Evaluation

Overall I am pleased with the outcome of this unit, as I feel I have developed my design philosophy and become more confident at creating photoshoot concepts. I'm pleased that I've gained more experience planning a photo shoot, and feel that I have gained some really lovely pictures and made new photographer and model contacts that I know I'll be able to call on again in the future if I ever need to.
It was slightly disappointing that I didn't get to use as many props as I would of liked in most of the scenes, however with very little money and skill at creating such things, I don't think they would of neccessarily added anything to the photographs and I am pleased that we didn't use the ones I made in the end.
If I had the oppourtunity again, I would of liked to of filmed some footage of the photoshoot and to of used that to make my film, instead of using just stills. However, I do still think this method was successful at portraying my winter wonderland concept.

Winter Wonderland film

I have made this film on Imovie using my photographs as stills and running them together, as a way of presenting my work. I am pleased with the outcome, however orginally I did want to film a digital version of my lookbook with me turning the pages, although I had to admit failure due to technical difficulties. One thing that is slightly disappointing is the overall quality of the images in this video when I uploaded it onto YouTube, as the photographs don't have the crispness or focus that they originally did.

I have decided to use the Florence and the Machine track 'Cosmic Love' for the audio, as I have felt this music to be inspirational to me throughout this project as I feel it has a very atmospheric, magical quality that reflects my photographs and overall concept.

Final Lookbook layout

This is my final lookbook layout and I am very happy with this outcome. I think the photographs are laid out in an effective way, as I wanted to keep alot of the white background and borders throughtout the layout to really make the photographs stand out and be the centre of attention for the viewer.
One frustrating thing that I would like to change is that this version doesn't include my orginal choice of title font. When I converted the InDesign document into a PDF file it warned me that my orginal font could not be viewed in this format and therefore I've had to change it and make do with this font.
Please make sure when viewing this lookbook to expand the page and view it as a double page spread, in order for the layout to flow properly.

Lookbook Layouts

I have experimented with several different styles and layouts for my lookbook and here are the results...
I decided to incorporate some close-up pictures of the clothes that were used in the photoshoot, to give the audience a clear view of the clothes in some of the photographs. However, I feel that they are distracting from the actual photographs and give the minimal white spaces a cluttered look.


To really enhance the fairytale, fantasy story theme running through my concept, I decided to add some famous and well known quotes from various fantasy stories. I have included quotes from Alice in Wonderland and lyrics from a children songs which I think work well with some of the photographs and give the viewer a stronger impression of what is happening in the images. I think this style would work better for an editorial as it is more playful and does not really suit the style of a lookbook.

Using Photoshop

Now that I have decided on the final pictures I will use in my lookbook, I need to edit some of them using photoshop to create a more professional final image and alter anything that I feel doesn't belong in the photographs, especially as it is meant to be a fantasy winter wonderland.

I am quite happy with the colours and contrast on most of the images and plan to keep them all looking as natural as possible. Therefore, I have decided I don't want to mess with the images and refine them too much as they were taken in a natural setting and I intend to keep them looking that way.

However my biggest editing task will be removing all the overhead telegraph wires and the electricity pylons that are in the background in some of the photographs. I do not want to keep these in the photographs as they spoil the idea that a winter wonderland is a fantasy land, and these will remind the viewer too much of reality and take away the idea they have escaped to a dream-like world.

Before editing you can see the faint lines of the telegraph wires in the top right hand corner of the photograph.

After the photograph has been editied in Photoshop to remove the telegraph wires using the clone stamp.

The Photoshoot: scene 5

 

This was our last scene of the day to photograph and even though it's a shame that all the ice had melted away by then, I wanted to wait unitl the sun was setting so Jackson could capture the lovely pinky, orangey colours in the sky at sunset that have a magical quality all of their own. This is the tree at the bottom of my orchead that I used to climb up and look out at the view all the time when I was younger. I feel she is doing the same, as if looking out over the winter wonderland that she has been exploring all day.

                      

This close up shot captures the rough texture of the bark on the tree against the soft, fluffiness of the fur on the gloves and hat. I like how she isn't looking at the camera as if she is distracted by something else she is looking at in the distance.

The Photoshoot: scene 4

 

At first glance, I wasn't planning on using this location for my photoshoot as the bright red berrys didn't really compliment the colours in the other scenes we had photographed. However, I couldn't resist giving it a go and to see how they would turn out. These vivid red crab apples frame the photograph so well and I love how they drape down the left hand side of the picture in the foreground, out of focus, so you're eye is still drawn to the model.

  

To create the effect that Georgia is surrounded by these strange and wonderfully bright berries, I thought it would be best if Georgia got in under the branches of the tree so they hung all arounf her. I love the way she is looking up at the mysterious looking berries, intrigued by their unusual colour as if wondering whether or not to pick one and try it. This reminds me of the forbidden fruit idea, that makes it so hard to resist their temptation.

I like the way Georgia is purposefully not looking at the camera in this photograph, as if she doesn't want to be seen or is trying to hide behind the branches of berries on this tree. I have now decided that I like the fact that the berries are so red and stand out from the rest of the images as that is what my concept of a winter wonderland comes back to. Nothing is how you expect it to be, least of all a tree full of bright red fruit for the picking in the middle of a bleak icy wilderness. This gives these photographs the required fantasy element and also reminded me of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory scene I looked at where sweets grew from trees, which could almost be the case here.

The Photoshoot: scene 1

      

I hope to use this shot as the first photograph in my lookbook. Im pleased with the composition as the icy branches frame Georgia perfectly, as if they are enclosing around her and luring her into the winter wonderland that waits behind her.
 
This photograph captures the same scene put also suggests that she may be curiously peeking over her shoulder into the winter wonderland for the first time, as if she just can't help but be drawn into the magical white world.

This photograph expresses how alone she is in her new surroundings, with the dark trees lurking behind her as if she is unsure whether to explore further.       
          

Even though Georgia is slightly out of focus and hazey in this shot, I love the way the light is streaming through the trees casting her in silhouette. It's as though the light is creating an angel-like halo around Georgia which compliments the heavenly, cloud-like surroundings she is walking through.

This is possibly my most favourite photograph from the entire photoshoot. I love Georgia's expression as she looks really beautiful and has an almost lost, wondering look in her eyes. This photograph captures the clear, crispness of a winter wonderland and I love how the light behind Georgia has picked up all the small hairs that outline the fur gillet she is wearing.

The Photoshoot: scene 3

I wanted this scene to have the same fantasy feel as Alice in Wonderland. The twist I wanted to created is that you would not expect to see someone sitting down at a table for a cup of tea by themself in the middle of a wintery woodland. Again, I wanted it to feel as though you are looking into her world and her winter wonderland experience without her knowing. I like the composition of her sitting between the two trees as though the table, chair, teapot and cup and saucer, had been placed nestled in that exact spot the whole time just waiting for her to come along and discover it for herself.

I particularly like the sharp focus on the ice covered grasses in this photograph. As she is lifting her cup of tea to take a sip she seems lost in her own world of thoughts and emotions. The cup of tea resembles something comforting that she recognises and is familiar with, even though it appears in such an unfamiliar and otherworldly place.

These two photographs were shot looking from the opposite direction, as I was concerned that the dress wasn't being shown off enough in the previous photographs. Taken from this angle, I like how you can see the sky and are able to look through the trees and off into the distance. The colours in both the scenery and in the props and outfit all work in harmony and really highlight the soft pastel shades of licas, greens and blues that you would imagine to find in a winter wonderland.

The Photoshoot: scene 2

I like how this photograpgh captures Georgia peering through the trees and branches, trying to make out her new surroundings as she finds her way out of the dense woodland. However, I'm not so keen on the background of this scene as you can't make out many clear shapes, as it is just a tangle of murky, greeny/grey branches and twigs.

I'm really pleased with background of these two photographs as you get a glimpse of the icy woodland landscape in the distance. I particularly like the fact that the icy covered trees also appear like big clouds of mist, which creates a real atmospheric and magical quality to these images.

This is my favourite image taken from this setting as I feel it has the strongest composititon. I like the way the branches of the tree arch over to reveal a bright clear blue sky and an ice covered mystical woodland, as she steps out into the winter wonderland that lyes ahead.

Day of the photoshoot!

I took this photograph on the morning of the photoshoot and as you can see, we got lucky with the weather! However, we knew that we had a race against time as all the pretty ice crystals were starting to melt as soon as the sun came out.
This meant we had a situation with the props. I had spent all of the day before making some of the props for the photoshoot, like the presents I wanted to hang from the tree and a huge red and white stripped candy kane from a walking stick. It turns out that they weren't that impressive and when it came to the morning of the shoot we decided to leave them out of the scenes. My reasons for this was mainly because, we had no real way of getting them high up into the trees without it taking us all day and by then the ice would of melted. Also, I have now learnt that my prop making skills aren't great and Jackson and I felt that they just looked abit naff and distracted attention from the beautiful natural scenery that we were working with.

Locations

Now I'm back at home, I can have a bit of an explore around where I live to confirm which locations I will use and what settings will work best for my 'winter wonderland' photoshoot. I have already decided that the woods near where I live would be too difficult to accesss, and would involve atleast a 20 minute to walk there and back in between all the clothes changes and therefore would be way too time consuming.
I've had a look around my garden and feel that the orchead section has enough trees to create a woodland style setting if I make sure the photographs are framed properly.

I am still hoping to use this tree at the end of the orchead as one of the scenes, I just hope Georgia is ok when it comes to climbing trees!

I have also discovered this rusty old gate surrounded by trees which is the entrance to a very secluded field, which I think could work really well for a winter wonderland setting.

Unfortunately, these locations don't look very impressive at the moment but luckily we have been forcast loads of icy cold weather and snow so fingers crossed everything will have a white covering on the day of the photoshoot and make everything look soo much more attractive and other-worldly.

Hair and Make Up Ideas

I have put together a mood board from magazine clippings of the type of look I want to create with my models hair and make up. I want to keep Georgia make up as natural as possible as I want her to have a fresh faced look that lets her natural beauty shine through. I want her to have a youthful and angelic look, so I don't want any make up that looks too done or is that noticeable.
The same applies for her hair style. Georgia naturally has long straight hair that gives her a very girly look. I want to keep her hair as underdone as possible, but may add some subtle waves to it, just to create some extra volume to her hair, which will add texture to the photographs.

Inspirational Imagery

I have created this mood board of key imagery I have found to be inspirational for my 'winter wonderland' concept. I will show this to both my model and photographer before the shoot, to give them an idea of the dreamlike, fantasy look I want to capture in the photoshoot.

Outfit Illustrations

After going on a massive shopping spree to find all the outfits for the photoshoot, I have done some illustrations of how I want to clothes to be styled together and to show the overall look of each outfit.
I decided that I wanted all my outfits to be dresses as they create such a girly, femmine look and add to the fantasy element of my concept. I have chosen to style each dress with a combination of fur and chunky knit accessories, as prom style party dresses and winter accessories are always fashionable for the autumm/winter season. However, these two seperate looks have rarely been seen styled together before and so this is the twist I want to bring to the fashion, creating a new look for Autumm/Winter 2010.

Texture & Colour palette

I have created this texture and colour palette to show which fabrics I want to use in the photoshoot and how they work together and also contrast each other. I like the mixute of soft, silky, lacey fabrics and chunky furs and knits with a hint of sparkly sequins. These fabrics all have very different qualities and are not usually used all together at once, but I hope this will make an interesting visual statement by using an array of textures.
The colours I have choosen to work with for this concept are pretty femminine colours like soft pastels and neutral tones which will compliment the muted, icy colours of winter's natural surroundings and reflect my model's girly, angelic appearance.

Image & Style

I have been researching the different fashions and styles that have apppeared on the catwalks for this years autumn/winter collections. John Galliano's Fall Winter 2009/10 collections really stood out for me, as it really resembled wintery ice maidens and had a real fantasy element to the entire collection. Within the show a real atmosphere was created by the appearance of a snow storm was falling in the rumway, giving the magical illusion that the models had come from a far away fantasy land, which had fairy-tale mystique.

Photoshoot concept & Storyboards

I know feel that I have gathered enough inspirational imagery and research to develop my own winter wonderland concept and plan my photoshoot. These storyboards show my initial ideas of some of the scenes I'd like to try and achieve in my photoshoot.

As I have not viewed my location recently, I have found it quite hard to convey any specific details in these storyboards, as I don't know whether my locations will be completely suitable for these type of scenes.

Therefore, these images are really just sketches of the initial ideas that I imagine could portray a winter wonderland concept. I done quite know if I will re-create all, if any of these scenes as I really need to see the locations first and am happy to just go with the flow on the day.

I like the idea of using alot of props, to create a Tim Walker-esque fantasy feel, showing the discovery of finding unexpected objects hanging from trees throughout the winter wonderland.

I had this idea from the well known phrase, 'if only money would grow on trees' and expanded it to show what I wish could grow on trees if I was in a fantasy wonderland. For example, discovcering a tree full of presents or sweets in the middle of a wood, as if they had grown out from the branches and are free for the picking would be pretty special and give a very magical feel to my winter wonderland photoshoot.

When presents come to life

Lily Allen - The Fear (Explicit) on MUZU
I love the concept of this video, as it shows how Lily Allen steps into a small caravan which opens up into a beautiful mansion which is like her own fantasy world. As the lyrics in the song suggest, its can sometimes be hard to tell what is real and what is fake in the world we live in. Sometimes escapism is the only way of coping and dreaming of an imaginery life is for many, far better than the reality of their own lives.
From 1 minute 30 seconds onwards in the video is when Lily steps into a massive room full of beautifully wrapped presents the size of her, which then come to life and start dancing round with her. This creates such a fantasy feel to the video, as not only is there a room full of all the presents she could wish for but they actually come to life, as if she has stepped into a dream world. 
I also like the ending to the video when she steps outside to find the mansion she has just come from wrapped up with a big bow as a huge present with ballons everywhere, as if this was the ultimate birthday present that you could wish for.

The Lovely Bones

I deicided to start reading the book, 'The Lovely Bones' over chirstmas as everyone has always told me how good it is. Also, I've just found out that film director Peter Jackson has made it into a film to be released early next year and so I always like to read the book before I see the film version to see if it lives up to expectations.

This book is very inspiring and tells the story of a girl who is murdered and then finds herself in a world where everything she dreams of and makes her happy is in this world. This is the concept of how I want my 'winter wonderland' to feel as if it's a heaven like place where you can forget all your troubles and your surrounded by peace and the things that make you happy.

I've viewed the trailer online and the film is definately on my 'must see' list now as I was also really impressed with how director Peter Jackson (famous for Lord of the Rings) has captured the serenity and peace of the dream-like world she finds herself in.

I like the way the cloud filled sky is reflect onto the ground in the second of these images as though the heaven (dreamworld) and earth (reality) have merged to become one other worldly place that she finds herself in. I hope to try and capture this effect in my photographs as if the sky is part of the 'winter wonderland' to create a strong atmospheric quality the images.

Photographer: Jackson Wise

As I want to do my photoshoot back home on location in Worcestershire, I have been wracking my brain to think of a photographer I might know or be able to use for my photoshoot. Then I remembered that a guy I did photography with at sixth form college lives nearby, but we hadn't kept in touch since we left sixth form over three years ago.

Luckily, thanks to facebook, I managed to get in touch with Jackson and found he is in his third year of uni doing a degree in photography and said he was back home and free over christmas. 

Jackson gave me the link to his website so I could take a look at the style of photography he is into and the type of work he does. Even though his style is the complete opposite of what I am trying to achieve I know that he is a more than competent photographer and has told me he is happy to take my direction and is up for the challenge of something different.

Even though I haven't worked with either Jackson or Georgia before, I know them both well and feel confident I will be able to give them both direction as to creating my overall concept and final outcome.

http://thefutureofphotography.tk/

Model: Georgia Grace Palmer

The model I have chosen to use for my photoshoot just so happens to be my sister's best friend and also a successful model with top modelling agency, Models 1. Georgia has been modelling for a couple of years now and has done lots of top editorial work and also a number of campaigns for fashion brands. I feel really lucky to be working with someone who is such a professional and always takes beautiful photos, as you can see from the pictures above.

I like the fact that she has a very natural beauty and doesn't need much make up, which will work well for the angelic, porcelain beauty look I want to achieve. She has a youthful, fresh image that will compliment the crisp, freshness of a 'winter wonderland' setting.

Willy Wonka and his AMAZING Chocolate Factory

The story of Hansel and Gretel's gingerbread house also reminds me of the fantastic film adaptation of the Rohl Dahl book, 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. My favourite part in the film is when they first step into the wonka factory and enter a world where everything is edible and all the trees and flowers are sweets that can just be picked and eaten as you wish.
For all the sweet toothed people out there I'm sure this is one fantasy that many would love to be a reality. I'm thinking of incorporating some edible props into my 'winter wonderland' concept for this reason, as the surprise of finding edible treats were you least expect them whould add to the enchantment and fantasy element of my concept.
Clip from film of Willy Wonkas fantastic edible world.....

Hansel & Gretel for Vogue

        

This is one of Annie Leibovitz's most recent editiorials for US Vogue's December 2009 issue featuring no other than the fashion icon Lady Gaga and what seems to be the most popular fairytale feme fatal, Lily Cole.

This photoshoot is based on the story of Hansel and Gretel and incorporates props and costumes from the Metropolitan Opera's production of this classic fairytale. The stage props that have been set into the woodland setting make the images even more surreal and really do make you feel as if you have stepped into a magical paralell universe. 

I remember hearing this story when I was little and after, being quite scared and afraid of the thought of going into woods and getting lost. However, the image of a house in the woods being made from gingerbread and sweets and being completely edible was a dream that I wished would come true.