Photoshoot 2: Gender: All: Work Record

Work Record – 

Date: 21st April 2016
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Editing Software: Photoshop CC 2014
Settings: F/11, ISO 200, 1/125

Plans for Shoot: My plan for todays photoshoot it to complete the second section of my two part feminine and masculine role campaign photographic series. I will, this time, be focusing on both males and females within stereotypically masculine job roles including 'CEO', 'doctor' and 'builder'.

What I Hope to Achieve: To begin, my first hope is that again I am able to develop from my rough ideas that were in the medium of sketches and bring my ideas to reality in preparation for the final editing of the images to create a magazine campaign style final series.

I also hope that the props and costumes that need to be brought in are packed and ready. I believe that I have this controlled as I have planned ahead although I hope that my portrait subjects remember to bring their necessary clothing items that will be used underneath the costumes. 

Set-up of studio is an extremely significant factor in the final outcome of a photograph; therefore, I hope that I set the soft box lights up in a way that avoids over and under-exposed sections with features being lost due to the setting begin too high. It was also a slight worry of mine after the first photoshoot that the white backdrop can be problematic in that it can vary tonally and appears almost as a gradient when in images due to it curling and bending at the bottom creating a dimple in the paper. 

Additionally, I want create a small series within the larger one that will comically and effectively challenge people's perceptions of gender roles within society and other such factors that branch off from my central response to personal opinions.

I will continue to hope that the pressures of a countdown will not force me into placing speed over efficiency and aesthetics. Composition is significantly important to my work and thus I hope that I can frame the photographs possibly within a grid method or other such techniques including the golden ratio as often employed by Henri Cartier-Bresson. 

My final hope, as briefly addressed earlier, is that the backdrop will not cause issue such as tonal variation, gradient of light, over and under-exposed sections which have all occurred in previous photoshoots and that I am keen to avoid. 

What I Actually Achieved: Possibly due to my prior experience in the studio for the first photoshoot I felt more prepared to improve my idea from the preliminary sketch stage to the real photoshoot stage. 

I did succeed in bringing all necessary costumes and props on my part despite sourcing some of them being difficult. However, one of my subjects within the second series of photographs forget to bring a plain shirt to wear and there was difficulty with a wardrobe malfunction with them having to wear another persons clothing. 

The set-up time of the studio was much quicker than perviously as this was my second attempt. The light metre again gave a higher than usual suggestion for shutter speed although I went with my own experience and lowered it against the guidance. This avoided the black blur at the side of my photographs. Also, whilst the backdrop did have some tonal irregularities it was only marginal and in the corners of the image which I attempted to fix in Photoshop using the 'Dodge' tool. 

As before, I was again able to complete three subject photoshoots within the larger one and I capture portraits of males and females in the same roles under each sub-category technically meaning that I have six photoshoots within the first and six photoshoots within the second.

Whilst the composition of my images are not exact to any of the known techniques to me they are composed centrally with eye-contact maintained throughout. Also the portraits should be within the centre column of the grid composition which will be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. 

Finally, I did have some difficulties with the white backdrop and this could have been improved possibly by re-positioning the lights although instead I had to attempt to fix this issue using Photoshop. 

What I Am Going to do Next: This is irrelevant as this is my final photoshoot so the next step is simply final editing and evaluation written work. 

Least and Favourite Image Evaluation – 

Least:

Favourite:

There are a variety of reasons as to why the above photographs are my least favourite and favourite images from the second photoshoot. 

The first of the two is my least favourite for a few reasons. The first being that the composition was too simple and not striking enough or angular to create a pastiche of a magazine photoshoot layout. Additionally, the costume failed to stand out properly against the backdrop which was a continuous worry of mine. Also, the soft box lights were positioned in a way that meant there was a tonal gradient almost serving as an accidental patchy vignette. Overall, the photograph was over exposed on the background and not compositionally challenging on the viewers eye whilst the message of the piece is somewhat lost by the subjects position which I attempted to amend through directions in the latter images. 

However, the second of the two photographs is one of my joint favourites for a multitude of reasons. First of all, the composition is more angular and thus takes the viewers eye on a journey throughout the image keeping them looking for implicit meanings longer. Secondly, the costume employed contrasts tonally from the backdrop rather than being lost in the background like the first image. Moreover, the employment of props increases the verisimilitude of the work and thus engages the viewers mind to relate it to their individual reality and thus allows them to question the gender ideals. Furthermore, whilst there was a slight gradient in background colour it was not extremely significant and could be further amended in Photoshop. 

Meaning – 

Denotation: Males, females, jobs, power.

Connotation: The difference in perception of genders within stereotypically masculine roles, the physical evidence of marked forms (an English language term for positions where the gender is stated because it is deviant from the norm) for instance a 'woman doctor', the association that masculinity is established through dominance and power which is being challenged in my work.

Context: The idea behind my work is to challenge ideologies about gender but mostly with the roles and responsibilities associated with them. I want people to understand that the personal opinion I hold about femininity is not about female superiority but instead all gender equality. Feminism is about equal opportunities for all and despite its name it is not only for women but all other genders too. The final position where I would want my work to be displayed would be in a magazine double-page spread format as a personal opinion about gender equality campaign.