Personal Shoot 4: Horrifically Beautiful

 

Plans for the shoot:

 

In todays shoot I am planning on looking at horror/gore or special effects makeup as I have not looked at this yet in any of my shoots.  I am wanting to show a contrast that I also haven't looked at within the photography/makeup industry - that is something that can be perceived as being stereotypically 'beautiful' and something that is perceived as being 'ugly' or not normal.  Therefore I am planning on using myself as a subject and doing half my face in 'pretty' glamorous makeup and the other half of my face all cut up revealing a skull face.

I think this is idea is original and will allow me to experiment and explore more within my chosen topic.  It also gives me a chance to gain not only more photos for my portfolio but more skills and practice with special effects makeup.  I am thoroughly looking forward to this shoot and cannot wait to see the results!

I'm again going to use a sterile background as I want my subject to remain the only focus in the photo (I have found many times previously that this is how I like to photograph).  The grey background is also mostly likely to be the one that I use.  This is because all the makeup I am using is going to be a strong back and white and therefore there will a subtle harmonious colour scheme kept through out which will help balance out the strong makeup look I am anticipating.  It will also make all red in the look (from the blood) stand out too and therefore I will have a focal colour as well.

Shoot evaluation:
I am really happy with the shoot today and how it went!  Not only am I proud of the look I created I also think that photos that I been able to capture are really interesting and something that are going to look great in my portfolio.  I have found that using myself as a subject the more comfortable I feel the better the photos turn out, and with this look I had so much fun with it I was able to take on the character I created well and ended up with a good shoot.  Here are some of the photos from today:

This is my favourite photo from today.  I think it is very dramatic and striking to look at, making it visually interesting and dynamic.  I love the expression and the intensity that the eyes have - because they are making contact with the camera  they are very haunting to look at and add to the dramatic, dark side of look.  This has also been accentuated with the angle at which the photo has been taken as the camera is looking down at the subject, therefore the eyes look bigger and more attention is drawn to them.  The framing of the photo is also something that I like about this shot as it is quite tight and this again has added more attention to the subject.

I really like how the contrast between the two looks turned out in this shot and how you can clearly see the difference in the glamorous side of the look and the creepy side.  All the colours in the photo are harmonious as anticipated but the red of the blood has added a nice contrast and highlighted where I want most of the attention in the photo to be.

This is another photo from today's shoot.  I like this one for as it has been taken at a slightly different angle and zoom level so you can see more of the shoulders and upper body.  I like this as the pose of the subject looks slightly twisted and her facial expression is almost dormant adding to the eerie feel of the photo. 

In this photo I chose to change the saturation level slightly too and I liked the effect that this gave as it darkened the image subtly and this added to the dark side of the image.

I definitely enjoyed working with special effects makeup today and creating a darker look - it was fun and has added a different element to my portfolio.  This is something that I want to experiment more with and see what other looks I can create and how they can be translated in a photograph.