In this photograph, the main subject is the woman in the right. The image follows two composition rules: rule of thirds and leading lines. The rule of thirds is used in this image to have the woman's eyes be emphasised. Also it makes the image feel more balanced. There are leading lines starting from every corner that draw the viewer towards the main subject.
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This image has an interesting contrast of textures, the sleek sharp smooth texture of the woman's dress and the rough fussy texture of the environment. It makes her be more emphasised.
Photograph Analysis
Rise of feminism: Annie was born in a time of female oppression, and she attempts to break the boundaries imposed by society, this was seen in her famous picture of Demi Moore pregnant and also her two famous expositions: Women (1999) and Women: New Portraits (2016).
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Annie has also seen the change of film photography changing to digital photography, which she embraced quite quickly.
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This was a time when actors and celebrities were reaching a god-like status, and in her photography, she attempts to ground them and make them seem like regular people.
Social Context
Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer born in 1949. She was born on October 2nd in Waterbury, Connecticut. Her interest in photography began when she travelled to Japan when she was studying.
In 1970, she began her photography career in Rolling Stone as the chief photographer for the publication. Here she produced one of her most famous photographs taken, which is the one with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The image is famous as it was taken mere hours before John Lennon was shot dead.
Leibovitz has worked for many publications, including Vogue and Vanity Fair. She has photographed many famous and important figures in history, such as The Queen, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Viola Davis and Prince, amongst others.
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"A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people."
Biography
Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
First Photoshoot
5th of February
When? On the 5th of February, around 12 pm till 3 pm.
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Where? In the Horse Guards Parade.
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Equipment? My Canon 750D/Rebel T6i with an 18 to 55mm lens. Since we will be shooting outside, we will only be using a reflector..
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The inspiration for this shoot is the film La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016). Primarily focusing on the costumes and the fluidity of the dresses.
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The intention for this shoot was to make the sell the dress the model is wearing, it will be essentially a commercial fashion shoot to be used in advertising.
Shooting Plan
Photoshoot Images
Evaluation
More Images
The intention for this shoot was to experiment, which is what I solely focused on. I experimented with model positions, composition, lens and lighting.
The equipment I used for this shoot was my Canon 750D, and also a reflector, which I did not use much as the sky was cloudy, which meant that the light hitting my model coming from the reflector was not very strong nor noticeable. I shot entirely in manual mode, as I feel more comfortable shooting on it, making sure I kept the ISO to the minimum and also the shutter speed fast enough so my images would not come out with unnecessary grain or blurry. I also made sure to have the aperture as wide as possible, so the depth of field would be rather small, and only my model would be in focus; making her the obvious subject of the image.
For the lighting, I made sure I shot during the golden hour, so the colours would look pink and gold-ish, which did work pretty well. This is the thing I enjoyed the most about my photography with this shoot, is that since I shot during that specific time, my images looked very beautiful, creating an interesting pastel colour palette.
The location was quite important because I wanted to have that distinctive London-look, similar to the way Damien Chazelle made LA look distinctive in La La Land (2016). This is why I chose the Horse Guards Parade, which has architecture that is distinctive to Europe, whilst also having an icon of London in the background. The location’s colours also allowed the colour palette of the shoot be quite good.
As the intention for this shoot was to make a fashion shoot that would be used in advertising, but at the same time, I wanted to experiment with model positions, composition, lens and lighting. I feel like overall this shoot – with that intention in mind – is very successful as I did get to experiment a lot with everything I wanted to experiment, the only thing I didn’t get to experiment much with, was lighting, hence why my next shoot will probably be in studio settings, so I can play with this more.
If I were to do this shoot again, I would make sure that I have reliable models, make sure to check the weather before going and also make sure to stick to plan a bit more. My models were not as reliable as I wanted them to be, hence why I only shot with two models, instead of my originally planned four. I need to check the weather next time if I am shooting outside, as it began raining a few minutes after the shoot began. And I need to stick to plan more, my original idea was to make a whole shoot very similar to La La Land, but that did not work out in the end fully, I was only able to use the location idea and the style of the attire I had in mind.
Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel (right) is one of the greats of fashion photography. A favourite of Anna Wintour and Franca Sozzani, he has come to dominate the Italian fashion industry, shooting every Italian Vogue cover for the last two decades and every Prada campaign since 2004.
His Work
What I enjoy the most about his work is that he tends to shoot with more than one model, which allows there to be more to look at. I also really admire the colour palettes. I also really like the facial expressions the models have.He also likes to shoot long shots, where the model's body is fully seen. I will apply these elements into my next shoot.
Second Photoshoot
29th of February
Shooting Plan
When? On the 29th of February.
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Where? In college, inside the studio.
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Equipment? My Canon 750D/Rebel T6i with an 18 to 55mm lens. I will be using LED lights to control the lighting and I will also use gels of different colours.
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I will use Steven Meisel's way of having multiple models to showcase more dresses and outfits. I will also make sure my models have interesting facial expressions. I will shoot in the studio to allow me to focus more on the lighting, which I didn't work on the first shoot.
Photoshoot Images
Images That Didn't Make The Cut
Images That Didn't Make The Cut
These images did not make the cut because of very specific issues that were mainly created experimenting. The first image on the left did not make the cut because it is blurry, this was caused because I had the shutter speed too slow. The two images in the middle did not make the cut because they don’t look very realistic, this is because I was using an 18mm lens, that is quite wide and distorts how the model looks, and it made her look odd. The third one did not make the cut because I didn’t really enjoy the pose I made her do, it looked unnatural.
The intention for this shoot was to experiment with light, whilst also using multiple models and using Steven Meisel’s photography as inspiration.
The equipment I used for this shoot was my Canon 750D, and also an LED light. I shot entirely in manual mode, as I feel more comfortable shooting on it, making sure I kept the ISO to the minimum and also the shutter speed fast enough so my images would not come out with unnecessary grain or blurry.
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I feel like this shoot was not very successful, which I think is because I did not have a clear idea in my head on how to achieve Steven Meisel’s look. It was a bad shoot on both technical, logistical and stylistic aspects. On the technical side of things, most images came out with a lot of grain, due to having the LED light not bright enough, which directly affected the auto ISO in my camera; hence why they had a lot of grain. Moreover, it did not help the ISO that I was shooting on a very fast shutter speed – this was because in the shoot there is a lot of movement and moving objects, which I didn’t want to come out super blurry. The logistics of the shoot were alright, aside from what my models were wearing, as it was quite dull and not very interesting. Finally, the style of the photographs feels like it doesn’t have a clear tone, or distinctive style, which I tried to fix with Photoshop, by adding coloured backgrounds to make it seem as if my original intention of the shoot was to create a sense of fun. There are elements I do enjoy in this photoshoot, like the portrait with the purple background: the model’s face is perfectly lit up and the feel of it is very interesting and fun. Overall, I feel this shoot was very amateurish from my part.
If I were to do this shoot again, I would approach it with the intention of ‘fun’, but do it in location with more reliable models. I would also make sure the LED light is correctly lit before I start shooting. I’d make sure that the logistics of the shoot were perfect, so all of my models would wear something interesting and allow me to have a more wholesome shoot, as my original idea was to have a group of women taking pictures, and my photography would be the “behind the scenes” of it; but that did not work out because there wasn’t enough time and not enough people.
These images did not make the cut because they felt too amateur and have a few technical issues. For example, the image with the two models with the green background, it didn’t make the cut because when I edited the background, it also selected parts of her shirt, so there is a lot of green that doesn’t look realistic on the left side of the image.
Cindy Sherman
In fall 1977, Sherman began taking a series of self-portraits that would eventually become her “Untitled Film Stills.” Taken as a whole, the “Untitled Film Stills”—resembling publicity pictures made on movie sets—read like an encyclopedic roster of stereotypical female roles inspired by 1950s and 1960s Hollywood, film noir, B movies, and European art-house films. But while the characters and scenarios may seem familiar, Sherman’s “Stills” are entirely fictitious; they represent clichés, which create a sense of enigma towards the viewer, making them wondering who the characters are and what are their stories. While the pictures can be appreciated individually, much of their significance comes in the endless variation of identities from one photograph to the next.
Third Photoshoot
17th of March
When? On the 17th of March, from 8 am till 12 pm.
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Where? In the Bank / St. Paul's area.
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Equipment? My Canon 750D/Rebel T6i with an 18 to 55mm lens. Since we will be shooting outside, I will only be using a reflector.
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The inspiration for this shoot is Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills", hence why the model will be wearing similar attire to the one she is wearing, like the headscarf.
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The intention for this shoot is to mirror the style that Cindy Sherman has. Also, I want to improve my editing skills when it comes to black and white photography.
Photoshoot Images
Images That Didn't Make The Cut
Evaluation
The intention for this shoot was to mirror Cindy Sherman’s ‘Untitled Film Stills’, also I wanted to improve my skills when shooting in black and white.
The equipment I used for this shoot was my Canon 750D. I shot in manual mode, as I feel more comfortable shooting on it. I made sure to have the shutter speed between 160/1 – 250/1, this was so my model would look really sharp. I did not worry about the ISO much, as the images could come out with grain.
For the lighting, I had a few issues with this, the light was very good throughout the day, but since I did not have a reflector, I could not use all that light and project it upon my model’s face; this made some images not work very well, as the background was overexposed and my model was underexposed.
The location was quite important because I wanted to make sure the background was similar to the one Sherman’s photographs. The location’s colours also allowed there to be intriguing textures that worked really well when the image was edited for black and white. The only issue is that I wish I had chosen locations that had a bit more of a brutalist style in its architecture (i.e. the Barbican), so the textures in the images would look even better.
To make my model have the correct facial expressions, I gave her character ideas, similarly to what Sherman did. A few of these were “femme fatale / badass”, “runaway girl”, etc.
The editing of the shoot was very interesting, since I had never edited black and white images through Photoshop. To achieve the look of Sherman’s photography, I made sure that the black and white worked well: to do this I used the burn and dodge tool to make specific areas darker or whiter. For example, I made sure to burn a bit the hair of my model, to make it darker than her face. I also added grain to the images, to make them seem as if they were taken by Sherman with a film camera. To make sure I was adding grain correctly, I researched a bit on the subject, so the grain would come out as good as it could.
I feel like this shoot was very successful because I was able to mirror Sherman’s style, and also improve my skills when editing black and white images. The style of the shoot works perfect, as it looks very similar to the images I researched of Sherman. The logistics of the shoot were excellent as I shot on the day I had planned, the model was on time and we shot very quickly, so we had extra time to spare, so we experimented with things I had not planned. The technical aspect of the shoot went really good as well, as most of the images I shot ended up being perfectly exposed, apart from a few where I had issues with the lighting. The editing also was very interesting and allowed me to improve my skills in black and white editing, which was part of my overall personal goal for this shoot.
If I were to do this shoot again, I would make sure to have a reflector with me, so I can use the light better. I would also make sure to do more location scouting before shooting, so I can have a wide arrange of possible locations and then choose the best one. I would make sure to style my model with more clothing, so all the images don’t look the same. I would also make sure to have my model have a better relationship with the camera, since that is the feeling that is evoked from Sherman's images.
These three images are the ones I edited but felt like they weren't up to standard to be part of the selection. The image on the left did not make the cut because it felt amateurish, and the backdrop of the image was not as interesting as the image I was trying to mirror was. Moreover, it did not feel as part of the shoot because it is a long shot and not a close-up / mid-shot like the rest of the selection. The image in the middle did not make the cut because it was wrongly exposed, the background was overexposed and the face of my model was underexposed; to fix this, I would have had to use a reflector, and the image would have worked. But even then, the face of the model did not work very well, as she looks awkward. The image on the left did not make the cut because it doesn't feel like an image Sherman would have taken - the same could be said about these three images too. Although, the technical aspects of the left image are near-perfect, the style just does not suit Sherman's, and I think that is because of its composition, Sherman tends to position herself in either the left or right following the rule of thirds, with my image, the subject is in the middle.
Fourth Photoshoot
22nd of March
Shooting Plan
Photoshoot Images
Inspiration
Shooting Plan
When? On the 22nd of March.
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Where? In college, inside the studio. The studio will have a white backdrop.
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Equipment? My Canon 750D/Rebel T6i with an 18 to 55mm lens. Using two LED lights, to be placed on both sides. Also, using four coloured gels, to make the light from the LED lights have colour.
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Other items that are needed for this shoot include makeup with glitter, this is so the lights coming from the LED lights bounce off from the model’s face and create a more interesting effect.
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The inspiration for this shoot are the images seen above. I will be attempting to have a similar lighting style to these images.
The intention for this shoot is to mirror the style of the images shown above and also make the shoot be similar to a commercial shoot for a makeup line, i.e. MAC. Also, this shoot will allow me to improve my skills when shooting in studio settings, as my last shoot shot in a studio was not very successful.
Evaluation
The intention for this shoot was to mirror the style of the images I used as reference. I also wanted to use this shoot as a way to improve my second fashion shoot which did not have great results. Overall, I wanted the shoot to have a feel of commercial photography, which meant I could have used it for a marketing campaign for MAC or any other makeup retailer.
The equipment I used for this shoot was my Canon 750D. I shot in manual mode, as I feel more comfortable shooting on it. I tried to keep the shutter speed between 160/1 – 250/1, this was so my model would not look blurry. I tried to keep the ISO at a minimum, so I would not get any unnecessary grain, to achieve that I had to have the aperture at the widest my camera could (f 5.0). I also kept the lens at 50-55mm, so my model would not look distorted.
For the lighting, I used LED lights and coloured gels (green, orange, blue and red). I made sure to have my model perfectly lit up, so her face would be clear and also so my camera could achieve a perfect exposure on the settings I was using. The gels were to have different colour combinations (I only used complementary/supplementary colours, I began at first with blue and red, then moved on to blue and orange, and finally orange and green.
To make sure my model had the facial expressions I wanted her to have, I showed her all the reference pictures I had, which made her be a lot more comfortable when modelling.
Since I didn’t have a particular photographer, but rather just a set of similar images, I didn’t really have to edit much to make them all have the same visual style. To make the colours pop a lot more, I upped the vibrancy of the images. I also sharpened the images to make sure my model looked sharp. To make the images look a darker, I played around with the curves tool until I reached the specific exposure I wanted. I also played with the colour balance, so I could make the colours from the gels be more vibrant.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this shoot, and I feel like it is a massive improvement from my last studio shoot. The technical side of things worked really well, in all of the images my model is perfectly lit and the lights create the effect I wanted. The only technical issue I had at the beginning was that my camera was not focusing – seen in one of the images that did not make the cut. The style of the images was really interesting to shoot, although very cliché once the images were finished. I feel like the intention of this shoot was very well achieved, as I mainly wanted to improve upon my last studio shoot. Moreover, it also achieves the other of my two goals which was to mirror that style and also that it has the feel of a commercial shoot.
If I were to repeat this shoot, I would try and experiment with more coloured gels and also different poses/facial expressions. I would also try and play with different coloured backdrops, like black or grey instead of just white, to see what effect that has.
More Images
More Images
Images That Didn't Make the Cut
Since I felt this shoot was very successful, these images did not make the cut because of minor details. The image on the left did not make the cut because the camera was not correctly focused, so the model looks out of focus. The image in the middle did not make the cut because it was shot in landscape, and I think it does not fit in the series because of that. The image on the right did not make the cut simply because it didn’t feel correct to have her head slightly tilted, it lost a bit of the aesthetic of the rest of the series.