One of my group members brought in a pair of headphones that were unique.  It was from a brand I’ve never heard of before – Sennheiser.  Apparently, they were very expensive.  Everyone else from class either brought Apple headphones or Beats.  We wanted to imitate the look and feel of the current ads they have out now.  I’m not sure if we were successful in that regard.  I saw a couple of their ads looked like they had a lot of retouching done and I’m not well versed in Photoshop.  I brought fairy lights with me to try and get the same look that were portrayed in the advertisements.

The hearing loss was fun to shoot.  We were trying to think of creative ways to express pain felt when listening to music too loud.  I felt like were limited in terms of facial expressions, so our group was experimenting with the positioning of the person in frame – profile, front, etc. Like I’ve expressed earlier, I’m not a Photoshop guru so I try to do as much as possible in the studio.

I was not in the studio for this shoot because I was at home sick. I asked my boyfriend a couple days later if he could model for me so I could complete the shoot.  I have speed lights at home, but even then, I could not control the lighting properly.  My walls at home are also not white but a medium beige color which also posed a challenge.  I tried to see if I could blow the wall out to make it appear whiter but it did not work.  My boyfriend tends to be a little shy in front of the camera so getting him to not look goofy or awkward was difficult.  I feel like taking photos of my classmates would have been easier because we were all familiar with the article.  Also, it felt like there were limited choices in posing or what props to use, because the articles focused on social media.  Besides using a phone, there wasn’t much we could do.

It was awesome to experiment with two types of lighting and backgrounds when it came to shooting vegetables.  Taking the photographs for the book cover was interesting.  I was not expecting the results I got when I initially first started taking photos.  I thought they were going to be boring looking, but when I was done editing the photos and adding text, I could see the photo as a book cover.  It was challenging to get the potatoes to stay upright so we had to take the photos quickly before they fell over.

The Fresh Direct photos looked clean and bright.  The vegetables looked great under that lighting.  My group used water droplets to sprinkle onto the vegetables so they looked more interesting.  I liked that it was a real-world client and I tried hard to mimic the look that Fresh Direct represents in their advertising.  I know now that they probably wouldn’t use a potato sideways in an ad, but at the time I thought it looked visually different yet still usable.

Unfortunately, I was not in class for this shoot because I wasn’t feeling well.  Of course, when doing any of the shoots outside of the photo studio, they are more difficult and challenging to complete.  I only completed the “Coming Home, Detroit, 1968” because I didn’t feel the car I used for that shoot could work for the other poem.  I should have just completed the other shoot because I saw several people in class used the same car for both poems. I did not have plexiglass at home so I was unable to create reflections with the car.  I know my photos would have turned out better if I was able to do so.

I placed my car on my ironing board, used a bunch of gray packaging material in the background and used a vape pen to create a smoke effect.  I struggled with getting close to the car because I don’t have the proper lenses or an extension tube at home.

This shoot was very enjoyable.  I was nervous about breaking a glass (but it didn’t happen).  I ended up spilling water onto my phone and an SD card of mine that was nearby but thankfully nothing was damaged.

A group member brought a different glass with her so that lended some additional options. I knew that I wanted to bring food coloring with me because color is one way to evoke a mood, besides lighting.  I used lighter colors to explain optimism while using darker colors to express pessimism.  After completing the shoot, I realized I probably could have ditched the food coloring and try to challenge myself more by just using lighting and gels.  The ice cubes added personality to the photos and lended more photo opportunities.

Not knowing who was going to be in my group prior to the shoot, I wasn’t sure what kind of pills I would have available to work with.  I did not have very many at home myself, but I brought what I had in. Also, one of my group members brought in an assortment of pills and there some available when we got to class.

I think this assignment was probably the most difficult in terms of controlling the lighting.  A tiny move could alter the whole photograph.  I didn’t realize it until later but there was a reflection on some of the opaque pills in my photographs.  I felt the orange medication bottles were easier to photograph versus the pills.

When looking through my photographs, I felt the pictures could represent both articles so that made it more difficult to choose which photos to present in class.  Some of my photos, while nice, did not even represent the articles at all. So, while this assignment had the most difficult lighting setup for me, it was also the hardest to convey the message either way.

I’m glad I was challenged in this aspect.  I realized that oftentimes in the photography/advertising world, there are situations where it won’t be easy to get the message across so I felt like I was being prepared for a real-world experience.

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.

For my Utility U image, I have a few different ideas.  I will see how each idea works out and go with the one that I feel does the idea most justice.

1.) Encompassing books/papers with the model somehow.  Utility U means utilizing information so using books or papers would help get this message across.

2.) Looking at a job board/image board located at the school, considering the end goal of college is to join the workforce and get a good job.

For my Utopia U image, I think my image ideas have less to do with other props and more with the model.  Utopia U has to do with pursuit of happiness and how you grow as a person and, to me, that is more conceptual.

1.) Sitting on a staircase, looking off into the distance.

2.) Outdoor location, looking towards another location. Model standing and a road leading away from them.

I definitely think the Utopia image is harder to convey and I’ll see what I come up with at the end.