Portfolio - First Shoot

For my first shoot, I mixed my setting by going outside and inside my house and using it as a setting. I put Kiera (the model) in a plain, white t-shirt for a lot of my photographs because I felt it would contrast really nicely with the dark brown of her eyes and hair.

As I am still exploring my theme, I am still exploring what editing style I am going to adapt for my portfolio. I want all the images to have the same editing look and preferably a "cold" feel to the photographs which I am very atracted to already. I have experimented with these editing styles and others throughout this shoot. As much as I like turning up the highlights which results in the skin looking rather flawless, I also love turning down the highlights so that the freckles and other skin details really stand out. I think in the end it will be about finding that balance.

I used Sara Orme as my main artist model and inspiration for this shoot as well as my other artist models I've listed previously. I really like how these photos turned out so I am thinking of slightly changing my theme to something a little more youthful. I am thinking of working primarily with young children and youth in their every day environment.

It's important to note that I will not be photographing children who are not fully clothed. It's vital that I remind everyone that I am utterly against the sexualisation or exploitation of minors. The artist models I use are merely inspiration for reasons other than nudity and are not presented as a directory.

These are a few of my edited photos from my first portfolio shoot:

THE FOLLOWING SECTION WAS EDITED ON 18/5/16:

I have received many compliments and comments on how Kiera (my model for the above shoot) is incredibly natural in front of the camera, photogenic and very pretty. I have had the pleasure of knowing this little girl since she was 8, she is now 10. I think that the reason she and many of my other young models are comfortable in front of the camera is because they know me personally outside of the modelling and photography world I often spend time in, with them. I have built a friendship where they are comfortable around me and able to just be open and honest with me thus making it easier for them to take risks and stepping out of their worlds as I invite them in to mine. I find that having a personal relationship first is easier than trusting a stranger to take your photo. I find that with this type of work, which can be quite a personal experience because it's just us two together capturing certain aspects of just one of us, that it is quite often about trust.

I also think that this generation is so built on the importance of self-perception and how others perceive them, that vanity plays an important part in a young childs life; especially given this digital age and the establishment of the "selfie". I think that because this type of vanity is so normalised in todays culture and society that young kids spend quite a lot of time in front of their phone camera taking pictures of themselves that they become comfortable in front of the camera that they themselves control. I think this helps them with being comfortable during photoshoots and being models. I do get a lot of "can I see!?" after each setting of the shoot and I don't always show them immediately, but I will show them all the shots at the end of the shoot on my computer.

Below are some shots that I was advised to adjust in the editing process in post production, below are the outcomes of the editing.

With the above images, I was told to reduce the amount of light that hits Kiera's face. I did that by reducing the exposure level on the basics panel in Camera Raw. I like these results better than my original ones. I made the mistake originally by editing these images with my screen brightness reduced as it was late at night.

For the first image, I also cropped the top of my shoe out (which I hadn't realised was there until my one-on-one meeting with Caryline) so that you could really focus on the subject of the image without any other distractions.

With this image, I was told to make sure that I take away a few of the shadows so that the viewer would be able to see Kiera's facial expression. This is important as it helps deliver the message of youth through the image. I am happy, again, with this result instead of my previous for that exact reason.