Referral Work – Unit 2

1.1 –I have looked at various types of research on Annie Leibovitz so that I could get to grips the type of photography techniques she uses and how she plans and processes each of her shoots. I watched a Youtube video of Annie Leibovitz getting interviewed by someone, she talks about herself that she’s been through in order to produce such quality work and what stages are included. She focused on talking about Photoshop techniques that she had used on her previous shoots and how that helped her final outcomes. I prefer the Youtube videos to looking in books for research when it comes to this type of research, as written work can manipulate and change the words of someone whereas video interviews are straight up evidence coming from the person themselves. However, all interviews are limited due to the questions the interviewer can ask and answers received as they can be open or closed answered. I find the interviews she does through Rolling stone magazine and vogue magazine very useful as you know they are two reliable sources, whereas the research I got from Wikipedia could be unreliable as anyone could edit the information that has been put on there meaning the information could be false. The research sources that I have said would be most useful have helped my develop my work the most as I have seen the different techniques Annie Leibovitz has used in her shoots. She has given me ideas on possible techniques that I could use when doing my shoot, for example, the use of lighting; the soft box was a popular use of hers to make her subject look air brushed and have no sharp edges. 

2.1 – Within this unit we did a test shoot to help us grasp the concept and capture influenced pictures from our chosen photographer, in this case my chosen photographer was Annie Leibovitz. As part of my primary research I did a photo shoot, I took over 100 photos just so that I could play around with camera settings to see what work best. When I did my shoots I realised how many people Annie Leibovitz must have had beside her ready to help, I struggled just with three people for lighting, holding the fan and modelling, the thought of Leibovitz having so many more other people around her must have been stressful. From this I have learnt the amount of effort that would have gone into each of her shoots and if I was to do this for a career how organised and professional I would need to be. My outcomes for my shoots took some time as I had to play around with the techniques that I was using, such as the use of the fan; I had to have the model and the person holding the fan standing in the right position in order for the photo to work well. It took time and I had to make sure the model didn’t get bored whilst waiting for the fan and lighting to be readjusted each time. The use of secondary evidence had helped my outcomes, I had a few of Leibovitz photos at hand whilst I was taking my own photos to get inspiration. I feel this was most effective as I was able to attempt her style of photography, from positioning of the model to lighting and camera settings. Annie Leibovitz’s inspiration resulted in my photos being bright as I used a soft box meaning there was no harsh edges, her photos were heavily edited using photoshop which I would then continue to do as the next step. There were no flaws on the model in any of her photos, this is the type of imagery “celebrities” would give across. Annie Leibovitz has shown no before and after pictures when editing her work, so you can’t see any exact changes when comparing her own work, from reading interviews I know that photoshop has been used a lot, however before and after pictures would be helpful to see what processes go in after the shoot has been done. She was inspired by Avedon, when I have compared his work with Leibovitz’s I can see how she was influenced by his work but had added her own effects to make it her own work. By adding different aspects of both of their work into my own I was able to develop and learn when producing my own shoots. I found the interviews the most useful when it came to research as she said in her own words how she was successful in each shoots, Looking at her photos are helpful visually however you have to assume what editing has been applied, there is no explaining about the shoot and editing process with each photo. 

Annie Leibovitz Inspired Shoot Evaluation

I have completed my Annie leibovitz inspired shoot, a shoot simply inspired by the way Leibovtiz takes her photos, I have tried to incorporate the style and techniques she uses in her photo shoots in my own shoot.

My main goal for this shoot was to use the type of lighting she uses but capturing photos of my models how I wanted them to look but still making them look glamorous and flawless. In order to achieve this I used a soft box for lighting and had my photos almost look washed out due to lighting. This is so there was no harsh edges and the skin of my models was clear and flawless, this would help when coming on to re touching and final editing in Photoshop later on.

When working on this shoot I was focusing on how the lighting came out in my photos, this to me was a struggle as at first my camera wouldn’t sync with the flashes of the lamps. Once we had got this problem fixed by using a new hot shoot and lead I proceeded to try figure out the best lighting settings on my camera by changing the aperture and ISO. When the light setting were finally adjusted I was able to start my shoot, I took about 100 pictures just by trying to get the lighting right. The pictures I did get in the end of my models came out well and I am more than impressed with how the lighting came out.

In my influenced shoot I discovered that natural off guarded poses worked best when capturing the right shots for my shoot, so with that idea I decided to re do that in my inspired shoot as well as taking some serious posed photos too. Both types of photos came out well, I used a white background also to help make my subject the centre of attention and for them to stand out the most.

I have enjoyed looking at Annie Leibovitz and the way she would lead a shoot, the stress that must of come with each shoot would of been on another level! Nevertheless, the shoot was successful and to complete these photos I can edit the models any further to make sure they look flawless in order to create the celebrity image Leibovitz captured in her photos.

Below are my contact sheet from this Leibovitz inpsired shoot:

CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4

 

Peer Review

For my peer review I was reviewing Nancy’s pictures, her shoot was based around inspiration from Miles Aldridge, I can see how she was inspired by his work due to the lighting, white background and composition.

She has clearly shown the use of colour within her photographs as it brightens up her photos a little bit. The soft bright lights make her skin look clear and pure, flawless even. The contrast between the background and hair colour makes the picture stand out and more vibrant.

The lighting is one of my favourite things within her photos as it really brightens up each image which draws attention to them.

The emotions upon the subjects face creates clear mood and visions of background stories, why is she there? why is she this emotion for? The question leave you asking more question making you wonder more about the photographs and what effect they give to the audience. The reason behind these photos leave you thinking.

 

Annie Leibovitz’s Influences

When researching Leibovitz it stood out very well to me that she was influenced very much by people in particular, such as photographers Richard Avedon, Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

“Photographers such as Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson influenced her during her time at the San Francisco Art Institute. “Their style of personal reportage‍—‌taken in a graphic way‍—‌was what we were taught to emulate.”^[6] Leibovitz has also cited Richard Avedon’s portraits as an important and powerful example in her life.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz#Inspirations

She was pulled towards these photographers style of work and was inspired to work for the magazines such as Vanity and Rolling Stone.

Looking at an interview Leibovitz had with GQ magazine in March 2012 was able to tell me that Leibovitz was obsessed with photography when she was first starting out as a photographer, she had bought photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank, two men being apart of her influences. Both photographers being “Fathers of 35mm” from America/Europe. Leibovitz liked the idea of using a small camera to capture a large world.

Hunter S Thompson, a writer, Influenced Leibovitz in the way she would structure her work especially when coming to look at the way she presented her subjects on the front page of a magazine.

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/annie-leibovitz-pilgrimage-interview

Cartier Bresson made Leibovtiz realise that she wanted to become a photographer in the first place due to his book he had written. When at the San Francisco Art institute Leibovitz, Cartier Bresson and Robert Franks were all studying at the same time. “She liked the way their photos were taken in a style of personal rampage, taken in a graphic yet composed way, this was a way in which she was taught to replicate.”

Robert Franks portraiture work really inspired her when doing her own photo shoots for the magazines such as Rolling Stone and Vanity. She saw him as a “Powerful example” and loved to have followed in his footsteps.

During the time of Americas peace movements you could really see the effects it had on her and her work due to the way she positioned and maintained her photo shoots.

http://katherine-melitsis.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/annie-leibovitz-influences.html

Richard Avedon creates strong leading portraiture, he makes his subject look pure, flawless and look like they actually mean something more than what the already do. This is down to the positioning and type of lighting used. There would have been a bit of re touching using software too.

Here below is a mixture of Richard Avedon, Robert Franks and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work, all in which you can see how Annie Leibovitz would have been influenced by. They are all black and white due to the time they would have been taken in, however they all give a depth of meaning due to emotion and location within each photo.

 

Annie Leibovitz Influenced Shoot Plan

This shoot requires me to take the existing techniques that the photographer I had chosen to research, Annie Leibovitz, – has used within her photos already. As the issue I am focusing on is how people of any age would love the opportunity to become famous, I will present and portray the models from my shoot in a glamorous, important way like any celebrity would look and feel like in any shoot.

In order to achieve a shoot inspired by Annie Leibovitz but using my own photo ideas I will use her style of lighting. Her lighting is very soft therefore I will be using the soft box lighting from the studio. I have chosen to use this type of lighting as I feel it really captures the image well when looking at her photos also. The lighting will make my subject look soft and pure, their skin will be smooth and flawless with no blemishes, hair shiny and sleek. This is the best way to capture the glamorous celebrity look.

Something that could help achieve a made up model is having their makeup done well, this includes; blemishes hidden due to foundation and concealer, lips made to look fuller by using lip liner and lipstick however made naturally by using a nude pink, A smokey eye look with winged liner to make the eyes pop and cause drama and intense darkness to this area.

Not only would make up help achieve flawless looking skin, but after the shoot once I have uploaded all of my photos I will use photoshop to re touch any final images I feel are capable of being within the final few.

 

 

 

Annie Leibovitz Inspired Shoot Evalutation

I have completed my Annie Leibovitz photographer inspiration shoot and I am very pleased with the outcome of my photos. As I have mentioned in previous posts researching Leibovitz, she was inspired by one photographer in particular, Richard Avedon. I must take some recognition by his work in future shots of mine as this helped achieve Leibovtiz’s work. Avedon’s work focuses on portraiture shots making the subject look serious and well pressed within each photograph.

When looking into the influences of Annie Leibovitz I cam across Richard Avedon, a photographer which focused on portraiture, shot in black and white. His photos make his subjects stand out the most, something in which you can see how Leibovitz was inspired by. She used his style of photography and makes it her own by adjusting other aspects of it such as lighting or positioning. Avedon shot a lot of close ups of his subjects, as does Leibovitz in a lot of her magazine cover shoots, this emphasises the subjects features such as facial expressions, hairstyle or clothing. I wanted to use this style that Avedon used so I took a few close ups whilst doing my shoot. Whilst my subject was modelling, posed or natural, I was able to capture close up as well as long shots.

As I was working, I discovered how much time and effort Leibovitz or Avedon would of had to put in just to make one shoot as successful as it was. This includes the amount of people she would of had to have on set just to help her out. She would of needed people for lighting, set up, make up, clothing designers, background workers for food and beverages in order to keep everyone maintained and focused. I used a fan for few of my pictures to make my subject look as glamorous as possible, this was just as much as a struggle using one person to hold the fan as well as having to make sure my model did not get bored when trying to hold the fan in the right position in order for the wind to blow in the right direction. I could barely deal with one person as well as me on set let alone what Leibovitz or Avedon would of gone through.

When working on my shoot I felt like I didn’t really have a purpose or exact focus on what I was actually trying to achieve, I know I wanted portrait close up and long shots, however didn’t really know what poses I wanted my models to do or how many pictures I wanted to take. At the beginning I tried for serious shots of my subjects, the full on modelling poses and facial expressions, I didn’t really enjoy these fully and sort of lost interest as i’m sure my models did too. We ended up messing around, My models Amber and Maja were doing their own thing whilst I carried on taking photographs, However to my surprise I ended up liking these natural shots more than the serious original ones. The natural shots I liked better as I feel it captured more emotion upon their faces and the poses and structures were unplanned and looked better on camera. I now have a mixture of different posed photos, I was able to mess around with the lighting and backgrounds.

The new insights I have gained into the working methods of Leibovitz as that she is hard working when it comes to shoots, you need to take a couple natural almost silly shots at first to warm up your model and make them feel comfortable in order to start the serious posed shots in the end. This is how you will achieve your best results.

Here are my contact sheet of my Inspired Shoot; The ideas came from Leibovitz and Avedon, however all photographs are my own. I have freely taken photos purely to mess around with different poses and lighting to see what works best.

Annie Leibovitz Inspired Shoot Plan

For this shoot I am planning to use the influenced ideas of Annie Leibovitz and incorporate them into my own work. I plan on doing this by taking a large variety of different portraiture styled photographs, some posed and some natural; making the model look as important and very made up as possible.

Leibovitz photographed many different celebrities, her photos would make them look as sophisticated as possible, made them look like real celebrities like as soon as you saw the photo you knew it was someone relevant. Photoshop was helped to make her photos come out like they did, the subject would be made as flawless as possible using these tools.

For this shoot in particular I will be using the studio as I will need the soft box lighting to make the photos come out as clear and crisp as possible in order to make my photos look flawless. My photos will be made out to look soft due to this type of lighting instead of harsh lighting which can create strong light making my photos look dramatic and heavy.

I will ask my models, Amber and Maja for some posed shots, However un-posed shots I feel would work best for this as it will be all natural. As I’m going to be editing these photos a lot to make them look like important flawless celebrity like people, the one thing I can keep natural is their pose. If i was to take this up a notch I would make them do some full no model poses, I will try this so I have a mixture of pictures to play around with when re-touching them.

Whilst taking photos, I will be looking at Leibovtiz’s photos for inspiration on how I can fulfil my own.

National Portrait Gallery

We visited The National Portrait Gallery in London to take a look around their photography exhibition. We were asked to pick out three images that were the most interesting, represented something and stood out the most to us.

Here are the images that I liked the best:

The Obamas by Gillian Laub, December 2014

“This portrait of was an unpublished pose from a commissioned sitting for People magazine at the Marine Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington DC”

Many things speak out to me when looking at the picture of President Barack Obama and The First Lady Michelle Obama. One of many things is how strong and dependent they look by the way that they are standing there. Their heads are held high as if everyone and everything else is beneath them. The power they have upon everyone else is vigorous.  However, The way Michelle Obama has her arm around Barack Obama shows how much love and support she has for him vice versa. The black background makes the couple stand out the most and makes you automatically drawn to them.

Five Girls by David Stewart, 2014

“His photograph Five Girls 2014 is of his daughter and her friends, and mirrors a photograph he took of them seven years ago when they were about to start their GCSEs.”

This photo was one of the first that stood out to me, the variation of colour due to clothes, hair, skin colour and objects surrounding the girls makes it interesting to look at.

Tom By Sophie Harris-Taylor, 2015

“Sophie Harris-Taylor’s glacial portrait of a male dancer from the Rambert Ballet School is a quiet masterpiece.”

The main thing that stands out the most to me in the photo is the boy’s facial features. They’re darker than anything else in this pictures as everything else is pale such as his skin colour, background and clothing. The picture is from a project called first position, my take from this project is that the boy’s first position” is when they first start a dance, I can tell it may be a dance judging from his clothing.

 

Map of Me

mapofme

As a photographer, I like to focus on capturing landscape and portrait styled photographs.

To achieve these types of photos I am influenced by different photographers and their work in this subject.

I want to take landscape photos whilst travelling as I want to experience a new surrounding and be able to capture every moment. As well as capturing landscape photos I like to capture portraiture photographs. I enjoy doing this in the studio as I get to play around with different lighting and effects in order to achieve the photo I want. I like to position my objects/people as this is another way to achieve the kind of photo I want by controlling it as much as I want to. In order to use these techniques I can do still life photography also.

I enjoy a variation of different genres of music, I really don’t mind what I listen to as I like anything. The different types of music could depend on how I take my photos, ie loud heavy music could have an outcome of dark grungy looking photos, a love song could influence a brightly coloured photo. I’m into fashion and colours of each clothing could depend on how the photos comes out due to different background settings and people within them. When capturing portraiture I like to involve my friends and family as they have a big influence in my life so I would like to show this with in my photos. However, I really enjoy the TV show The Walking Dead, I feel this doesn’t really fit in with my photography work as TWD is quite a gruesome dark programme and I like to capture colour and happy things in my photos, I feel photography is my escape from my dull side to my bright side.