My midterm...maybe...

            For my midterm project I would like to shoot a set of photos that resemble makeup ads you would see in a magazine. It’s been such a cold and dreary beginning of spring so I want to shoot really bright and colorful makeup. I want my inspiration to be nature-inspired and I was thinking of including flowers into the series- perhaps a particular flower corresponding to the model’s makeup. The good thing about this project is that I get to shoot people, which is what I do, but I’m also shooting the flowers which is good practice because I don’t normally shoot normal objects and I can work on composition. The only thing that I worry about is finding people to model, and managing time and work from my other classes. If I don’t find people within a couple of days, my whole project could change.

            If I had to change my project, other ideas could include some other makeup theme, or I was thinking of doing pictures of babies and children. I have a baby niece and nephew, and I would really like to take some photo of them. They’re both young and have tons of colorful clothes and toys, so the pictures could be interesting and cute. I love landscapes, and since this is my first year in Chicago, I still have tons of exploring to do, so I can just shoot locations and possibly scout out areas for future photo shoots. I just need to shoot a lot in general.

            I want to work more on composition in my photos. Due to laziness, I sometimes tend to take pictures from the same position and eye-level all the time. So for this project I really want to work on moving around my subject and getting a really awesome angles and composition. It’s hard to say where I want my subjects to be placed in my photo, I can them see them centered or off-center. I want to use my 50mm macro lens so I can really get close to my subjects and capture great detail, because I’m drawn to texture in photos.

            Lighting is always a problem for me. I know that color film captures better color and contrast when shot on a bright and sunny day. And the weather has been awful. I always try to go outside and shoot, but it’s usually dark and cloudy and my photos get really “flat” looking. It doesn’t seem to be getting warm outside anytime soon and I would hate to shoot people outside. Although a model has to do whatever for a job, I am always thinking of making them comfortable to get the best photos, and modeling in cold snowy weather isn’t pleasant for anyone. If the weather isn’t on my side, again, I’ll have to resort to shooting indoors. Shooting indoors and controlling light is always tough.

            For these photos I see myself mainly sticking to an analogous color theme. Most of the time it’s typical for makeup ads to really focus in on one main color. Other than analogous, other color theories I respond to are complementary colors, and black/white/and a color. I want the photos to be as vibrant and “popping” as much as they can be to create stunning photos.