Shoot Five (1990s) - Work Record

Plans For the Shoot

This shoot will be focussing on the grunge style of the 1990s. I decided to specifically focus on grunge rather than the 90s as a whole as I felt that it was quite a unique style and that it would be an interesting style to represent. I also felt that this look would be interesting to edit as it would go well will with the grainy, over-exposed, warm look that I was planning on creating. I will be shooting this against a black background and will use a beauty dish to really illuminate the model and lift her from the image. I will be adding quite a bit of grain to the photograph as I found that this was quite common with images from the 90s. 

What I Actually Achieved

I feel that this shoot was very successful and has my favourite outcomes so far. In my opinion, I feel that I really captured the style of the 90s in both what was worn and also in terms of editing as the image does have a look that is was taken straight from that decade. I really like how the model posed in the images, as she portrayed the moody and bored look that would easily be associated with youth from the grunge subcultures. I decided to make the images quite over-exposed as this was a common trend that I found when looking at 90s portrait photography. In some images that was very successful and I enjoyed the outcome. However, there were some images where this did not work well due to how the model was stood or how far she was from the light. Below are too examples of where this did and did not work.

This image is, what I feel, the most successful from the shoot. Although there is a lot of blank space around the model, I quite enjoy this as it fills the rest of the image with darkness and therefore draws attention to the model - where there is a lot of colour and lightness. There is clearly high exposure in the image, however I feel that it works really well with the overall look as it is not too much. I also feel that this was helped during editing as I did play with the levels in the image and was able to control the exposure more. I really enjoy the slouched body language and deadpan expression on the girls face as it gives the whole image a moody feel to it.

This image shows where over-exposure was not successful. The light has completely washed the model out and you cannot really see and details in her features as a result. I feel that the overall look of this image is not very visually pleasing and that, as it is so over exposed, the contrast is too high for what I wanted. I also feel that the framing was off in this image as there is so much empty space on either side of her and not much above and so I feel that she seems to drown in the photo.

What I Am Going to Do Next

My next shoot will focus on the 2000s and so will aim to have less grain than my other images as the technology used in that decade is still quite new. Although I originally focussed on the make up of decades, my work has transitioned into looking at the overall style of each decade. As a result I will be using a male in my next shoot as this shift in focus allows me to look at the style of the other gender. I decided to do this as all of my previous shoots have focussed on females and so this will allow me to have some diversity in my work.