Test Shoot With Jess

This week I did a test shoot to get the ball rolling with my project. I wanted to cast a model who would reflect my perception of Eponine, I started chatting with local girls and Jess was happy to work with me. I wanted to shoot close to home as I was more interested in developing the technique for the shoot.

I shot in three ways:

1. Using smoke
I wanted to experiment with smoke and see if I could shoot in a way that wouldn't look studenty. It didn't work. I think to get the effect I had been hoping for I would have needed a much higher production value, which I didn't have. Maybe it is something I can further test when on location.

2. Using material over the lens
I had also brought some sheer material to place over the lens, which began to look like the smoke when in use. I did have more control over what parts of the image looked more blurry. So here I think I got a better result that using the smoke. I also like the tone I put over these images, maybe I should consider a darker/blue/purple tone for my other images? Maybe here it is slightly too light.

 3. Using material over over the model
At the end of the shoot I started experimenting with placing the material over the model. I wish I had done this before as I think I got the best results from this technique. It gives an interesting texture and I like how the light is picked up on certain parts of it. I do think here, because of the pose and hair over her face, it does look like a horror movie promo, which is something I need to work on on a further shoot. It is a lot darker than the other images, which is something I don't usually do and I think this is how I want to develop my image making - by experimenting more with the darker side of fashion. I think, even for a test, that this is a lot more edgy than anything I have ever produced and a way forward for my portfolio.