Experimenting with Photo-Shop

Something I am really pleased about with Luke's photo's is how unedited they are, this means that we can all edit them in our own way.

When I spoke to Lydia I found that she wanted a more wintry feel from the photographs so decided to edit some herself and send me the copies of her edited version.

Lydia Pankhurst 26 November at 19:58 Report

Hey hun!

I got pics!! I think some look great! and some look like they could be even greater!!
For me make-up wise there is only two close up i could use...and they both have falling off lashes so I'm going to have to edited them more :( But hopefully Lotte will have a couple as well and then i can choose the best.

There r a couple of the boys which are awesome too.

For me personally i think i was hoping he would edited them more...to be honest when me and how opened them we thought straight away it looks like he may have just some a bit of lightening and cropping...there aren't any effects which i was hoping for as some (like the chair one) are awesome but at the moment i feel they look a bit nothing as the lighting is very flat, but with an effect or two could potentially be stunning!!!! and then be as strong as some of shoots from the summer.

Anyway...i had a little play with one to see if i could give them that wintry feel which we saw in some images... (basically i just think the green should go from some images!)

I thought i would show you and see what u think...Its not finished but just what i did quickly to see if it's work!!

What do you think?? I'm going to try and do something to one of the chair ones and see if i can make it look a bit more magical. If you like i could ask Luke if he minds me having a play so if we do like them we can use them as well as his.

x x x

I really love the effects the Lydia has done to these photographs. I'm not as technically minded and prefer a more tactile approach to editing the pictures rather then adding effects on Photoshop. I think it is brilliant that Lydia has these skills and has managed to put them towards the photographs. This really shows how important it is in having a great team. Even after the photo's are taken they can still add to the project. I think these photo's are stunning and I think for my next project I would like to improve my technical editing skills in trying to accomplish something like this.

Experimenting with Different Papers

I've started experimenting with different papers to see the effects it give s. I bought a load of different hand-made and scrap paper which I just masking taped to plain copy paper and then printed off the images on a standard home printer.
During this process my printer kept running out of ink and in some of the pictures the ink bled in to the paper. Usually I work very precisely so this has defiantly made me work not so perfectly.
It was nice to see the effects of things when something went wrong and how they have actually worked instead of hindering me.
I think through these experiments I have become more open to change and that things going wrong aren't necessarily the end all. They can in fact be the beginning of more experimentation's.
I think the papers that worked the best for me was when the ink bled through the papers and the paper was slightly translucent. It meant that sometimes the reverse side was more interesting that the correct side of the print. This can clearly be seen in the picture using the Angle hair paper.
Here the image ran out of ink but it shows how well the picture works when cropped. I like the empty space of paper which is just from an old envelope.
This image I think works particularly well. Its just on an old newspaper cutting and the ink had completely ran out of colour so was mainly just red, I think this adds to the effect though.
Again the reverse side of this paper works just as well, if not better, than the front of it.
I think this image is my favourite out of all of them, I love the old sepia style look that gives effect to this image. It makes it look as though it came from a period print. I think they styling helps this with the lace and the coat. It makes the image look timeless.
Another thing I quite liked, is that when I took the masking tape off the picture it would sometimes rip the outside of the paper. I like the almost worn old effect this gives. This really links into the decayed and eroding images I had looked at in my sketchbook.
This experiment of changing the midd tones so that the ink didn't sink so far into the paper. It works particularly well. I did run out of ink again but again I think this adds to the quality.

I don't think this speckled paper works that well for a close up image but looks great on the image in reverse and the picture of the boys just below it.
I like the reverse of this image, it looks very wintry and just illuminates the darker elements of the pictures.
I like the fabric effect these images have, I think it would work particularly well if these were applied to heat transfer inks to see how it would behave on fabrics.
What I like about all of these images is the fact that I never know what outcome I'm going to get. I can see what paper I am using and which picture but it depends on the ink and how it effects the paper that the outcome changes every time. This is something I would defiantly like to develop in the future.

Comparing Luke and Lotte's Photographs

What I really wanted to achieve by using two photographers is by seeing how different their images would look like. I gave them the same brief with the same location, clothes and set and it was up to them on how they wanted to bring about the photographs.
As you can see they both look very different. Luke's are on the left whilst Lotte's are on the right. I would say that Luke's have a more raw, unedited look about them whilst Lotte's are more Editorial. Both work really well in images in their own right.

Photographs from Lotte

These are the photographs that I've got back from Lotte. Although there isn't as many as what Luke gave me, all of her photos and been carefully edited.
During the shoot, Lotte defiantly took up the more directional route which is why there is a lot more interaction with the camera.
I think her photographs have a fun and quirky look about them which I could defiantly see in a editorial.
This is my favourite image from the whole project. It really gives the feel that I wanted to create. It shows elements from my childhood and my research without being too obvious.

Photographs from Luke

I've just got the photographs back from Luke and I am so pleased with them. They have an raw, dark edge to them which I think really relates to the research I have been looking at.
I really love this scene of just the chair, it gives it an eerie, abandoned type feel and actually looks as though the set should belong there.
I love how when the models are put into the set that it instantly comes alive.
I love this picture as it loos as though she is really comfortable. Perhaps this connects me because I know in actual fact she was freezing and that it was so windy that her hair kept nearly blowing away.
I love the nonchalant look on Lottie's face, with Lucas keeping the photo together and stopping it from being a snap shot.
Unfortunately because of the weather and the fact that Lottie kept nearly losing her wig anyway, meant that my teacup headpiece could not be put in the hair. I don't think her holding it here really makes it look like it should belong there.
These are my favourite pictures, I love how the light has just come out from about the brow of the hill. It really does give a whole fantasy type look whilst still being on trend with the boys clothing.
I think these next few photographs in particular link well with Where The Wild Things Are. I think its the use of light and almost the documentary way Luke has captured the models. Quite a lot of the poses are of them just being themselves.
Here they are being photographed by Lotte so are looking at her camera but Lucas has just caught the eye of Luke's camera. It shows how well working with two photographers was when you get shots like this.I think this photo almost looks like she is going for a walk, it isn't trying to be anything pretentious it is just documentary and beautiful because of it.
The sunlight works so well for these photo's, I think its amazing how you cannot tell what a horrible day it was from the final photographs.
I love this image! (despite the clip in the hair, which I actually think works in a strange way) It looks very editorial whilst still being commercial. I think the tree manages to break this up.
These are my favourite images from the Luke's photographs. Really beautiful and just the right amount of the clothing to show the styling and give a sense of the outfit.
It will be interesting to see how Lotte's photo's compare to Luke's as I am so pleased with these!