Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - Alex Styles research......

Alex Styles is only 23.  He is from the West Midlands and made his name in the studio's of the heart of the country.  He has photographed many celebrities such as The Saturdays, Fearne Cotton and Dave Berry and many more.....

He also done a lot of work in fashion for well know high street stores, like Urban Outfitters, New Look and for well known productions like the Clothes Show.  He also photographs for hair, product and publications, so from looking at his work he is very versatile.  I paid special attention to his Fashion photography and picked out the above pictures as some of my favorites.  I enjoyed the simple effectiveness of the pure fashion, just showing the clothes and the model.  I like the clear plain background but I also like where he has used the wooden background for the girl sitting down as I think this does add a feel to the picture.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - Stephen Eastwood Research.......

I came across Stephen's work and really enjoyed looking at it.... Not much is actually said about him as a photographer but wanted to mention him and show some of his work as this is the sort of work I would be interested in doing!  What I did find out about him was that he was born in Long Island NEW YORK!  He started out as a model himself, mostly body shots, fitness stuff etc.  His favorite kind of shoot is beauty and 2nd up is high end fashion.  On his website he has a Q&A session which provided an interesting read for his personal preferences on the photography that he does.....

Summer, Spring, Autumn, Winter - Jason Christopher research.....

Jason Christopher works all over LA and got established as a fashion and beauty photographer in 1996.  His work has been described as classic, clean and romantic. His interest progressed on to the beautiful designers that he saw in fashion magazines such as Vogue, Italian Vogue and W magazine.

His motto is "Be prepared or prepare to fall."

I have chosen the above pictures as love the make up that are on the models.  Particularly the model with the very bright make up of just the close up of the face.  The lighting is perfect and really like the effect of the light spot in the bottom left hand corner.

The picture of the girl with the big hair and dark eyes is fab!  Its not quite black and white or colour.... It looks like there has been a tinge of bronze used probably by photoshop but think this is very effective for the shot.  Looks very classic and like the fact she is not centered in the middle and the back ground is blurred but you can imagine she is somewhere outside in a sort of spooky classic environment.

After having a little look on you tube I found a fashion shoot with Jason Christopher in New York I believe....  Even though this was not in a stuido enviroment, I enjoyed watching it from a fashion point of view and like to see how he worked with the models.

Here is the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj8XFSNfBcA&feature=fvsr

Then I found one of him in a studio working with Terell Suggs who after doing a little research is an American Footballer.

Here is the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiue3CyePoA

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - Rankin research....

Other photographers work....

John Rankin Waddell, aka 'Rankin' born 1966 in Scotland and is a British portrait and fashion photographer.

Rankin started at University studying accounting, he dropped out at the age of 21 and decided photography was what he really wanted to do.  He joined forces with a man called Jefferson Hack where they started a magazine called Dazed & Confused.  Since then he started up other magazines and his work got nationally known through using many famous names....

After looking into Rankin's work, I was very impressed with various styles that he approaches.  He has worked with many famous people such as Britney Spears, Spice Girls, The Rollings Stones, Tony Blair and many more.....

I have particularly liked the photos above for different reasons.  I picked them because these will be the type of shots that I hope to be taking in the studio.  Using minimal props or just the model and clothing etc for effective striking shots.  I do like the idea of black and white photography but I think having Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter as my 'Theme' I think colour will be more effective.  I like the idea of using simple but effective props and hope that the clothes and make up will reflect my theme.

Lights, camera, action......

I thought I would put a couple of my pictures up that I am proud of....

The first is from a fashion shoot for a friends fashion project at University.... 

I call this picture Floral Denim.

I had many shots from this shoot but decided to show this one as I am a great fan of landscape photography too (I love the sky in this photo!) and feel that the clothing really fits with the outdoor feel of the picture.  I also get the feeling that the picture may not have been taken in the present as the fashion of clothing that the model is wearing looks like it from the 60's. 



Second and third pictures are from a set of photo's that I took on a camping trip to Wales.

For both of these pictures I had to use a tripod as they were long exposure shots.

        

For my final picture.....

I was the official photographer at the Wooden Spoon Great Lakeland Challenge in August 2010 and was extremely pleased when I found out that my picture had made a regional newspaper.  I had a brilliant time taking photos at this event and was pleased when I saw the reactions that my work got and that people bought the pictures and one even making the paper was a massive achievement for me personally....

Statement of Intent - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter......

Spring

Summer



Autumn



Winter

I have decided on People and Portraits as one of my themes and its going to be called 'ALL THE SEASONS.....' 

I am hoping to get a set of images together involving Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  I plan to use models and props to show the seasons and have some ideas to try and make things a little bit different....  I want to show in my selection of images the fashion for each season. Props and lighting will help achieve this along with using different camera settings. The pictures here are from a fashion magazine and the photographer is not named here but this is often the case in magazines. I am unsure of the studio techniques I will be using as yet as I have never been in a studio before however I will ensure I follow all of the health safety guidelines that were pointed out in the briefing such as not leaving bags around, being careful of wires and props around me.  Regarding my camera I will be using various depth of field, varying my ISO, aperture and shutter speed to try and capture and influence the shots according to the season.  Obviously with Summer and Spring I will be looking to use a large amount of light to show the season effectively and with Autumn and Winter using shadows and maybe even darkness to show the mood of the more darker seasons.... I will also be using a tripod to capture my frames and using different angles to influence my work in different ways. I will be taking in some fashion magazines for inspiration and also maybe printing out some model poses off the internet to get us started.


I have looked in to other fashion photographers for influences and gained a lot of ideas for what sort of photographs I want to produce....  I have entered my research of my influences separately.....


I am very excited about getting in to a studio environment for the first time..... And hope I get some decent frames!

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - My magazine influences....

I love love love fashion magazines! Vogue, Elle and anything that has got nice clothes/make up/interesting people in.


I have never been to a live catwalk fashion show and it's definitely on my list of things to do before I die!






Black and white photography especially with people I think can be very powerful.  The models are very beautiful and have amazing clothes on (Most of which I cannot afford.....)  At the moment as we are coming into the Winter, the fashion that is in the magazines is all cover up winter clothes.  I have picked out some images that I think are pretty cool.....

These pictures have obviously been taken in a studio.  The plain white walls and all over black I love....  I also like the fact that the girl has blonde hair as shows different contrast in the photo.  She has very natural make up on and messy look hair to show the 'comfy' wearability of these clothes.

Even though I probably wouldn't actually wear something like this I think she looks pretty amazing.  I have never done a selection of black and white images so I think I will definitely be influenced to change that by some of this impressive photography.

Elle Magazine images (Possible Winter looks....)