Final Project: Depiction of a young girl's emotions



happy



hope

lost

sad

scared

in love

Artist’s Statement

For my final project, I decided to capture 6 different emotions of the same person inspired by one of the Next Top Model challenges in which a similar concept was used.  I have attempted to use natural frames and backgrounds to show the theme of the picture rather than basing the shots solely on the emotions shown by the subject. The emotions chosen are recognized by everyone and are easy to display and this is helpful for the subject of my picture, since everyone is capable of portraying these simple emotions. My six emotions are happy, sad, scared, shy, lost and funny.

For the ‘Happy’ themed picture, I have used the colorful poles to try and frame the picture in some places. I didn’t take a full body shot as it could shift the focus from the face, which is the focus. The poles although worn out, are quite vivid and seem to add color to the picture, furthermore illustrating happiness.

                She is standing behind a wall, partially exposing her face partially to the camera, for the ‘sad’ themed picture. I have attempted to place her in a narrow, dirty and dark place to exaggerate the theme.

The background of the picture with the lost theme is mostly dark green trees which help to create a contrast between the colorful poles and present the subject as being lost and confused as to where she is heading to. I adjusted the brightness and contrast a bit, to make the overall picture more vivid and dark.

                The sad, themed picture was taken from above to create the effect that people are looking down on her and the leaves and dirt embellish the background which illustrates her isolation.

                People usually look up towards the sky if they wish or hope for something and that is exactly what has been done with the ‘hope’ themed picture. The tree branches overlap parts of her face to show that she is looking up towards the sky and the branches represent the height. The face has been blurred to show that everyone hopes for one thing or another and therefore it doesn’t matter who it is, but the fact that they are all hoping to get something.

                When someone is in love, most of the time they have an unstoppable smile floating around their lips and they usually feel shy when trying to talk or even look at the person they look, hence why we can’t really see the persons face as she is looking down. I have used photoshop to add in clouds and mountains and used the layer blending options to blend these objects in with the picture. You can see faint outlines of the building structures but they resemble clouds and not normal buildings. The reason for adding clouds is to show that although you are physically on earth, your thoughts are elsewhere, probably high up near the sky. The plants act as a barrier between the one she likes and her as she feels too shy to approach him and uses the object as an excuse to look at him since she feels like she cannot directly look at him. 

                Overall I am quite satisfied with the picture but there is room for a lot of improvements.

This is a picture of a girl in a very fancy costume and she is looking down, out of the window. We see parts of some buildings outside although it is faded. The background is quite dark and almost black; we can’t see much. The emphasis is, of course, on the model and the eye is immediately drawn to her and then it wanders off to see what the model is looking at and we see outside the building.

                The picture is in grayscale, as it consists of shades varying from black to white and different mixtures and shades of these two colors.  

Research

How to take good photographs

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/10-ways-to-take-stunning-portraits

Our final project was to take 6 shots of a person that will give the viewer insight into the subject’s personality. I decided to go online in search of some useful tips that will aid me in producing good photographs.

·         Altering the perspective :- Taking a picture from a great height looking down on the subject or from the bottom, this could create an interesting look.

·         Breaking the rules of composition: - Break the rule of thirds and place your subject dead center or in the extreme right or left side.

·         Experimenting with lighting:- Use light in a creative way to create effects on the subject

·         Take an unexpected picture:- Capture them while they aren’t posing for the camera. This sometimes can bring out really nice shots of the person and will be different than their usual poses, hence incorporating more variety to the shots.

·         Fill the frame:- This allows the viewer to concentrate on just one thing which makes it easier for the viewer.

Brainstorming for Final project

For My final project, I have thought about capturing different emotions of the same person as the assignment is to take 6 pictures of an individual. I can use Happy, sad, scared, angry, shy and in love.

I’ll use the aid of clothing and makeup to add more depth to the theme of the picture. For example, dark eyeliner and light lipstick can look sophisticated with a tied up bun, however with loose hair, it can look somber and dark and this type of makeup could be used for the sad, themed picture.

Dark eye-liner, light colored lipstick and loose hair creates a sad, somber look

Dark eyeliner, light lipstick and tied up hair looks sophisticated

For a Happy Picture, I might use light summer colors such as blue, pink, orange for eye shadow and a light pink or red lipstick. Eyeliner can be minimal.

Different sorts of makeup can have different effects on the subject of the picture. I have used photoshop to see the effects makeup can have on the subject.



We were to experiment with photo-taking so obviously we were sent out to take pics. While taking pictures we also tried to use the several effect options given on the camera. I used the color pick option to take this picture with and the result was a half green color and half black and white picture. Although it is an ordinary picture, I am quite happy with the colors and shades of this picture as i like the idea of the subject being black and white, while the things around him is in color.

      Since we have been learning about photoshop i decided to edit the picture a bit. It has a dark look to it and the blotches of red look like blood or some red liquid stuck on to the camera lens while taking the picture( or atleast, that is the look i have tried to achieve). I used the gradient tool, recolor brush tool, and the quick selection tool.

This picture had a few holes and crease lines, and i used the clone tool to get rid of those lines and have use the brightness/ contrast tool to add a bit more color to the picture.

These are the other pictures used for the restoration task. Similar to the previous one, I have used the photo filter option, brightness/ contrast, crop tool and the exposure tool.

Photo restoration Task

Restored Picture

For this task, we had to restore old photos, I mostly used the clone stamp tool, brightness/ contrast options, and the photo filter tool.