week 2 Photography

black and white fashion photographic images

Black and white images can be seen as the purest forms of photography and many prefer black and white to colour for example wedding photos. They capture timeless emotion due to the difference of light and dark areas. Shapes and poses must be considered in advance as they need to be bold considering there is no colour.

Steven Meisel Is a iconic American fashion photographer who obtained his popularity with his work in US and Italian Vogue and his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book 'Sex'. In April 2008 Meisel again shot Madonna for vanity fair and a few years later in 2009 he shot her again for the Louis Vuitton spring campaign 2008. Amongst others Steven has shot campaigns for Versace, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Prada. Even today Steven regularly shoots for both Us and Italian Vogue and because of this he is now considered the most successful fashion photographers in the industry. to see Stevens work refer to the images below

(En.wikipedia.org, 2017), (ShockBlast, 2017)

Spanish fashion brand Zara have revealed theire spring summer 2017 womensware collection, staring; models: Vittoria Cerretti, Lexi Boling, Kiki Willems, Leila Goldkuhl, Nora Attal, and Yoon Young Bae. Photographer: Steven Meisel (To see Stevens work refer to the images below)
 (Cafaro, 2017)

(f1 - f5 Zara spring summer 2017, 2017)

Analysis:

•within the clothing there is Lots of ribbon dangling and feminine bows

•Elevated clothes  / luxurious with off the shoulder neck line. There is a contrast between ballet and street theme, I know this because of the chunky sandal and ballet shoes. There is continuity within accessories as the models in figure 4 and 2 are wearing a choker. Length is something that is in all of the images, Knee high socks, long dress and sleeves. All of the clothing is versatility wear.

•All of the models are positioned in centre of images

•they all share continuity because they are all full body shots

•All of the models have some part of the leg exposed

•Relaxed Effortless poses  such as hands on hips, hands in pocket and leaning to form shape and to composite the loss of colour.

•Natural / flawless make up

•Hair is loose and free flowing which is implicated in the clothing

•Horizontal lines, Top proportion is always symmetrical emphasizing with off set foot positioning

•Same location (studio), soft box used because there is no harsh edges

•models are posing/ looking just past the camera

•All share a grey tone, the contrast has a powerful effect on the eye and is expressed through light and shade (brightness and darkness); colour differences show texture.

•photograph being taken coming from the left casting a shadow of the model ( on the floor to the right)

•The casted shadow in figure 2,3,4 and 5 come into synergy with figure 1. Looking at the composition , aesthetic and proximity all of the shots are notorious /clean, In figure 1 the model is pulling one leg up to create the illusion of a full length photograph. You can not see the shadow of the feet so eye shadow has been applied along the under eye in figure 1 implicating the shadow instead.

video 1.  (Zara Woman Campaign | Spring Summer 2017, 2017)

information resource :

ShockBlast. (2017). STEVEN MEISEL -- photography - ShockBlast. [online] Available at: http://www.shockblast.net/steven-meisel-photography/ [Accessed 4 May 2017].aphy/

Cafaro, V. (2017). Zara Spring/ Summer 2017 Campaign by Steven Meisel | Fashionisers. [online] Fashionisers.com. Available at: http://www.fashionisers.com/fashion-news/zara-spring-summer-2017-campaign/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].

video 1  Zara Woman Campaign | Spring Summer 2017. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDpj-4FPog [Accessed 6 May 2017].

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Steven Meisel. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Meisel [Accessed 6 May 2017].

images bibliography:

F1 -  Zara spring summer collection. (2017). [image] Available at: http://www.designscene.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Zara-SS17-Steven-Meisel-10.jpg [Accessed 6 May 2017].

F2  -  Zara spring summer collection. (2017). [image] Available at: http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Zara-Spring-Summer-2017-Campaign13.jpg [Accessed 6 May 2017].

F3 - Zara spring summer collection. (2017). [image] Available at: http://www.fashionmention.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/woman-04.st_.jpg [Accessed 6 May 2017].

F4  - Zara spring summer collection, (2017). [image] Available at: https://i2.wp.com/www.fashiongonerogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Zara-Spring-Summer-2017-Campaign10.jpg?resize=479%2C752 [Accessed 6 May 2017].

F5 - Zara spring summer collection. (2017). [image] Available at: http://cdn1-www.thefashionspot.com/assets/uploads/2017/01/zara-spring17-meisel-article1.jpg [Accessed 6 May 2017].

types of photography

portrait - long instead of - vertical sides of image bigger than width

landscape - more centimetres than metres
film noir
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dynamic
universal

what is composition?
In photography composition is the arrangement of parts of a scene to form a particular visual outcome.
photographic elements are:

• Line – lines and edges that the eye follows within the scene.
• Colour – the variety of colours and individual hues (and intensities/brightness of each).
• Shape – a two dimensional area, marked out by edges, which exhibits similar textures/colours and may be geometric or defined by organic or natural processes.
• Form – three dimensional structure with length, width and height.
• Tone – shade and light variations that define ‘form’ persuading the eye of its three dimensionality.
• Texture – the surface detail of ‘shapes’ or ‘forms’ that persuade the eye they would have the feel of the real thing if touched.
• Space

Positive space – the space occupied by a shape or form.

Negative space – the space between shapes or forms.

• Depth – the viewers perception of distance between ‘foreground’ and the ‘background’ in the picture.
• Sharpness – the degree to which an object or particular part of the picture is sharp or blurred.

(Photokonnexion, 2017)

rule of thirds - The rule of thirds permutes different fields of photography to improve your shots by making them visually more interesting/ eye catching as it draws attention as well as provides guidelines vertically and horizontally. the rule of thirds involves dividing the frame into 9 equal squares (3 blocks by 3), the lines/ point to each square must have key elements known as focal points to create maximum impact. (Photographer, 2017)

 golden ratio  -not everything has to be centre in the picture as it is the spiral of beauty and anything natural exists within such as Dna, length of limbs, flowers, shells, architectures use it and it is in the Quran. The spiral brings/captures the point of focus(feature stuck in spiral) therefor the principles and traits are the same as the rule of thirds with different key feature making a stronger final image

aperture is one of the three pillars of photography and either adds dimension to a photograph by blurring the background or bringing everything into focus. aperture is simply a lens with a hole which light travels through into the camera body. The best way to envision this is to hold one finger up in front of a plain white wall and focus on it and you will see the background begin to blur.

shutter speed is used to create a dramatic freezing action on a motion object eg waterfall, cars on a motorway. It is also known as exposure time which stands for length of time a camera shutter is open to expose light into the camera sensor. if the shutter speed is fast it can help to freeze the action completely, if the shutter speed is slow it can create an effect called a motion blur (where moving objects appear blurred along the direction of motion). can be used in car and motorbike advertisement. (Mansurov, 2017)

depth of field  refers to the range of distance that appears accessibly sharp, in every photo there will be a certain area of your image in front or behind the subject that will appear in focus. The further forward the subject the more the background is blurred, it is the distance between the nearest and furthers. (Digital Photography School, 2017)

 f stop works hand in hand with shutter speed as speed setting must be utilized, the finished product is dramatic and using f stop in any lighting will portray a sharp look. f stop refers to the diameter of the opening in the lens of the camera and is a expression used to measure the amount of light coming in from the lens (optical system is the ratio of the Len's focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil, it is a dimensionless number that is a quantities measure of lens speed and an important concept in photography). Think of it as a pupil that controls how much light enters your eye, the brighter your surroundings the smaller your pupil gets to control the lighting coming in so the lower the light in your surroundings means your pupils are going to get larger to let in as much light as possible, in addition to controlling the light that enters the camera changing the f stop can also change the depth of field. (H, 2017)

(lecture notes, image creation week 2)

video 2. http://froknowsphoto.com/fro-video-guide/(the complete FroKnows Photo 3-Hour video guide to getting out of auto, 2017)

lighting

soft box lighting projects a flat, wide, soft source of light creating a overall defused image;

·         35in Square softbox in front of the subject

·         Distance light is from Subject – 1 meter

·         1/125 @ f11, iso 200

A beauty dish comes in a variety of sizes, light is reflected into a shallow rounded disk that is attached to a light source and reflects all angles inside the dish to in front of the model. This piece of equipment is a favourite used by portrait photographers for beauty shots/ close ups, it allows a highlighted, even and directional light source. the light given is softer than a camera flash but harder than a soft box, a beauty dish provides concentrated light where the centre is the brightest and the light gently falls off at the edges. (Barth, 2017)

reflectors are portable due to being light weight and used to redirect/ bounce light, they can be silver on one side to reduce shadows and gold on the other. Gold reflectors are used to add warmth illumination to a image.

Umbrellas send more of a contrasting light than a soft box, they also give a narrow grey zone (this is where you can see the light to dark shadow wrapped around a object or a person) focused straight beam of light for large surfaces giving sharper shadows and used in universal photography.

video 3. (Portrait lighting using an Umbrella vs a Softbox, 2017)

Ring light

snoots

information resources:

H, E. (2017). What is Fstop? - A Knowledge Archive. [online] A Knowledge Archive. Available at: http://www.qwhatis.com/what-is-fstop/ [Accessed 5 May 2017].

Barth, C. (2017). What is a Beauty Dish?. [online] Improve Photography. Available at: http://improvephotography.com/11001/what-is-a-beauty-dish/ [Accessed 5 May 2017].

video 3. Portrait lighting using an Umbrella vs a Softbox. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaebMg4oSeI [Accessed 5 May 2017].

lecture notes file:///C:/Users/admin/Desktop/Creative%20Image/PHOTOGRAPHY+week+2.pdf

Photographer, A. (2017). Understanding the Rule of Thirds. [online] Amateur Photographer. Available at: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/expert_advice/understanding-the-rule-of-thirds-4228 [Accessed 5 May 2017].

Mansurov, N. (2017). Understanding Shutter Speed - A Beginner's Guide. [online] Photography Life. Available at: https://photographylife.com/what-is-shutter-speed-in-photography [Accessed 5 May 2017].

Digital Photography School. (2017). Understanding Depth of Field for Beginners. [online] Available at: https://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-depth-field-beginners/ [Accessed 5 May 2017].

video 2. the complete FroKnows Photo 3-Hour video guide to getting out of auto. (2017). [video] Available at: http://froknowsphoto.com/fro-video-guide/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].

Photokonnexion. (2017). Composition - Definition: photographic aesthetics - Photokonnexion. [online] Available at: http://www.photokonnexion.com/3269-2/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].

Photographer, A. (2017). How to master black and white photography. [online] Amateur Photographer. Available at: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/expert_advice/how-to-master-black-and-white-photography-607 [Accessed 6 May 2017].

Additional Task

Today we were given an additional task and this was to research one of the following photographers;

• Paco Peregrin
• Mario Testino
• David Bailey
• Steven Meisel

(f1 Dior advertisement, 2017), (f2 Adidas advertisment, 2017), (Today and tomorrow, 2017)

I chose Paco Peregrin because his work is unbelievably unique...

Paco was born in Spain (Almeria) and works world wide. His success continues as he has won many awards such as Gold Lux 2008 award, basically this is first place in the National professional photography awards in spain, (In the fashion and beauty category). His work has also appeared in numerous books like 'New fashion photography', this has led his work being showcased as part of important art collections.

Paco has exhibited his work in museums such as Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art (Seville), Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum (Getaria, Gipuzkoa), Museum of Arts and Traditions of Seville, etc

Also galleries in; New York, Paris, Barcelona, Beijing, Madrid and more! 

paco has also photographed and art directed high profile projects for global household names like: Dior, Chanel, Saint Laurent, L’Oréal Paris, Adidas, Nike, Lee, Levi’S, Vögele Shoes, Gant, Mazda, Toyota, Carlsberg, La Rinascente, Redken, Marie Dalgar, Lancôme, etc.

As you can see from the three images above Paco produces extremely creative and vibrant work, it catches the eye and almost makes you look twice. Personally I would say figure 3 fits the theme avant garde due to the boldness of the image and I have noticed that figure 1 and 2 have been created for advertisement purposes.

(Pacoperegrin.com, 2017)

images bibliography:
figure 1. Dior advertisment. (2017). [image] Available at: http://www.pacoperegrin.com/photos/dior/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].

Figure 2. Adidas advertisment. (2017). [image] Available at: http://www.pacoperegrin.com/photos/adidas/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].

figure 3. Today and tomorrow. (2017). [image] Available at: http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/pacoperegrin_2.jpg [Accessed 6 May 2017].


information resources:
Pacoperegrin.com. (2017). Paco Peregrín Photographer - About. [online] Available at: http://www.pacoperegrin.com/about/  [Accessed 5 May 2017].