Studio Practice.

I recently booked out a studio with my peer so that we could both practice some lighting set ups and poses. I feel this session went really well and inspired me when planning my final photoshoot for my word Macabre. I have decided I want to create some really moody and artistic images for my editorial and some simplistic and fun ones for my brand images. 


Me and my peer Beccy, experimented with the three light set up in this studio session as we both really liked the glow and finish this set up created in beauty images. We took turns directing each other with poses and props and adjusted the lighting also from time to time to play with the lighting and effects. I still really like this lighting set-up and I think I am going to use it for my final photoshoot in images, as I can create more moody editorial images by changing the lighting and also using light boards and create a more fun, bright and simplistic lighting by using bright light and silver reflectors. 

The images below were created by using three light set up, which consisted of two lights behind the model and one in front on a boom with a beauty dish. We used soft boxes on the two lights behind and had the lighting at a setting of 4 or 5. 

I think this lighting set up made the skin appear flawless and perfect with a subtle glow, this looks beautiful in beauty images. After shooting a few pictures we decided to experiment further and try and capture close up images of our eyes, by adjusting and zooming in with our camera and playing with light more we managed to create the close up images above. I liked these eye images but think they would have appeared more clearer around the iris area if we had used different reflectors and angles and maybe even tried the go pro. 

Face Charts

In response to a recent blog I posted analysing and discussing 'Hidden Beauty' and Microscopic cells (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-macabre-beauty-of-medical-photographs-15393208/?no-ist) I have decided to further my ideas from this blog and create some make-up charts inspired by this research. This article has really insider me to create some make-up looks that consist of beautiful colours that are appealing to the eye yet have this deadly meaning and message behind it, this type of make-up would not only symbolise the meaning of 'Macabre' well but also celebrate death, similar to the 'Danse Macabre'. 

This concept of the make-up looks create the perfect Juxtaposition between embracing death and avoiding death but either way, wearing death in the form of make-up in such a subtle way that no one would realise what it actually symbolises, similar to the harsh reality we face as humans; not knowing when death will come unless we search for it. 

Face Chart 1

This is a Monochromatic face chart influenced by dark and dull looking colours. I wanted to use this colours in this make-up look to create a more dark and mood theme to the make-up so that I could symbolise my word Macabre through colours and emotion.

Face Chart 2

This is a bold/simplistic makeup design I created, where I wanted the base, eyes and lips to contrast against each other making the dark blue, black and purple colours pop on my models face. I wanted the base to be pale and the colours to be dark so that my model appeared sickly, dull and slightly pasty to symbolise my word through the makeup.

Face Chart 3

This make-up design was inspired by smokey eyes and sensual eyes, making the model appear sexy and beautiful yet deadly at the same time. I think this make-up look would be used as an editorial makeup look as No7 is more simplistic and effortless compared to this quite dramatic dark make-up look.

Face Chart 4

This makeup chart was designed after I had watched The Black Swan movie, I watched the film as when I thought of death and 'Macabre' subjects I always imagined ravens and eagles and their creepy presence in lonely woods and dark settings. In the Black Swan Movie, the main actress gradually becomes a beautiful black swan throughout the movie and as her ballet dancing improves, but she also turns into this intimidating and frightful creature which stabs through her human body. I incorporated the colour orange on the lips as I wanted to include a bright contrasting colour which stood out against the dark eyes.

Face Chart 5

This Face chart was inspired mainly by rich and dark colours and tones, I wanted these various colours to be formed into a mysterious dark smokey eye where subtle elements of these colours would show in the light and when the eyes were closed. The lips are black in the makeup look to tie together the dark colours used on the eyes and also stand out against the pale flat base. 

Trine Hisdal

Just like the artist Mia jane Harris and her macabre themed art works, Trine Hisdal is an artist I discovered on Pinterest whilst finding inspirational images for my story boards and also make-up designs. The mix of soft, feminine, cool colours in her photography initially stood out to me as it all contrasts against black elements in her images.  'Fading Flowers' is my favourite collection of her works, the artwork captures the beauty of dying flowers, and the imagery reveals and shows just how fragile and delicate they are. 

The colours in the petals of the flowers Trine Hisdal photographs, Is what inspired me to create a contrasting dark lip colour against fair, porcelain like skin so that my model will appear delicate and almost ghostlike and her skin will be drained of all its colour and instead be focused on her lip colour, the way flowers fade when they die and begin to loose colour at the tips and end of the petals, creating a reverse ombre effect almost. 


Erica Vierto for NordicDesign (official website: http://nordicdesign.ca) wrote an article reviewing Trine Misdeal's photographic collecting of Fading Flowers. 

By Erica Vierto, June 9th 2014. 

" Trines invention was to "Document the fragility of flowers and their short lived beauty, and how they look beautiful even as they start to fade." - Erica Vierto, Trine Hisdal. 

I want to take the fear, disgust, shock, gore and horror from the word Macabre and recreate the description by adding beauty so that Macabre aesthetically becomes beautiful, stylish, trendy, empowering.

http://nordicdesign.ca/discover-photographer-trine-hisdal/

http://nordicdesign.ca/discover-photographer-trine-hisdal/

http://nordicdesign.ca/discover-photographer-trine-hisdal/

References 

http://nordicdesign.ca/discover-photographer-trine-hisdal/

http://nordicdesign.ca

Mia Jane Harris

Mia Jane Harris is an artist I discovered whilst looking for inspiring images for my mood boards, I found her collection 'Beautiful Corpse' fascinating and the depth of colors in the imagery is deep and  beautiful. 

"I wanted to show people items from medical museums/collections that I didn’t think were appreciated the way that they should be. These museums hold collections of thousands of human cadaver sections and specimens that are used for scientific research and study. They are looked at every day to learn from but in their dull and dirty containers surrounded by thousands of others they lose a huge part of their charm and people are so focused on what they are that they don’t notice how amazingly beautiful they are. So I wanted to take away the scientific surroundings, the educational environment, the dust and the grime and the information text books to leave behind just these absolutely striking objects. … People appreciated the beauty behind them. Those outside of the medical profession weren’t pushed away due to their normal mind set of ‘its part of a dead person so its disgusting’ and those in the medical profession finally saw the beauty that they had ignored that had been staring them in the face the whole time." - Mia Jane Harris. 


Mia Jane Harris - Official Website; http://www.mia-janeharris.co.uk

People were amazed to see that death could be such a beautiful thing…” 
- corrinestuckwithpinsblog. 

Mia's work is remarkable and just like microscopic cell photography both appear pretty and intriguing but have a deadly substance and theme.

http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m305guReRx1r7s3hro1_1280.jpg

http://s781.photobucket.com/user/zombabes/media/blogging/Mia-Jane-Harris-02.jpg.html

http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m305guReRx1r7s

By taking inspiration from Mia Jane Harris and her work, I plan to recreate a subtle version of the colours used in her work through my simplistic make-up design. For my No7 brand images I wanted the eyes to be lightly coated in mascara and kept simple, the skin pale and bright and the lips, dark and bold similarly to the depths of colour in the image above. I feel the combination of dark lip colours against my models pale skin will contrast beautifully, making her look pale and ghostly in one aspect and bold and mysterious in another. 


References.http://blog.stuckwithpins.com/2013/11/midweek-muse-mia-jane-harris.html
http://s781.photobucket.com/user/zombabes/media/blogging/Mia-Jane-Harris-02.jpg.html
http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m305guReRx1r7s3hro1_1280.jpg

Booking the studio and planning my final shoot

Now that I have finally created my final face and hair charts, mood boards, story boards etc I can begin to book my studio and get ready for the day. I have gone to the studios to book a lot but unfortunately they were all full, because of this I am going to post pone my shoot until after easter holidays as I will not be able to do it beforehand. I plan to do a quick test shoot and then my final shoot. I think I will the three light set up, using simple soft lighting with beauty dishes, I can use light boards and shadowing to create more eerie and grunge style images for my editorial shoot. 

My story board below shows my hair make-up, lighting and pose ideas I want to create in my final shoots. 

https://photoflex.com/images/uploads/PLS/Seasoned%20Beauty%20Lighting,%20Italian%20Syle!/FUNNY_SETUP2.jpg

The image above is an example of the three light set up I plan to use.

No7 X Macabre - Models

Since practicing in the studio with my temp model Mel, I have asked her to be my official model for my No7 shoots. I feel that we worked well together and she posed beautifully for some of the practice shots I took in the studio. Alongside having Mel as my main model for my No7 shoots I have begun to consider using my older sister Keisha as a model also for my beauty shot. I am considering using two models as my sister would be the ideal model and person to feature in a No7 campaign since she is a hardworking mother, wife and child carer and Mel would be the ideal person to use for my editorial shoot as she would suit a more grunge themed suit for macabre. I am going to email Sharon and ask her opinion as I am unsure of wether I am able to use only one model for all my images. 

The Arrival of my Red glitter and practicing ideas.

Over the weekend my package of Ben Nye Red Aqua glitter arrived and I decided to play with it. I had brought it especially for my digital image production project as i wanted to experiment with glitter products for my editorial shoot. I had chosen the colour red when ordering the glitter as it best suited my macabre theme, the colour red is vibrant and rich but can also be used to describe something deadly or gorey. 

I didn't have a face chart when I decided to experiment with my new glitter, I just improvised and smoked out the eye makeup so that It was a glamorous and fun. I decided to use red, pink and purple tones on the eyes first as a base and then gradually adding black too making the eyes more smokey and dramatic. 

Products Used 

Kryolan Foundation Palette 

Ben Nye Aqua Glitter - Red 

Kryolan Brights palette - Pink,purple,red

Ben Nye pressed shadows palette - Black 

No7 Black kohl eyeliner 

I enjoyed creating this makeup look and it inspired me a lot when thinking about my editorial shoot. I think if i was to recreate this look I would focus more on creating a blacker smokier effect to the eye and also add one some wispy false lashes.