Shoot Two (1950s) - Work Record

What I Plan To Achieve

For my second shoot I will be creating images that reflect the style of the 1950s. This includes black clothing, leather jackets, curly hair and red lipstick. This style is based upon that of Marilyn Monroe, which I found through the work of Milton Greene. Whilst conducting my shoot, I intend on referring back to his images in order to create realistic portraits that replicate those of Marilyn. I hope to create images that have the true aesthetic of the 1950s, in both what the model is wearing and also through the editing process. To create images that appear like they have come out of the 1950s, I will add grain and a soft blur to give it a vintage feel to it, as well as making the image black and white as this was a common trend in images at the time. When I conducted this shoot as part of my preparatory stage, I created an over-exposure within the image. However, when looking back on it, I do not feel that it helps to represent the style of 1950s portraiture and so this time I will ensure that I do not over-expose my images.

What I Actually Achieved

Camera Settings: ISO 200, 1/125, F/22.
Studio Set Up: 

I am happy with the outcome of this shoot and feel that I have improved on this series since my preparatory shoots. Before my images were very over exposed and had too much contrast, and so I decided to focus a lot of my attention on this during this shoot. I feel that that has worked out for me as I have created a series of images that I really enjoy and feel that not only are they accurate for the time period I am trying to recreate, but also are visually pleasing. I focused quite a bit on the tones in the image rather than the amount of exposure, which allowed me to create high contrast without too much exposure. Like the last shoot, I used one light with a beauty dish in order to not only direct the light specifically towards the girls face, but also do create more depth and tones within my images.

This was my favourite image from the shoot. I feel that the way the model is posing is quite iconic of the era as there are many images of Marilyn Monroe posing in a similar fashion. I really enjoy how contrasting the tones in this image are as it helps to bring the attention towards her face and make this the focal point of the image. Although the image is quite dark, we can still see details such as her beauty mark and her leather jacket which are fashion symbols of the 50s, and we can tell that she is wearing a dark lipstick even though the image is black and white. I feel that this image has the perfect amount of noise and gaussian blur to give it a vintage effect without ruining the overall aesthetic.

This was an image that I felt was not so successful. Whilst I feel that it has achieved what I wanted in terms of representing make up trends in the 1950s, I feel that the overall look of the image and its aesthetics is not what I was looking for. This is partially due to my editing of the image as the tones are not as dark as I had hoped and I feel that there was too much blur used, however I feel that this is also a result of the framing and the pose. I personally feel that this image is quite basic and whilst some of my other images are simple, this one does not stand out in any way against the rest.

What I Plan to Do Next Time

My next shoot will be focussing on the decade of the 1910s. This will require a lot of attention to detail when it comes to the outfit and make up, as well as the editing and so I will focus a lot of my time on the look during the shoot, as with my previous shoots I have focussed more on the editing. I will also ensure that I have my model pose in ways that are found in images from the 1910s as not only will this make the images more accurate, but it will make them more interesting and pleasing to look at.