Michelle Capobianco

COMD 3530 Advanced Photo Studio

Final Photography Project Reflection

Initially, I wanted to work with just products only – nail polish in particular.  I’ve been fascinated with how still life photographers can create a narrative with something as simple as a nail polish bottle.

I ended up scraping the nail polish idea.  I could have gone with just shooting the closed bottles but that didn’t lend a whole lot of photo possibilities.  Having nail polish open for the duration of the class would have disrupted the class, plus, I couldn’t spill polish all over the plexiglass.

I decided to focus on a cosmetics brand, Wet n’ Wild.  They’ve been around since 1979.  They’re synonymous with being one of the first brands young girls experiment with when they first get into cosmetics.  The prices for the line are relatively low and they’ve stayed low since their inception.

Sometimes when makeup has a lower price point, people assume that it’s not good quality and I have to be honest, some of the products I tried from the line when I was younger weren’t that great.  However, in recent years, they’ve rebranded, created better formulas and have a cult following with makeup artists.

For my images I worked with models and took product photography shots.  I initially didn’t want to work with models because I was afraid of someone flaking out on me.  I also didn’t want to utilize anyone in class because I didn’t want to take them away from their own projects.  I worked with Lindsay and Krystle for this project.  I have another class with Lindsay where we’ve worked in a semester long project and I’ve known Krystle for years so I felt comfortable working with them.

Since Krystle was wearing white and Lindsay was wearing black, I decided to use gels as a background color.  I decided on a hot pink/purple ombre effect.  I believe it was successful.  I had the models pose with the products as well as just posing with their makeup done.

For my product shots, I utilized both the white and black plexiglass.  I remember after reviewing the shots taken with the white plexiglass, I wasn’t too impressed with the final outcome.  I decided for the second shooting day I would use the black plexiglass so I would have more options.  The white and black plexiglass showcase products differently and I was shocked to see how different the images felt.

I remember feeling overwhelmed after I had my images.  I knew I was working with a brand, and I had all these elements (brand logo, copy, headlines, other pictorial elements) that needed to come together to create a good advertisement.  I did spend a lot of time crafting each image.  Of course after presenting you realize there’s always something you could have done to make the project better.

I had a bunch of products with me on both shoot days, and I did not realize until it was time for me to begin shooting that prop styling is a lot harder than it looks.  It’s really a lot more than just placing items on the shooting surface randomly.  The items need to have meaning and express a message.

I was the last person to present my project in class.  Even though I would consider myself to be outspoken, I am painfully shy when it comes to presenting my work in front of the class.  However, I was pleasantly surprised when the class could not come to a decision about which image did not work for the client.  In my mind, I think that means the project was a success.