Photo shoot - Evaluation.

Generally, I think that the photos are OK, however I think there is still a lot of room for improvement with both the original photographs and the Photoshop images I have created myself.

Firstly, starting with the original photographs. The majority of the photographs that were taken of myself include other features in the background. The features include small things such as a light switch as well as taking the photograph from the wrong angle and ending up with the door which was located next to the plain white sheet as the background. Although it is not entirely my fault that this happened as I didn't take the photographs, but I could have made the photographer aware that this would happen as I was able to see where they were stood whilst taking the photographs.
I think the two images I have created by putting myself in a different location are OK, but there is room for improvement. The main reason for them not looking as good as they could is because of my lack of skill when it comes to using Adobe Photoshop. With better knowledge of Photoshop tools and a bit more experiment time I think that there could be some potential to create professional looking images.


<< This is the first image I editted on Photoshop. I have placed myself in the middle of an Italian rugby training session for a few reasons. Firstly, the kit I am wearing closely resembles the kit that the Italians in the original image are wearing. As well as this, the position of myself in the photo that was taken during our shoot doesn't look unusual in the location I have chosen to put myself in and the picture looks typical of an action shot of a rugby player passing the ball. Finally, it was not too difficult to remove the Italian player who was located originally in the position I am located in the final edited image.

<<This is the second image I have edited using Adobe Photoshop has the intended concept of the image I was going for, however there are a few mistakes / problems with the image. The concept of the image is to replicate the model pose rugby players strike when having a shoot to advertise their teams new kit. These types of photographs are found in magazines such as 'Rugby World' and on websites such as the teams official website and official stockists of the teams replica kit.
The first problem with this image is that the proportions of myself in the image are not correct as I need to be slightly wider, however this is an easy mistake to rectify on Photoshop. As well as this, the background is similar to the one I was looking for, however I am not 100% happy with it.
 I like this image because it is very realistic and looks as if I am just about to pass the ball, very much like a typical action shot taken during a rugby match. However, there are a few things wrong with the photograph that has been taken. Firstly, I am not stood completely in front of the white canvas and you can see the door frame and the fire safety sign. As well as this you can see very large shadows which could be prevented by positioning the lights slightly differently. Finally, part of my leg has been cut off vertically, which made it difficult for me to put myself into another location as I had to find somewhere where this would not show up and look odd.

I like this photograph because it looks like I have looked straight into the camera intentionally to give an element of seriousness to the image like in the photographs that you see printed in magazines and shown on line. Despite this, there is room for improvement. The blank white canvas was not high enough to cover the air conditioning unit which has lead to it making a feature in the photograph. I also think the camera is slightly too steep as my head looks very small in proportion to the rest of my body.

I like this photograph because it looks like I am performing an authentic movement that would be seen on a rugby pitch, despite the photograph being taken in a class room instead at the side of a rugby pitch. As well as this, there is not much going on in the background, which is good as I had the intention of placing myself in a different location and this would have made the editing process on Photoshop much easier. However, with good things comes bad. Unfortunately, there is a small patch in the top right of the photograph that has been captured which wasn't covered by the white sheet. Although it is small, it is still something that could have been avoided in the shoot. Furthermore, the background is not busy with dark objects, but there is a dark shadow in the photograph which could have been avoided by moving the camera angle of the lighting itself. Finally, I think this photograph would be much better to work with when put into a different location if the subject was full length. There are not many, if any, photographs of hookers on a rugby field throwing the ball into play which only show one third of the players body. If the photograph had captured at least half of my body, I would have been able to use this photograph much more easily when putting the subject into a different location.

Statement of Intent.

For my photoshoot, I intend to dress up as a rugby player. This is because I have a great interest in the sport and I already have the appropriate clothing to wear for the shoot so I won't have to put as much effort into the shoot as I would if I had to go out and buy/search for clothing. Also, although I am not going to be able to replicate action shots very well in the photoshoot, I think that action shots taken during rugby matches look good. 

           

Artist Research & My Idea.

Cindy Sherman:
Cindy Sherman is an American photographer and film director whose main focus is on people and places. On her website there are a few different albums to do with people such as weddings, couples, children and bellies & babies.
Her interest in photographing people occurred  after she started photographing herself in different costumes and everything progressed from there. 4 years after doing her first wedding shoot, she started photography professionally (in 1980). 
Some people may consider her as a feminist due to the majority or her photographs being of/related to females. Each photograph she takes is influenced depending on the lighting, mood, costume and other similar factors. By staring into the lens, she imagines herself being in the image and photographs in such a way that she would be happy if she was in the photograph being taken.


Andy Warhol:
He was a painter and film maker who was a  leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. Many pieces of his work was influenced by his sexuality, as he was a homosexual. He submitted work to a gallery, but it was rejected for being "too openly gay". Warhol never commented on his work, so the world was never informed about what he thought about the gallery rejection, as well as where his main influences came from.


Arnulf Rainer:
He is an Austrian painter, known internationally for his abstract informal art. In his early days of being a painter, his art was very much influenced by surrealism, which is basically making something that wouldn't usually look normal, look normal. His influences then changed to Destruction of Forms, with blackenings, overpaintings, and maskings of illustrations and photographs dominating his later work. Some of his work also had contents of body art, and some of his work was completed under the influence of drugs.



Chuck Close:
He is an american painter and photography, who specialised in photorealism and known most commonly for his oversized portraits. From an early age, he painted portraits of his family and friends and as he grew old, faces of other artists. Close suffers from face-blindness, which prevents him from recognising faces. By painting portraits, he is better able to recognize and remember faces. This only occurred to him after 20 years of portrait painting, when he realised that he couldn't recognise faces unless h had painted them beforehand.
He went about painting the portraits by putting a square grid on the paper/canvas, and filling it out cell by cell until the portrait was complete. This helped him to focus on each part of the image and put as much detail as possible into his painting. 


Alison Jackson:
She is an English painter known for her lookalike photographs of celebrities. in 1999, she be known for producing many photographs in black and white. In particular, a photograph of Princess Diana, Dodi Al-Fayed and a mixed race child. From this, she has gone onto produce obscure photographs of celebrities in strange or unexpected locations and portraying them as "Depicting our suspicions". As well as being a photographer, she has also done a bit of TV. Her TV work includes 'Saturday Night Live', 'Doubletake' and a Schweppes advertising campaign.


Aziz & Cucher:
This pair are visual artists who have be collaborating since they met at high school in 1990.  Digital photography, video installation, sculpture, and textiles are just a few materials this creative pair have used to put their artwork together. They were also one of the first people to use Adobe Photoshop with their fine art photography. Firstly, their work focused on how the human body and technological resources have shaped our society. After this, they looked at how natural landscapes had been changed by technology. in 2006, they then moved on to focus on landscapes from a historical or political point of view.