Dark Room

 

The contact sheet (dark photos, and didnt have the light bright enough/on long enough)

 

test photo  - where the photo is exposed for 2, 4, 6 and 8 seconds

 

final image, went for 4 seconds as that exposure had the best image quality

The images were achieved in a dark room using an enlarger (large light machine with a holder for the negatives so that light can be shone through and they can be enlarged). They then spend around 2 minutes in the developer, 30secs in water (to 'stop' the developer), and then 5min in the fixing chemical. Then they are washed and dried.

evaluation for masks project

The aim of the project was to show the model, while also hiding her at the same time. Initially I wanted to make the whole picture green - using a green background, face/body paint and green clothes, but this wasn't practical, so I went with my second idea. The second idea was for the model to wear masks, either one mask, or several. I eventually decided for her to wear 3 masks, and 3 dresses with them. This was to show formal, evening and fun styles that the model could wear.
Over all I think that the look of the photos reflect what I was trying to suggest. The images came out very yellow - entirely unintentional - but a tone which worked well with the images, reducing the almost creepy quality of the images - especially the skeleton ones.

I like the layout I used for the photos, with the outer photos looking inwards, almost as angels and devils, towards the 'coupling' of the skeleton and the model.

The final photos could, perhaps, have been improved by making the yellow tone more even between all the photographs. The photos generally stiff, like the model is a little uncomfortable of I have little skill for what I was doing.

research

http://artistsinspireartists.com/photography/35_amazing_black_white_photos

http://1000words.kodak.com/thousandwords/post/?id=734770

make-up ideas

I noticed, when I was trying the masks on, that the eyes are very obvious, so I started looking at the eye make-up. I tried several colours, and the results varied, some worked exceptionally well, others, not so much.

The first colours I tried were black and white - the black I used was not strong enough and made me look like I had a black eye, while the white was barely noticeable and somehow made my eye look smaller .

My second ideas was with yellow and purple - but I put cream eyeshadow down first this time which made the colours much more vivid. The purple went really well with the multi-coloured mask, so I decided to try the other two masks on as well to see if it only looked good with the purple in the mask. Neither yellow or purple eyeshadow went with the other masks, they just just looked sea-monster-ish

My final combination of colours was dark blue and (another, different) black eyeshadow, again using cream eyeshadow underneath.
The dark colours both brought out the eyes, as well as blending them better into the masks. The blue worked with the black and gold mask less well than the others, so over all I have chosen to use the second black with cream eyeshadow with the masks on the actual shoot.

I also tested lipsticks with the mask:

orange-bronze lipstick

 red-bronze lipstick

red lipstick





pink lipstick

Overall, I prefer the orange-red lipstick, and will use it in the shoot. I may take them all with me to the shoot anyway, though.

I looked at clothes my model could wear, I think that they would all suit the model equally and the masks would not all go well with each of the dresses.

The jacket, I have ruled out on the grounds that it barely fits me and the model using is a size larger than myself. The dress may not fit her, but as I feel it would match the feathered mask exceptionally well - as it is a very fancy, occasion dress, like the mask is less party dress and more occasion dress.

The yellow dress I think would work well with the coloured mask, purely because it is coloured. The black and lace dress would, I think, work best with the lace patterned black and gold mask.


I have also taken my models hair into account, I felt a simple up-do would draw the eye more to the mask, as well as looking rather classy. The first idea was to try something similar to how I wore my hair for my school prom two years ago, the models hair is much shorted than my own, so most of the ends were hard to tuck away

 

The most important part of the hair style was that it should be able to stand a hair-band style mask hold, as well as a tie-back mask, which it managed.

The feathered black mask has had its attachment changed to a tie-back fastening, as the mask itself was too big and liable to slip down while it had a hair-band.

The model also suggested a half-up-half-down hair style, but the pins loosened when she put the back tie mask on, and got caught, so we decided against it, despite the fact that it looked quite nice.