25/11/2017
For my final project I have chosen the word ‘Globalisation.’ I have gone into more detail about why I have chosen this word on an earlier post on the front page. I’ve decided to go with the project that entails photographing different people of different ethnic origins holding up a phone that shows what the biggest headline from their country is from that day. I think I’m going to shoot it on my balcony as it allows for a nice blue backdrop and natural light. Today I did some test photos.
The first photo shows the blue backdrop that I’m going to be working with. The second image shows where the subject/model will be standing.
These images display what affect the white balance can and will have on the photos. I think from the images above, two or four works best.
The original plan was to have the news headline be on the phone, however due to the lighting and size of the phone, it’s hard to actually read what’s on the screen. Therefore I’m considering changing the phone to either a tablet or a whiteboard with the news articles written on them.
I found today to be quite useful in further imagining what my final project is going to look like. It’s also made me think that I do need to consider going forward with the project.
01/12/2017
Over the past few days I’ve been trying to make sure everything is ready for when I take my images. I’ve decided that instead of shooting on my balcony, I am going to be shooting inside my apartment against a white backdrop. I’ve decided to do this because I feel the white background is more impartial, allowing for the subject to influence the audience more, but also if I were to work on the balcony, I can’t guarantee the weather or lighting.
Another change I decided to make was not to necessarily use the most popular newspaper from said country. I’ve decided instead to allow the model to choose what they believe the most popular newspaper is. I feel this will allow for a more genuine image and exploration of Globalisation.
I’ve also been working towards getting my models sorted. I myself put an advert out on the LSFM Facebook page and also spread word that I was looking for models, and fellow class mate Arthur also helped out by putting up an advert on his Facebook too. I did try to put an advert on StarNow, however StarNow refused to run the advert. I’m still not sure why.
However this wasn’t a major issue as I’ve managed to get five models for my project. I have models from England, Germany, Cyprus, Portugal and Poland. If all things go to plan, I’ll be taking their photos on the 3rd of December.
03/12/2017
Today I shot 4/5 of my final images. One of my models pulled out and has re-scheduled for Tuesday. I’m quite happy with how the shoots went, they were quick and successful. I was able to get a variation of shots with different lighting, and explored some interesting news articles. I told the models to dress in their usual clothes for the shoot. I’ve also decided that I’m going to try incorporate colour in my edits as best I can, to hopefully reflect and reinforce the atmosphere of the images.
This is Giannis, who is from Cyprus, and was my first model. The news website he chose was the following, and the top article on that news site was about a new beach resort being built. Giannis stated he was fond of this news, as he says “Everyone loves a beach resort.”
I didn’t like the lighting on the first, third or fourth image. The fourth and fifth image have the best focus in my opinion though. Therefore I decided to put both image four and five through Lightroom to try adjust them. The news article is readable and in focus, while still keeping Giannis himself in focus. I also cropped the images to make them more uniform.
When editing these photos I wanted to create a warm tone to compliment the positive news and feeling of the photo. I also increased the clarity to better refine the image. Overall I’m quite happy with both images, however I feel like the warmth on the first image is less obvious and works better.
This is Milan, who is from Germany. He allowed for me to choose the news website, so I chose Bild, which Milan informed was the equivalent to The Guardian. The top story of this news site was about Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un and Nuclear War. Milan didn’t seem to care much about the news, stating that “you can’t take any news with Donald trump seriously.”
I really framed this image poorly. You can see the fire alarm on the right. However I do quite like these images. I think Milan’s expressions in all images send quite a different message, of seriousness, to mocking, to simply being quite concerned. Unfortunately in the first image Milan’s fingers are covering some of the screen, which personally really bother me, so I’ve decided to only edit the second and fourth images.
I quite like both of these images, and need time to reflect on which I prefer. For the first image I gave it a slight temperature decrease and pink tint, to represent Milan’s mocking nature towards the news. However for the second image I used a graduated filter to apply a green tint that slowly fills the image. This is meant to show Milan’s concern regarding the news. I feel that both of the images work, and I think it’s going to take a bit of time to decide which I’d rather use. I might ask my peers for some assistance in deciding.
This is Miguel, who’s family is from Portugal. The newspaper chosen here is Pứblic. The article details how the Government have been acting immorally regarding Catalonia social politics. Miguel took this matter very seriously, and therefore the images have a much more serious tone to them. The lighting on this image is good, but I feel that it would be better suited if it was a bit colder. I’ve decided to put the right image through Lightroom, as it’s lighting and focus is simply better.
I think this is my favourite image so far. With the adjustments made in Lightroom, the image is a lot sadder, and is a lot more serious than the previous images. It feels cold and unfair, which is a massive juxtaposition to the other images, which I think works really well for the project as a whole, as it highlights the difference in how the news is reported in different countries and how it’s received.
This is Spencer, who is from England. We both decided that the Sun would be the best newspaper to use for England, as it is the most popular newspaper in the country. Their headlining online story was about a act of heroism. I quite like these images. At first Spencer thought the news was irrelevant and had no real impact on him, however he soon laughed at the news instead, finding to be quite comedic how this had reached the front page over other world events. I really like both images three and four. However image four’s lighting isn’t so great and a little dull, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to fix it through Lightroom.
I quite like both these images. I’ve continued the trend of having a different colour tone for the images and I feel it fits well with the rest of the others. I think I prefer the first image quite a bit more because it provides a different emotional response compared to the other images. Similar to Giannis’ portrait, these images have a warm tone to them, reflecting the more positive story.
These are all my images for today. The final portraits are being taken on Tuesday.
06/12/2017
Today I met my final model, Darek, and took his portraits. I now have 5/5 of my final images.
This is Darek, who is from Poland. He had a newspaper already in mind, Wiadomosci. The news article he chose was about a forty two year old police officer being murdered. Darek said that he didn’t have any real reaction upon reading this news, as while it was sad, it was just another news story. I think image matches up quite well with Miguel’s portrait, as while Darek wasn’t personally upset by the image, it can be argued that it’s upsetting that Darek finds news like this normal.
Of these two images I prefer the first. It fits better with the other images, and the Ipad is the clear focus of the image. In the second image the news article simply isn’t easy enough to decipher. Also, the second image has a blue tint to it, which has already been used. While I do prefer the blue tint, I would rather avoid having two of my five images clashing.
After taking this final portrait, I’ve decided that I want my photographs to be displayed in a certain order. Simply because Miguel and Darek’s portraits are similar, as are Spencer’s and Giannis’, with Milan’s being unique. The colours used in these portraits are also quite similar.
All said and done, this is all the practical work completed for my final images.