Carbon Gases Photoshoot

PREPPING BEFORE HAND 
My photographer brought two cameras with him to make sure we get at least one photo. He was also nervous about shooting this as we both hadn't worked with smoke before, we didn't know how long it would last and whether the camera would pick it up.
We had one camera on a tripod in a set position connect to a wireless button and my photographer also was carry one to get in for close up shots.
I showed my model poses before hand off my iPad so she would know what to do before the smoke started.

Inspiration from iPad. 

SUCESSES 
The smoke worked really well. It was a good thickness where the model was able to hide behind it. Exactly what I was trying to achieve. The smoked lasted for a good 3 minutes and I brought 3 cylinders, so with continuous shooting we managed to get a lot of shots.
The model really understood what I wanted and just kept moving she knew how to work her body and what would look best with her body shape.


STRUGGLES
The smoke cylinders worked great the first two times however when we went to do the last one it fell over so the smoke blew in the wrong direction I tried to run in to move it but none of the images turned out great. The poses in these images were also more awkward compared to the other two shoots.

EDITED PHOTOS

EDITING PHOTOS
The photos turned out well and I really liked the natural light in some of pictures they had a glow to them. However the ones of her on the tree did turn out quite dark so I wanted to brighten them up a little so you could really see the detail.

Cropping In
There was one image that really stood out to me because the smoke was all over her body and one her face it looked like she was inhaling it in. This was a full body shot we got and my hand is in it holding the cylinder. I wanted to crop in to show how the smoke was crawling up her body.
This image works so well to capture how carbon Gases is harming our bodies.

Before Edit Left - After Edit Right

Removing Tattoos
There was one image again I wanted to crop into I told my photographer which one he cropped in and sent it back to me. I noticed the tattoo straight away and it drew my eye away from the smoke. I knew then the tattoo would have to be removed as that is that you looked at first.

MY THOUGHTS
These pictures turn out better than i had imagined in my head. The ones where she is in the tree brach are breath taking and such powerful images. The way the tree bends round is just beautiful and I was lucky to find it. I like the white smoke better as it represents the actually gases and pollution being pumped into our air. I'm annoyed the blue smoke didn't work as it would have been nice to have a variety of different colours of smoke within the book. Working with the smoke was a lot easier than I thought. I did my research beforehand with safety and not to buy ones that you light as they burn really hot. I also googled laws about using them in public and tried to find a spot far away from roads and people.

REVIEWING THE OVERALL EFFECT
Using real smoke makes the images more real if I was to have edited it in afterwards I think they would have looked quite fake and not had the real raw effect I'm hoping to get from all of my images.
If I was to do this shoot again I would defiantly buy more smoke cylinders, I wouldn't get different colours are I think these colours worked really well and any others would have looked more like a pop video. It would be good to have smoke coming from different sides.
If I was to do this again I would get assistants on set to help the photographer but also to help with the smoke. Within the 3 minute slots we had they were quite stressful to do all of it and direct.

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WHERE TO GO FROM HERE - I would like to have a meeting with Emma and discuss some more ideas I was thinking about.
I want to talk to a few people who are into climate change and see what their thoughts are for the impacts and effects of climate change.
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Testing For Scorched Earth Shoot

I knew for the scorched earth shoot I wanted it to be with texture to show how dry to earth was.
My first idea I had was to try and create this using bandage material and rip it apart.

TESTING WITH BANDAGE MATERIAL

I started off by ripping the bandage and painting it an orange colour. I first thought the bandage would look effect however when I put it onto my face it just didn't work. The material didn't fit right and want to go back to it's original form all the time so I was constantly pulling it apart. I knew this wasn't the direction to go down.

BACK TO PINTEREST

As my originally idea didn't work I wanted to go back and look at other images I had put into my board for inspiration. I came across one image by Alex Box. It was everything I was trying to achieve, it looked dry and cracked just like the earth would when the temperature is rising.

My Own Pinterest Board

I believe this product to be some kind of clay or fullers earth. I remember from 1st year Lottie Davis telling us about fullers earth and how it can be used in a variety of ways. It's good for the skin and hair and creates that crackled effect when dried. I knew this product would be safe to use on my model.

TESTING WITH FULLERS EARTH
When working with the fullers earth I thought about adding a colour of enrage underneath so would could see the definition of the crack from the fullers earth. I first tested it out on my hand as I was unsure where I wanted it on my body. The overall effect worked really well it looked like earth cracking with the colour of bright sand showing underneath. the next step was to try it on the face.

I decided to add the fullers earth effect onto the neck I thought this would be the most dramatic place to add it. I also thought adding it to the face would make it look like a horror makeup for tv. Keeping it low on the neck would cause a big effect without over powering the whole image.

MY THOUGHTS
I liked how this turned out however the underneath colour of orange was too high up for me. When it came up onto my face I thought it made the skin look like it was a little burnt. So I decided trying it again but with the orange lower.

MY THOUGHTS

This way worked out so much better I also added the fullers earth quicker than before and it mixed with the orange colour underneath. The effect it created looked amazing. It captured the effect of the scorched earth I wanted. 

I also added fullers earth onto the lashes and into the eyebrow hairs I believe this pulls the look together. 

TESTING FAILS 

I thought about adding a dried effect onto the lips as I imagined this would be a part to dry up just like the rivers would. I decided to use liquid latex as we were taught in 1st year to use this to create a scabby effect. With everything else on the face being completely different with the lips as well it looked more like fantasy makeup. Keeping one element normal brought it back down and gave it a more editorial feel. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHERE TO GO FROM HERE - 

Booking the studio rooms and shooting. 

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