I organised to have one final photoshoot with my three models, so as to have a better range of photos to choose from when creating my final contents and double page spread, and to experiment with the images on the front cover. I took a considerable amount of photos this time, as I knew it would be the last chance I would get to experiment with my models. I had music from my chosen genre playing in the background as I was taking these shots, so as to create the effect I wanted my models to portray, and some of these images are extremely silly with regards to facial expressions and poses as a result of this, but that was exactly the point. I let the models express the vibe they were feeling from the music through their poses, but I organised them when they did not convey the style or hold the positions I wanted them to. I will crop the images so that each 'band member' is a separate image, and so if one model looks better in an image than another, this will essentially not matter. I shot the photos in the school studio again, as I felt that a plain background and professional lighting would make editing a lot simpler when trying to create the style of cut and paste images, as opposed to the outdoor shots I took for my first draft.
These are all of the photos I took for the first draft of my magazine.
My favourites are:
Despite my lack of experience in photography, I think this shoot worked quite well considering I had never done anything like this before. Having walked past the graffitied wall featured in some of these photos on a regular basis, I had kept it in mind for a backdrop, and thought it would be perfect for a shoot of this kind, as it created an edgy, punk, street look. The two guys I asked to model for me, Bill & Richard, brought their own instruments and dressed themselves as I had instructed - in jeans, dark colours, hoodies, leather jackets etc. The girl I asked to model for me, Ella, brought a change of different outfits, all of which were either black or a range of bold, striking colours, as well as being 'hard' looking, which reflected my chosen music genre. I knew she would be perfect for this kind of shoot because, naturally, she is also a perfect example of my chosen target audience, and Bill & Richard the same. As they are all people I hang around with daily, I knew that they would look good together if I was to place them in a band, and I think they came up with some amazing poses, which will hopefully create a fun vibe about the magazine. The only problem with the outdoor setting was the fact that it was such a windy day; this is why in some of the photos, the models' hair is strewn about all over the place. I didn't think this was a massive inconvenience, however, as the look I was going for was meant to be 'rough' looking anyway, and so I think this factor made the shoot look all the more real, although maybe not as professional as it could have been. I decided to take some photos of Ella on her own, as well as the band photos, because I knew that I wanted a single person shot on the front cover, and as I want to use a bold background colour, I knew that I had to take these photos on a plain background, so as to make editing easier later on. Before taking the mid shots/close-ups of Ella, I dressed her in a more stylish, plain outfit, made sure her hair was neater and applied some make-up to her face, so as to attract an audience at first glance and to make sure that the image wouldn't clash with the background I was to choose, as well as giving her a pair of drum sticks, as she plays the drummer of the band, and this was something I forgot to do whilst taking photos outdoors. I probably won't use the picture with the drumsticks, as I think this may limit the audience slightly and may clutter up the page, but this is something I will consider next time. I really like the third photo down, but it is poor quality due to lighting, and so I think the second photo will be my front cover image, as it is striking but simplisitic and she generally looks great. Despite my decision to use a purple background, I think, due to the clothes Ella was wearing, that I may have to change this, so as not to create a clash of colours on the cover. The outdoor photos will appear on the contents page and double page spread. I am almost certain that I want a photo of all three band members on the double page spread, although I think I will have to play around with the contents page as I am unsure as to which photo(s) will work best and if I want to use more than one. Overall, I think this was a successful shoot for the first draft of my magazine.
