Level 5 photography
Extraordinary

Evaluation 

Completing this project it has made me improve my skill in doing Photoshop but I feel I have become more sophisticated within my work as I have up my game by going into the studio experimenting with lighting and organizing where to place props and the right time for model to come in. Doing studio was very daunting as it's not my comfort zone of place to build up knowledge as I not done much of it last year and not done it for my A levels but have enjoyed shooting there, especially when using the snoot to do shadows just the way Sam Taylor Wood has done her series of levitation but have used a harness which I do not own so I used stool and chair to stable model. Looking into magazines hasn't really helped me dig deeper on expanding my levitation idea so I have relied on Facebook and Tumblr but magazines have helped to bring out meanings from props and seeing emotions towards the model and how lighting can refine that. It has been a shame that I have couldn't decide on a strong idea till the fourth week into the project which have been worrying but mainly my fault as my ideas were being very complicated to give out the message on my subject matter. what got my idea going is searching up what levitation means to people and if there's a meaning if people dreams of flying, falling or levitating which brought to my attention and thinking more on what I could spread to people to understand the story am coming across on the images. Best position to me is model lying on the back looking as if she's lost and falling for the book or into flowers, too distant from the world, basically I was trying to succeed to portray how people can get attached to books and forget what's happening around them in reality.

I am influenced by surrealism and human mystery experience as it makes me wonder how the story in the image unfolds, I have tried to link my work to Sarah Ann Loreth as I wanted to convey a frozen emotion on model towards a book or globe as globe could connect with where the future holds e.g. where her travels begin in finding her fate as the books could be an influence to model in what type of place she wants to grow personality or fall in love with a certain person or place.

My second shoot for this project was not as successful as I hoped for because at the group critique people did not see the image in the same way that I did so this made me rethink on what I could do for my third shoot as I was going to use a white sheet to cover model face and floating covering most of her body and continue doing book in mid air and shoot this in the woods but tutor thought the woods makes them feel chilly and too much of a distraction to read the body language of the model and what props am using to help towards a story so I have been shooting in the studio focusing more on the model and not over the top props so that people would be able to see my idea more clearly.


One slight problem I had with this project was that I struggled to have a reliable model as I only fully trusted my sister to come into college but she's studying A levels so still in school but was lucky as she had half term so basically I need to improve my communication skills and believe in myself to push myself to ask people in my course to model.

The weekly group critiques had helped me to develop my idea, I admit I didn't like most my comments through critiques as I hoped I get praised and less worry on my hands but the comments I wasn't hoped for has helped me to up my game. In tutorials we discussed ideas how to improve my story approach and what lighting techniques I could try out and possible focus on the main prop that builds up the story towards the model, he has said I could continue doing the woods but I will have to find a way to be different or find another location.

If I had the chance to start this project again I would not spend too much shooting in my comfort zone as this is not really improving my way of using the camera and hiding away on doing daunting stuff in the studio, freaking out that I would do something wrong with the lights set up and cause too much stress on me and slow me down on completing project. When I was shooting in the studio I found myself finding new ideas more quicker than being in the woods and if I have continued doing woods shooting I think my photographs will look similar and look like am not trying to experiment much and just being too simple and safe.