Portraiture Shoot Set Up and Week Reflection

Here I have displayed evidence of my photo shoot from 23/2/18. I focused on portraiture photography and close up shots of the face, wearing the masks that sparked the initial inspiration to do a project using “masking” as a main purpose and reasoning for doing the shoot.

I used to standing lights with adjustable yellow intensity and brightness settings, enabling me to successfully manually set the correct lighting state. I received help from Jason and Rachel briefly with a few questions I had as to how to get the best shot in terms of minimal shadows and best lighting, and began shooting Fred and Millie wearing the masks I had brought along.

Not only was this shoot exploratory for me as I have never worked particularly with photography as a medium in a controlled environment of a studio before, meaning it was completely new and important to understand, but also set the foundations for my future photos as to what to look for in a shot. For example, I know that while reviewing the contact sheets I found several unsuccessful angles of the face I decided to be photographed, however now that I know these aren’t the best angles or the most effective facial shapes I am looking for in a photo I know to ensure I am making the correct shapes in relation to the lighting next time I do a shoot or am looking over my photos to use.

I have had a productive week in total, with the shoot being the main focus of the week. I had planned it out well over the days leading up to it, whilst simultaneously completing and continuing my artist and contextual research to aid and influence my work.