Photoshoot 1: Surrealism Body Paint: Work Diary Evaluation -

Photoshoot 1: Work Diary Evaluation - 

Equipment Used: 
Canon EOS 450D, standard lens, snoot, key light and black backdrop. 

Settings: 
1/125, F/8 ISO 200.

Lighting: 
Snoot and key light. 

Theory: 
Beauty, race, gender etc is skin deep.

Favourite(s):

This image is my joint favourite of the shoot as the black light worked well with the paint and created the style that I was hoping for. The image is surreal in that the outline of the subject is unclear where it begins or ends.

This image is also a favourite of mine as the majority of the subject is in frame and the painting on the arm appears to be spreading up the arm whilst the black jeans also create a surreal image in that the body appears suspended in mid air due to the lighting.

Least Favourite:

The above image is the least favourite of the series despite that it conveys both sections of painted area. The positioning of the model was difficult to convey both areas of paint and thus the effect was lost as the painting was lost. Also, the paint on the face of the subject does not work as well as the paint does not extend to reach the black backdrop and thus create the desired effect.

Evaluation and Development -

This shoot was mostly successful in that the original idea of utilising the practice of low key lighting in cohesion with a Man Ray inspired body paint technique was executed well. The arm of the subject appears to disappear directly into the black backdrop as was the desired outcome that is often used by many make-up artists on social media. The only negatives that have arisen from my initial shoot is that the model is a friend who does not have experience posing and as such the final outcome is not as dynamic as hoped for. Moreover, the lighting did prove difficult to set up and to ensure that the body paint blended into the background the images are darker than was expected. Despite this it was still an insightful exploration of surrealism for the first photoshoot.

I am unsure as to whether I will implement this skill any further within my photographic shoots as the preparation is extremely time consuming and I have achieved the connotative meanings that I wanted to imply already within these images.

Photoshoot 1: Surrealism Body Paint: Contact Sheet -

Photoshoot 1: Contact Sheet - 

Photoshoot 1: Surrealism Body Paint: Straight Images -

Photoshoot 1: Straight Images - 

Body Paint:



This image was one of the first in the series and was the initial experimentation with the lighting. Using a snoot meant that a smaller beam of light would reach the subject which therefore meant that I introduced a fill light.



The lighting still appeared quite dark so I adjusted the light settings and took some sample shots; however, when increasing the brightness the overall image became too exposed to allow the technique to work. That technique being relying on the black body paint blending into the backdrop. I did also try increasing the ISO value from 200 but found that the image became too noisy for my personal preference and as a result returned to the original values suggested by the light metre.



This image did not work as well for a few reasons. Whilst the composition was pleasing and more experimental than some of the others the placement of the model meant that the technique did not work to full efficiency with the black paint blending into the black background.



This image again compositionally was interesting although the lighting failed the subject somewhat. The darker lighting adds to the tone of the work but takes away some of the professional styling that I was aiming for.

This image worked in that the positioning of the model within the framing meant that both pieces of physical manipulation, body paint, were in shot. Although, the artwork on the profile of the model was not efficient in that the black paint did not extend to the black backdrop to exaggerate the effect as was exemplified by the arm of the model.

Photoshoot 1: Surrealism Body Paint: Image Bank -

Photoshoot 1: Image Bank - 

Definitions:

• Surrealism:  A 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
• Body Art: An artistic genre, originating in the 1970s, in which the actual body of the artist or model is integral to the work.

Examples: 

(Madeyewlook)

(Unknown)

(Mykie)

(Mykie)



(Mykie)