Beth

My idea for this shoot was to show the difference between what people want you to see compared to what is actually underneath. My subject is Beth a close friend who I have known for years. I know all of her insecurities and fears, however people who don't know her, upon appearance, wouldn't expect these things.

This shoot was done in my spare room. I didn't have a white backdrop, I therefore improvised and just used the light pink painted wall. I think the light pink added to the images. It helps Beth stand out and look even brighter than her surrounding colour and being a pale colour helps reinforce the natural images. I used studio lighting on this shoot both lights having a soft box attachment. I had one light either side of her as I wanted to make sure her whole face was fully lit. As beth is conscious about her face shape, I decided shooting from above was appropriate as it is more flattering for women.

When I showed Beth a picture I took of her with her tattoo showing, the first thing she said to me was 'I like that image, I look alright there'. Having known Beth 6 years I automatically knew the reason she liked this image because her tattoo was in it. Both her make-up and tattoo's give her the confidence she seems to lack when natural.

I know two of Beth's main inspirations are Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga. These are two celebrities who are very out there and unique with their styles. I feel this may be one of the reason's Beth likes to  expresses herself through her use of Jewellery, patterns and make-up. I asked Beth why she has this style. I was curious as to why her tattoo's on show and when she wears a large amount of makeup gives her confidence. I wanted to find out where her inspiration for her look came from. Her response was:

"I don't wear make up because my idols do, make up gives me more confidence really and I like the way it makes me feel. I do get inspirations for the colours I wear and the way I do my eyeliner from Lady Gaga. Some people create their own styles but I do take a lot of inspiration from the celebrities I like. As for tattoo's, I am a massive fan of art anyway so I love the fact you can have it on your body. A few of mine have meanings and they do give me more confidence."

For the images displaying Beth's style I made sure I got her to display different lipsticks and clothing. This is how they turned out:

The above images show how Beth looks when she leaves her house, the layers she hides behind to make herself feel confident. Below you can see Beth natural, the real person hidden beneath the facade and layers of make-up.

Red-scale digital vs film

I wanted to see the difference between a photoshopped digital red scale and a film version. To make my digital red-scale I followed a few simple steps. Here are the steps I followed:

1) Open the image in photoshop

2) Create a curves adjustment layer

3) Change the drop down box from RGB to red. Raise the left end of the curve halfway up the graph, add an anchor point halfway along your curve. This gives you the red colour cast.

4) Change the drop down box from red to blue. Drag the right end of the curve halfway down the graph. This will intensify the yellows.

5) Change the drop down box from blue to RGB again. Adjust the curve until you are happy with the result. Moving the cure controls the vibrancy.

6) You can then adjust the hue and saturation adjustment layer to give a more subtle result.

BEFORE

AFTER

In comparison to the red-scale film I didn't find the red-scale done digitally as visually pleasing. To create my red-scale film I completed the following steps:

1) In complete darkness pull all of the film out of the canister. Leaving at least one inch attached cut the film.

2) Turn the film you just cut out around so the emulsion side is next to the one inch of film left in the canister. Then using masking tape, stick it bad to the stub of film.

3) Wind the film back into the canister leaving at least 2 inches hanging out. You should avoid getting fingermarks on your film however as I struggled to use the canister to wind the film in at points, I had to physically push the film back in.

4) The film is now ready to be loaded and shot.

I decided to shoot my red scale film in Brighton. I took a variety of images using red-scale images. To develop the film you use the traditional C41 process used on colour films.

These are the images I took using my red-scale film:

I am aware that these images are blurry, this is due to me scanning my images in at the wrong resolution size. When I have re-scanned the negatives at the right resolution size, I will replace the images.

The first and second image have got scratches on them, this may be down to me physically pushing the film back into the canister. I have been told that using a manual film camera to wind the film back is an easier way to do this. I will try this method if I do this technique again. Overall I am happy with how the images look, the bottom one especially reminds me of an image that has aged. I enjoyed learning how to make this film as you never know when you are next going to use it, I will definitely use this technique again at some point.

Baby Daniel

My friend has her baby cousin Daniel every Thursday. As I've never photographed a very young child before I wanted to give it a go. I had to attempt the shoot twice as the first time Daniel was hysterically crying. At first I thought it may have been because of the lights flashing and him not being used to it, however the second time we did the shoot he was still very grizzly, when his Mum came to pick him up she informed us that he was teething. Despite being faced with this difficulty we managed to calm him down by feeding him raisins which may be noticeable in some of the images. I feel I managed to capture some natural images including some of him crying, I didn't manage to capture any images of him smiling due to his grisliness. I am really happy with how the images look however I would like to photograph him again and capture the adorable smile I know he has.