Katie Hunt's Media Blog

Image One:

For this image, I wanted to create a natural shot, of my model perhaps song writing or singing. I tried this, however I also experimented with some other poses.

Location/Lighting: Due to the weather this day, I had to be quick with this shoot. The day we arranged it predicted rain, and it did start raining after a few shots. So, I was only able to use my back garden as the location, as we would have needed to escape the rain quickly. Yet, this was still an ideal location for the shoot, as it was outdoors and my garden had enough foliage to come across as somewhere like a forest etc. The only problem I faced with this photo, is that in a lot of the images you can see my garden furniture, which isn't what I want to put on my contents page. However, I will be careful to choose an image that doesn't include this. As for lighting, I chose to photograph on this particular morning as it appeared (before the rain) bright, and this meant my image would be clear. I was limited with the days I could use to photograph outdoors, due to the darker lighting on most days and the rain.

Clothing: I decided to get my model to go for more casual clothing, so this story would be more relatable. I went for a red theme, as I thought this was effective in standing out on the greener, outdoor backgrounds.

Props: I was very simple with the props, and simply got my model to hold an acoustic guitar. This particular acoustic guitar has a small braid attached to the neck, which I thought made the instrument look more personal to the model, and therefore made this story more real.

Model/Pose: In all the hast of having to be quick due to the rain, my model did find it hard to get into character, as my instructions did come across as vague. However, he soon got the idea, as I told him where to look in some images, to smile directly in some images, and to just look natural and play in some others (it helped that he can play the guitar a little bit!) As for the resulting poses, I am happy with how they turned out, as in all of them a positive tone is conveyed.

Image Two:
For this image, I slightly changed my original motif. Instead of my model being on the set of a music video, I tried to recreate the idea of a recording. This partly came down to the props I had available at the time of the shoot.

Location/Lighting: I experimented at first with a brighter light, focused on my artist, to capture the idea of this story being behind the scenes, as I mentioned in my original plan. However, as you can see from some of my images, this didn't work, as it meant the images came across too bright and sometimes slightly orange. So instead, I used more natural lighting. This helps to make it look more realistic and genuine, so I thought this would be more appealing to the reader. I did use the studio environment, however I used the green background, at first to resemble the idea of a a green screen and linking with my music video idea. When I changed my plan, I thought the green screen could still work, as it meant my model stood out well, with the contrasting colours in her clothing.

Clothing/Hair and Make-up: I got my model to wear the brighter clothing still, as this resembled a costume kind of idea. However, when I changed my idea from a music video to a recording, I decided this clothing would work just as well, as she looks like a celebrity. This is a contrast from the models I am using and getting to wear more casual clothing. I also got my model to keep her hair looking more professional, however I dismissed the idea of dark make-up, as she is no longer being used on a set. This also makes the image more genuine, as she isn't looking at her absolute best for a recording.

Props: I originally planned to use a handheld mic in this image, however the person I asked to borrow this prop from happened to forget to bring it in on the day of the shoot, as I asked them a bit too far in advanced and it slipped their mind. However, when I got into the studio, I came across this mic on a stand. This looked like it would be used during a recording session more than a music video, so this is when I decided to change my plan. I think this was successful though, as it was much easier for my model to get into character once we got some music playing and she could sing along! The music video did originally prove hard to set up.

Model/Pose: My model struggled to get into character, as it was hard to pretend she was singing. However, once I started playing music is was much easier for her and she got straight into the character I wanted her too. As for poses, I first got my model to just move around and get into the music she was listening too. I thought this would make the image look really spontaneous and as though it was taken on set backstage. However, I realised this made a lot of my images very blurry. So, towards the end of my shoot, I told my model to hold certain positions, such as having one arm up in the air whilst holding a note. I think this was successful in still looking spontaneous. I also took the shot from above (using a step ladder) and then told my model not to look at the camera. I think this furthered this idea of this image looking spontaneous. The fact it looks so real will be more appealing to readers, as they will see the story as more real.

Image Three

STILL TO COME!

Front Cover So Far!

This is how far I have got with my front cover, after a full day of editing, inserting text and images and blogging. I am SO happy that I changed my image, as I really feel that the text and image come together a lot better with this photo. The natural pose and direct gaze and exactly how I wanted them, and this image looks much more suited to a music magazine than the last one.
I still need to consider perhaps another 1 or 2 cover lines for my front cover, as it is all too focused towards the top at the moment. I am also considering including a small slogan underneath the masthead, to sum up the aims of my magazine. I also realise I need to consider other things, such as a barcode, a price, a date, an issue number, perhaps change the name of my artist and a background. These are all smaller thing which I can come back to though. I am just happy that changing my image was successful and I am now on a roll with this cover!