Photography Unit 3

I have chosen Iain Crawford as one of my photographers as i was interested in looking into doing commercial photography from beauty point of view and this something that Iain Crawford focuses on in many of his pieces of work. As well as looking at beauty, he also looks at advertisements for TV programmes through photographs such as 'HollyOaks'. His diversity within his photographs is one of the main reason as to why i have chosen Iain Crawford as one of my photographers.

This first photograph taken by Iain Crawford is advertising a make-up brand called 'make up forever' . The model can be seen towards the right hand side of the composition looking down at the bottom corner of the composition. This enables to audience to see her eye make up as well as directing them to look at the company name which is in the bottom left hand corner. Water has been thrown at the model to create a contrast between the flawless looking make-up and the water which adds a more messy look to the overall photograph. Directional light has been used to create a dark shadow under the chin of the model, this gives her more defined facial features which is something you would expect in photographs which are advertising make-up.

This second photograph taken by Iain Crawford is advertising a specific episode of 'HollyOaks'. The model has been placed in the centre of the composition along with the logo in the bottom right hand corner. The model is made to look as if she is on fire with the use of red, yellow and orange tones throughout the photograph which is contrasted against a black background. Although the model looks as if she is on fire, he facial expression portrays her as powerful rather than in pain which adds a twist to the meaning of the photograph which would then make the audience think what is going to happen in this specific episode.

This third photograph taken by Iain Crawford is advertising a hair product, This is different from other example of the commercial product photography as this product can not actually be seen in this photograph which may be due to the company already being well known that the name/logo is enough. The model hair dominant the majority of the composition however a small section of the composition is a quarter of the model face showing mainly her eye area. Several shadows have been created on the models hair to ad depth to the photograph by ensuring the audience know that this is a 3D model.

This last photograph taken by Iain Crawford is advertising sports wear, from trainers to sport clothing. This shot allows the audience to see the models from the neck downwards and it set out to look as if they are just about the cross the finishing line in a race. Both male and female models have been used which show the diversity of the brand as they cater for both men and women,. The company logo has been placed in the bottom left had corner of the composition and the last runners body movement appears the direct the audiences eye towards the logo.

Influence

Due to Iain Crawford is very diverse when referring to the types of commercial photography in which he focuses on, i was influenced by his work in two ways which were that i wanted to look at photographing hair as well as make up from a commercial pint of view. This will allow me to look at photographing people as well as products which is something i have wanted to do. For example i would like to photograph make-up on a model as well as the make-up products in there own.

Summary

Overal all i like the diversity of Iain Crawford work as he looks at things such as sport ware to make-up which are completely different. I Also like the way in which he also has a variety in background, some being shot in the studio and some being shot in a studio and some being shot in various location.

My Own Work:

This is an example of my own work. I was influenced by Iain Crawford as some of his work focuses on commercial make-up photography. I liked how he included the model to demonstrate the make-up rather then just showing the product therefore this something that i took on board for my own work however i decided to have the model holding the product as well as this was something that i felt helped with the persuasive side of the photograph.

My feedback

Keep my idea broad including both fashion and products
Do some animations/videos for products
Maybe think about photographing fashion in an alternative way e.g: photographing the clothing on its own.
Do some more shoots of drinks
Look at other products such as make up and hair products- can incorporate the skills from the fashion shoots.

From the feedback which i got back from the rest of my class, i am now going to look into planning shoots to make video as this is a big part of advertising. Also i would like to look at more drink photographs as i feel i am much more confident with the lighting, therefore i am able to get the best result possible.

Also when thinking about incorporating fashion into my work, i have previously only photographed males therefore i would like to develop upon this and photograph females to show my diversity when photographing commercial fashion shots. This will allow me to experiment with different lighting as it can vary when photographing men and women.