Before I actually commenced in the task of collecting the final images I intended for both my double page spread and documentary poster I commissioned the model I was primarly going to use in these shots to enagage in a few 'practise' takes of how I desired the photograph to come across - such as the posture, clothing and environment and how essentially they were to be incorporated into the final product. Listed below in ascending order are the original images captured and their edited versions as I attempted to recreate the appropriate lighting, tone and theme in the body of the photograph that I want to use, as referenced to via my rationale.
For the first photoshoot I asked the model if she could lean towards the lense of the camera - this way it obstructed her face from full view of the final image, leaving her body remaining and the main aspect to be focused on, this is the conventional intention I desperately wanted to be recognised tot the viewing public as it allows me to emphasise how anorexia can ravage an individuals body. In this particular take it brought immediate attention to her skeletal frame and legs - it can clearly be deconstructed from the image that this girl either has an eating disorder or is severely ill just by how her body comes across to the audeince. Out of all the photos I captured this was my favourite as it truly highlighted how emaciated and powerless someone can become once deply mmersed in the severiy of anorexia. The 'costume' she was wearing aided in drawing even more focus to her frame and made her look childlike or innocent in a sense. I took the photographs in an empty room so the backdrop was a whitewashed wall - I think in my final images it would be essential to have a similar background as if there is nothing else as a focal point for the audience to observe then all attention will certaintly be on the model. It sort of a disapointment to me gaining such a powerfull image in a test shoot, if this was took in a professional studio environment in an identical pose with advanced equipment it would potentially have been the shot I would have incorporated into my final product, however due to the grainiess of the quality and shadowing prompted on the backdrop this certainitly wouldn't be considered as a finished prodcution.
In the secondary take I ordered her to change her body posture and position, which she did, and adopted an almost thoughful pose. I feel as if her body is still thorughly emphasised through the shot, unfortunately i dont believe this is as effective as the previous image I captured - in that one she looked almost pained in expression even though her face was absent you could tell she was in a form of mental pain, and as an observer looking at it from a distance I did feel sorry for her, however in this particular image I feel as if it doesnt elict the necessary sympathetic response I crave, for the final photoshoot I would not be happy with this specific posture/pose in the finished creation. Another clear disadvantage to this photo is, like the previous above, is the quality after it has been took by the camera - pixillated productions connotate a sense of unprofessionalism as if the operator is naive to the technical points and overall operating style of the equipment which is something I don't want the audience to perceive whilst viewing my finished product.
For our final take I requested again for her to display a new pose, I dislike this one equally as much as the second photo as although the fragility of her body is emphasised throughly through the stance she has adopted, it appears to be sort of a happy, though provoking posture as if she is in some way elated about her condition which is deffinitely not the impression I want the audience to have as in essence I am trying to prompt a empathetic response from them through the fragility of the model.
Below are all of the images I took on this test shoot, yet the next stage for me was to load them up onto photoshop and effectively alter the hue,saturation and contrast tones in an attempt to replicate the black and white look I was desiring for the final product as explained within my rationale. For these tones I adapted a more darker, gritty black and white shade - I lowered the contrast which allowed me to emphasise the black elements of the shot, most importantly the legs of the model as this essentially was one of her more noticable 'anorexic traits'
For the final experientation of these images I transfered all of the original copies into the photo sharing application 'Instagram' and used some of their editing software to attempt to create a different black and white tone. For this i used a lighting tool that allowed me to distort the neutral colours, unlike the previous set of photographs both the white an black brought out the aspects of the girls body and highlighted them significantly. Despite this I was quick to notice that this effect had added to the overall graininess of the image (this may be due to the reduced quality device I captured them on) however I was not prepared to risk duplicating the same style onto my final images when they were took as if it was a universal theme and this software did reduce the quality of the image then i wouldn't want my audience to interpret the shots as 'unprofessional' or 'amaetur' which would decompose the serious theme I am intending to portray as if they can't take the images seriously then they will deffintely not engage the mature content of the documentary/article
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