Sunday, 22 April 2012

Photoshoot on my little Black Dress



My intention for this project was to produce a selection of images that would be able to be used in a look book at Newcastle fashion week, and also to be used in my portfolio. The end product of this project will promote my work as a designer and show prospective employees or tutors my abilities and technical experience not only in garment construction but also negotiation and communication. To complete this I would have to work with a range of different people from select technical backgrounds (graphic students, photography students and models) this will give me a working knowledge of how to communicate with a variety of people.
When first meeting the photographer (Jon Lloyd) I was able to show him some of my research and the ideas I had on the outcome for this project. Within that first meeting I was able to arrange time’s dates models and locations. However due to unfortunately circumstance the date for the shoot had to be changed. This allowed me time to have a fitting with my first choice of models, but everything did not go to plan as the dress was slightly to tight, luckily I had arranged a backup model just for this reason although her style was different to my original styling plan I was able to make it work by keeping the accessories and hair simple, this allowed the photographer to capture images that focused on the garment more.
From the start of this project I knew exactly where I wanted my photo-shoot to take place this allowed me to complete the shoot as fast as possible with minimum difficulty. My location choice was Tynemouth Station, at the time of the shoot the station was going under a renovation. Because I lived close to the station I was able to keep an eye on the process and pick a day where the bridge had just been completed allowing me to get a clean shot, in a newly decorated location. As well as the station I had also contacted the Grand Hotel (also in Tynemouth) and asked permission to use their stair case as a location shoot, I sent an email to the manager of the hotel containing photos of the dress and suggested times and dates, unfortunately they did not get back in touch with me until after the shoot but we were able to use the location, despite the fact that I did not receive an email back until after the shoot.  This section of the project has allowed me to cross reference my work and see how a fashion designer can incorporate there garments with other arrears of different industries. By completing the research stage I think it help improve not only my portfolio and organisation skill but my ability to work with a wide selection of students and people from arrears of the industry, I also think it helped build my confidents when communicating with new people .  
On location  there were some difficulties when it came to shooting at the station, the first was the general public who use the bridge to cross over the tracks thankfully the public were very understanding and chose to use the opposite bridge to cross allowing us to complete the shoot with little disturbance. The second problem with shooting in a public location was the security signs and advertisements; we did find it hard to make sure that these did not appear in any of the photographs however it did limit the camera position. On the day of the shoot we were able to get the second location at the Grand Hotel it was a completely different stetting to the station and allowed us to get a range of contrasting images that would link in with the time period of the dress. By attending the shoot I was able to understand more about a photographers roll in fashion it also help me interact with the models and improve my organisation skills when it came to contacting local businesses.
When it came to the editing process I first showed the photographer a range of images that represented the image that I wanted to produce so that he could create a professional finish. Along with Jon producing some final images I have also completed some of my own this shows my enthusiasm to learn different techniques and processes. Although I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to photo editing I believe that I have completed this section to the best of my abilities by complete a series of research such as using tutorials from YouTube and also by spending time learning the Photoshop software. At first I did find it quite difficult to create a working edited photo but over time I think I have created images that resemble my original concept which look professional, these images will work well with in my portfolio and promote some of the skills I have learnt through this project.
My overall Evaluation of the Progress I have made during this project is that I now have a working knowledge of negotiation and communication between a variety of people. I would say that my strength through this project was my organisation and my clear path of how I wanted the outcome to go because of this we did not have to do any reshoots or a substantial amount of editing. A Weakness was the sizing of the dress because my dress was tight fitting I did have to go with a different model however I believe that this turned out for the best as I was able to get some very stunning images with the model I chose. The opportunity that have come from this project include my collaboration with industry and fellow students and the end result of working photographs that not only promote my work but the work of the photographer, model and local sights and locations (promoting the north east). I would say that this project has benefited my work and helped to improve my ability’s throughout. 
  



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