wanted to capture in this portrait.