Stared off the week with a collaborative shoot with my classmates Kiesha and Charlotte. After coming back from my trip to India, I had a set idea of a few shoots wanted to carry out this week which would focus on texture, touch and colour. Doing my first studio shoot on the 23rd of January allowed me to reflect on the results from the shoot. During the previous shoot, I struggled with using the camera and lighting in a professional way which meant certain parts of the shoot did not go to plan. A lot of  the textured photography was very unclear and the studio lighting was not used correctly for the purpose of my shoot. However, his time around I was able to creatively direct both my model for the shoot and be more confident as a photographer. Photography was something I was always struggled with and not been confident in therefore, I was happy I was able to conduct to shoot while achieving the results I had planned for.

The aim for this shoot was on hands and bring cultural diversity into my photography through a variation of models. Having a visual board worked exceptionally well during this shoot as it allowed me and the models to fall back on it when we were stuck or needed new ideas for model poses, photography angles, lighting and textured shots.

Had a productive tutorial with Elouise with lots of researching and academic references to start looking at before next week. I was struggling with academic reference points for my sketchbook as my concept is for a specific niche. Part from that, I also got in touch with a local skincare business in Brighton for a potential interview as an article to add to my final major project. Started writing down notes and content planning for my shoot next week to keep myself organised and worked on my sketchbook for the rest of the lecture.

I found this talk very helpful and relevant for my fmp as I am hoping to continue with the line of skincare after graduation. It was interesting to get an insight into the world of sustainability from someone who has been working in the fashion industry for years. I also learnt the importance of having different avenues of monetisation in order to keep yourself financially secure after graduation and working in a place you enjoy.

A video of behind the scenes from the product photography shoot.

copy_B069081E-0B03-4C6B-BE28-B4CE585C525C

Our group tutorial where we had to demonstrate our work and explain our concept for the fmp was a lecture I found particularly useful. Getting feedback from classmates and tutors about potential shoot ideas motivated me to have a conceptual approach for some of my photography – move away from editorial product on model shoots. Therefore, with the help of Charlotte I decided to use the product photography studio to carry out a texture of ingredients in the masks. Initially struggling with lighting, background and placement which was very stressful eventually we were able to collaborate on a shoot which worked out beautifully – I bought my creative and Charlotte bought her studio photography and equipment knowledge to carry out a successful shoot together.

Photos which did not work:

Experimenting with fabrics, hands, chopping board, skincare tools.