Date: Thursday 10th March 2016
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Editing Software: Photoshop CC 2014
Settings: F/11, ISO 200, 1/125
Plans For Shoot: My plan for today's shoot is to photograph a variety of objects that are under the category of gender. I will, though, focus specifically on men and the rituals that they face on an almost everyday basis.
What I Hope to Achieve: I would like to achieve a group of photographs that are composed in a variety of ways such as the grid composition or the golden ratio as previously mentioned in my previous work record from the first photoshoot.
I also want to create a series that reflects the artistic style of the gender photographer Phebe Schmidt for example through the employment of her style which includes her use of bold colour backdrops.
Penultimately, a hope of mine is that I am able to edit in a way that is more professional for instance using both more and harder Photoshop methods to adjust my photographs.
Finally, my other hopeful expectation of myself is to create a series of photographs which raise ideas about gender among an audience. Hopefully, the perceptions of my work will vary between each individual but still conform to the wider implicit meaning of gender differences and similarities.
What I Actually Achieved: This being my second photoshoot I had a few more improvement tasks for myself yet I feel it was mostly successful despite certain elements reducing the outcome. After this photoshoot I definitely feel that there is more room for improvement in the trial and error photoshoots in the build up to the exam.
I was able to again take a few photographs of the subjects in a variety of compositions which I believe may conform to the grid method composition but none appeared to be the right subject of photography to experiment with the golden ratio. I was unable to see if my camera is compatible with the screen grid method due to time constraints of photoshoots although it is something that I will definitely employ if my idea does not drastically change before the final exam series.
Also, I achieved a similar studio set-up to Phebe Schmidt's by experimenting with a different colour backdrop. Most of Schmidt's work is on a pale pastel hue and medium to high saturation background but occasionally she tries darker hues such as dark blues and greens. For this shoot there was only one choice of pink backdrop and this was a darker hue than its counter-part baby blue backdrop employed in the first photoshoot. Consequently, in the photography process the background appeared too dull for the vibrant and bold magazine style photographs that Schmidt used and this was a big issue that would have to be resolved in Photoshop.
I was able to finally fulfil my hope when it came to attempting to use more difficult techniques on Photoshop as I use the previous tools such as the 'Vibrance' tool alongside the 'Hue/ Saturation' and 'Brightness/ Contrast' but I also used the 'Dodge' and 'Burn' tool to either lighten or darken segment of the photographs in Photoshop where the lighting had gone patchy. The lighting error was a result of someone disrupting my studio and changing the box light positions which could be avoided in future by not leaving the studio at any point.
When displaying my final outcomes for this photoshoot an audience gave a few different responses based upon the hidden meanings of my work, these were the references made about my work: subverting gender norms through the use of the stereotypically feminine colour pink, the gendering of products and supporting representations of gender through products and more simply the everyday life of gender sub-cultures.
What I Am Going To Do Next/ Progression: The next photoshoot that I will do will be women's inequalities and to progress I will again return to the trusted colour backdrop that will continuing the ideas of rejecting the gender norms provided by the products featured as the subject of the photoshoot.
Again, I would still like to attempt to complete my earlier idea of experimenting with harder Photoshop techniques to achieve a more professional final series of photographs.
Least and Favourite Image Evaluation -
Least Favourite:
Favourite:
The reasoning behind the above pictures being my favourite and least favourite are for a multitude of reasons.
My least favourite is so due to the fact that the composition is slightly of centre and conforms to none of the compositional techniques. The angles of the objects are irregular and the backdrop, whilst evident on both, is patchy and not of regular tone which I was unable to fix in Photoshop using dodge and burn as this made the images appear still patchy during print.
The second photograph although is my favourite in the series, despite the fact I was disappointed with the outcome of this photoshoot, is at the bottom. This photograph is my favourite as the coloured background was more balanced in this picture and the composition is in a straight and normal line rather than a failed shape. Also, the combination of colours from various stereotypically masculine objects work well together and contrast nicely to the pink backdrop.
Meaning -
Denotation: Masculine objects, ritual of getting ready, male hygiene products being less prevalent then women's.
Connotation: The connotative meaning and associative meaning that blue is masculine whilst pink is feminine, male health and beauty care being seen as feminine except for a few simple activities such as shaving, the strict angular and angry oppression of males into believing they cannot look after themselves.
Context: I want to put forward the idea that 'manscaping' as it has been phrased, which is a marked form and a neologism, is not unacceptable and that males and females and other genders should all be able to express themselves through appearance without worry of ridicule. I also wanted to prove that despite the stereotypical blue and silver marketing of male products all genders can enjoy all colours and that stereotypical feminine roles or beliefs does not diminish masculinity.
