Concept: To capture mushrooms in the style of Alexander Mourant’s ‘Aurelian’. Mushrooms often symbolise fertility due to their phallus-like shape, they represent growth because of their fungal properties.
Lighting: Artificial lighting as I will capture the mushrooms when it is dark. I will wait till after it has rained as the environment will be damp, giving a humid effect. Organisms living in the environment will also reveal themselves due to the moisture of the rain.
Flash needed when experimenting with the gels.
Camera Settings: I will experiment by using the gels over the flash to change the colour of the lighting, as well as placing the gels over the lens.
Props: Pink, Yellow and Green gels. The pink and yellow gels are more subtle giving the image a soft blur. I will also use a green gel as the colour is commonly associated with nature.
I want to talk to my models and other women about their opinions on perfection and beauty. I want to ask a large variety of question on the topic so I can get an idea of what real people think about the ideals pressured onto them and how the beauty and fashion industries effects this. I want to talk to a variety of people of different ages and backgrounds to get a varied response which represents different people views. I hope to use the information o find to develop my work with a better understanding of the audience and issue I want to comment on. I have though about using the results by incorporating them into the images of my final piece.
Define the concept of Beauty in your own words
What is an idealistic view of beauty you feel is promoted my modern media?
How has the internet and social Media effected how you view yourself in terms of beauty?
What is perfection to you?
Is perfection reachable and what does it look like?
What is your biggest insecurity?
Who do you think is the is perfect in the way they look? Why?
Has the way you look ever effected your confidence or stopped you from doing anything?
Have you ever judged someone on the way they look or dress? Why might it effect your view of them?
What do you think about having surgery, taking medication or using cosmetics to improve your looks?
Give an example of something you think is ugly, why?
I want to keep the results very anonymous because people feel a lot more comfortable talking about personal issues when this is the case. This means I am more likely to get honest answers that I can use alongside my work.
Mine and Rinok’s work is very similar in regards to the photographic process however when we edit our images this is where the differences is. In Rinkos image she has increased the levels of cyan in the colour balance which has made the image look more appealing and inviting for the audience. In the image the central focus in a circular formation of water, this is a running theme in Rinkos book ‘illuminance’. In the book there are recurring patterns, shapes and motifs that help to give the book meaning and structure, as at a first look the book is a group of image that have no connection to each other. In Rinkos image the only two colours that are featured are whites and blues which she would have done on purpose and enhanced this look when in the editing stage. However in my image there is slightly more of a colour range, in my image the water is not as clear and has a slight green colour in it as the water isn’t that clean. Also as I took this image during ‘golden hour’ the image has a slight yellow tint to this, also due to this fact areas of shadows have been created, which is absent in Rinkos image. This shows to me is that she is very thoughtful about every image and every small detail that is in the frame. I think that Rinko would have taken this image on a day when the weather was overcast as in the image there is no sun reflection that can be seen.
For my first shoot I decided to take a double decker bus on the route that goes to the airport and back into town, my idea was that with a double decker I could manage to get some perspectives of things that you can’t get on a normal bus, the height that you are sat on the double decker creates a perspective that you are an onlooker sort of spying on the people around you, rather than a member of the crowd. Below are 20 of what I think are my most successful images from the shoot unedited. On the day that I did this shoot it was raining and therefor it was difficult to achieve a completely clear image out of the bus window, but I do like the effect that the blurry windows and water droplets give to some of the images. For my next shoot though I will try and take into consideration the weather conditions when I do the shoot so that I can get a variety of images with different lighting to create different atmospheres.
