Receiving the book

After panicking thinking the book wasn't going to be printed in time, it was sent to me with six days to spare. Once I receive the book, i was extremely nervous, the hard work that I had put in for the last 4 months was a finished product. I had decided on a light grey cover that fades into white. I chose this as I wanted it to be simple, and didn't want to reveal to much of what was inside. The book was a lot thicker than i thought but this added to the sheer size of it, it felt like a bible of my work. Unfortunately I was disappointed when looking through some of the pages, I noticed a few of the images looked as though they were slightly clouded, I cannot understand what this is. The other thing i noticed was the colours were not as bright as I had hoped, particularly the poppy shoot and the cowardly lion, I used a white foundation on the models face for this shoot which looked perfect on the screen but as this printed out darker i noticed a few flaws, the application didn't look as smooth as I had hoped. After speaking to my tutor he explained this is because computers had a back light making the images seem brighter. After speaking to my peers, they explained they couldn't see anything wrong with the images. I think this is because I know the vibrancy of the colours of each photo that I could tell this was not right. However there was nothing I could do to resolve this issue, a test print with the company could have prevented this happening, but unfortunately due to time and money this was not possible.

I feel my time management should have been planned better but I didn't realise how much work I had set myself when choosing to do an A3 book as each image had to be edited to the best of my ability due to the size, every flaw of the makeup and skin would have been noticed. Looking back at the images I still have noticed a few flaws but I just did not have the time to check every image was edited perfectly. I now have a new found respect for retouchers. 

Overall I am extremely happy with the book. The size of it really has a huge impact when looking through it. I feel the different text sizes and fonts really add to the book. I feel I have learnt a lot through the journey of this book, and feel I have gained a lot of confidence when collaborating with others.

Software Complication

The printers that I am using requires me to layout my design on there software, I have downloaded this to a university computer as my own is very temperamental. I have been using the software and testing out different things to see what can be done on it and make sure it is suitable for what I am after.
Unfortunately the software for this sight doesn't allow me to use the desired texts I want, so I therefore have to create the desired text in photoshop placed on the desire image and then upload this. This was done for all my photos. They were tuned into Jpegs as this is what was required.
Once all my photos were completed I uploaded them to the sight and placed them were they were needed. However when trying to send it off the computer wouldn't connect to the server and after speaking to an I.t technician he said this was down to the university's Internet and wouldn't let it be sent out. I spoke to the printers about the problem and she suggested burning it to a disc and sending it in the post, however the book needs to be back to me by Friday ad it is currently Monday, I was unaware of the problem with the university's Internet and I suggested going to a friends and doing it there and the lady I spoke to said this would be the best idea. It entailed me relaying the whole book out again but at least this would ensure I would get the book back in time.

Contributors Layout

I looked through Alex Box's book to gain inspiration as to how to layout the contirbutors page.
I love the layout and sizes of these pages. The range of sizes of the images still keep the reader interested.

Fonts used

I referred back to Graham Rawles interpretation of the Wizard of Oz, and recreate the idea of using a number of different fonts and font sizes, this was then varied further through the use of Italics and changing the boldness. Altogether I counted around 7 or 8 fonts throughout the whole book, I used about the same for mine.  Though this was time consuming changing all the different fonts it was definitely worth it for the end result. Th variation of text makes it so much more interesting to look at. The pages of just text have been transformed by using these texts.

Text and Page layout

From conversations with my tutor she suggested looking for examples of different ways to display text in the book. A number of photos were taken from layouts that interest me.
The use of the bold text across a double page is quite bold and makes a statement.

I looked at how images were placed at the different ways text could be placed over images.

I feel like the idea how the text in these images is quite small and subtle, the image is still the main focus of the page.

I particularly think the layout and font sizing here is rather effective. This could sit well within my book, and will be considered when I come to lay out my text.

I plan to have a few pages of just text. The first quote after the introduction will help introduce the story, the next will be the quote to match with the poppy scene. Two pages will have quotes as well as snippets from the story to help move it along. 

I have played around with laying out my images in Indesign so I can see how the pages will look together. I referred back to the research I have found to help with laying out the images.
I have chosen a number of quotes from the books which help support the photos and move the story along.

Reflection and editing- Wizard lady

When looking through the images of the Wizard Lady I thought it wasn't looking hopeful, the models face did not seem structured enough for this look. However I have slightly edited her face to give it some more structure. The colour of the green was also deepend. From speaking with my tutor she said to make this more editorial and play around with the hair. I decided to play around with adding black into the hair.

Next the background was darkened, a shade of green from the eyeshadow was used, I felt this totally changed the mood of the image which worked well with the story line.

This shoot could have been improved if I used a different wig, as previously spoken about in another blog post, I would have preferred a curly one with no fringe. Again as I mentioned I would have used a different model.


The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing- Poppies

Once looking through the images of the poppies I felt the red neck looked really strong. Below are the paintings of the poppies, and then the edited poppies on photoshop I have spoken about in a previous post. 

 I edited the poppies so they came through the lips of the natural makeup, and felt this wasnt strong enough, so I tried with the red neck and felt this made a really effective image.

My tutor had suggested to just have the lips cut out on the page as shown below, this then had the poppies coming through them. I felt as though this wasnt a strong enough image. So I carried on with my next idea of the poppies on the neck.

As you can see from the image below the red hair spray worked really well, the coverage is very even and smooth. 

I initially started editing the poppies just on the neck and then later adapted this so it was on the lips aswell. It worked better with it on the lips and neck so this will be a final image of mine.

To improve this shoot I would have painted the poppies on the skin, but due to time this was not possible, however I feel it has worked really well and is rather effective this way.


The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Emerald City

I had previously done paintings to represent the Emerald City, but as said before my teacher did not understadn how think linked to makeup, so I decided to use the image from the Wizard lady shoot, and use the cut out filter. I then erased parts of the images so the eyes and lips and part of the nose was left. I then repeated this a number of times, as well as change the scale of the faces. I intitally produced them to represent tall buildings, however after having a discussion with my tutor she advised me to play around with the scale further and not have the faces resembling towers. A green gradient was also used to help express the Emerald City. Below is the result of the first Emerald city edit.

The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing-Dorothy

After shooting this look, I felt the makeup and images as a whole were not strong enough, however talking to my tutor, she thought it was. As Dorothy is the main character I wanted her to be the most striking.

When editing Dorothy it was clear how much the eyebrows were showing through as these were still slightly visible. The eye shadow looked harshly applied I tried to correct this as best I could to resolve this.

I experimented with different way to express Dorothy had seen the Emerald City and I thought the best way of doing so was to use the gradient tool set to a green. I feel this is a subtle way to show this idea.

To improve this shoot I would have perfected the eyebrows and eyeshadow. I also had to edit the hair as one side was curlier than the other. This should have been done on shoot rather than in post production.

The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing- Kahlidah

As said previously from the day of this shoot, it was clear to see it was a bit of a disaster, and this was worsened when I found out none of my images were in focus, I don't understand how not even one image isnt in focus, as I shot this myself this was obviously a fault of mine. 

After speaking to my tutor she said to still use the image as it helps tell the story. I tried my best to sharpen the image the make it clearer, but it was still obvious it was not in focus. 

This was the only image from this shoot.

If I was to do this shoot again, I would have planned the shoot better so I had a model that would turn up on time as well as a photographer, as this is a clear example as to why I do not to photography. I feel the makeup wasn't up to the highest standard due to the lack of time. The makeup should have gone further into the hairline and had a smoother finish.

The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing- Rhino beast

Once looking through these image I was really happy with them,

However I felt as thought the model resembled a unicorn more than a rhino, I did not use the second horn I has originally made, and do not understand why I didnt, I should have gone with my instinct and used it, as I ended up editing a second horn onto the model. This again took a lot of time and it could have been prevented.

I feel I definitely made the right choice in editing a second horn in. This image was cropped so none of the top is shown. The neck was also lengthened, to compensate for the long horn.

After trying to figure out how to make the character have five eyes I came to the conclusion to do it in post production. I tried to figure out ways to blur the heads together to make five eyes.

I looked at Andy Warhols print as a form of inspiration. The idea that Elvis is repeated and the faded is really interesting and this was considered when editing my photos.

I originally started of with the image below, tests were done before the photo had been cropped and edited, just to see what worked best.

I experimented with copy, layering, cloning and opacity to see what was best.

I showed my teacher the photos I had edited and she loved the image below, however I felt this was not of a very professional standard but she insisted I edited it a bit further and use it. I did in fact scrap this whole image and re do another one with slightly different faces, this is one of the final images used.

To improve this shoot I would definitely have used the second horn as this distinguished the rhino from a unicorn. When looking through some of these images it was clear also that some were not in focus, this is a fault of the photographer but I obviously would have liked them in focus, I did ask her at the time if they were in focus and she seemed to think they were.


The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing- Wizard head

From looking through these images I feel they are strong editorial beauty shots.
-->Unfortunately the model turned up with lash extensions on, these seemed to look very messy howevere there was nothing that could be done to resolve this, this led me to edit them on photoshop so they had a more natural appearance. Further editing was also done to make  the head piece a rounder smoother shape, the neck was also lengthened to help express the idea this characters main feature was the head. 




















 The only improvement I would change about this shoot is to make sure the model did not have eyelash extensions on.


The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing- Fireball

When looking through these images I straight away felt very disappointed the makeup look as though it was harshly applied and looked very amateur. As a number of looks was done on this shoot I feel this affected the standard of my work, the model kept telling me she wanted to go home which also put me under pressure. From looking at the iages below, it is clear I should have resprayed the neck, aswell as making it blend to the skin better.

The black makeup on her neck started cracking and the whole shoot seemed a bit of a disaster  however there was no time to re shoot so I made do with what I had. Luckily there was an effect on photoshop I shouldnt have relied on this but the effect  was perfect for this look. I used this, and as you can see the image glows against the background which is what was originally wanted. The fireball is made out of cotton and oil, and this is perfect for the colours used in this effect. The glowing reds and oranges were limited in this first edit, so I had to extend this up, a series of five images were produced each having the fire extending up the face.
 A few touch ups of stray hairs is all that was needed after this.

If I was to shoot this again, I feel more preperation was needed, this was probably one of the shoots I spent less time designing and this is reflected in the images. The initial idea for this shoot was already at a lower standard of my work and the poor application did not help this.
However with the above affect I think this has saved these images.


The final images of this shoot will be found in the book. 

Reflection and editing- Scarecrow

When looking through these images I felt as though they were not up to the highest standard, but as time was moving on, I had to make do with these. After speaking to my tutor she reassured me these were good enough to use. 

Below is examples of the hair as I had originally planned, as you can see the hair didnt work with this look and the shot choppy wig was added for a much more fitting hairstyle.

 

 I had edited the lip as I felt it was lost in the image. I fussed over this for ages trying to make it look natural, after eventually doing this, it was shown to my tutor again, and she said she preferred it before, so this was then removed.

From looking at the images. I strongly believe it was the right choice changing the hair of the scarecrow.
The dark background really creates a strong contrast and the focus is immediately drawn to the model.

If I was to do this shoot again, I would still change the hair again to something which is more editorial like the image below.

I feel this is a much more editorial high fashion hair style, and feel it would have worked well for this character.

The final images of this shoot will be found in the book.