Cosmetic Retouching

Original Image. 

The first thing I did was change the exposures, highlights and contrast on camera RAW. 

I then continued to touch up the background and remove blemishes using the 'Spot removal tool (B)

I then boosted the clarity full and opened it up in photoshop as a 'smart image'.

I then duplicate the layer and call in 'airbrush'.

I then 'rasterized' the original layer, and opened 'airbrush' up into camera RAW, this time decreasing the clarity to 0 and opening it back up into photoshop. 

I then placed the original layer above the airbrush layer. I used the rubber tool - size: 28pxl, hardness: 69%- zoomed in and rubbed out his skin. Below are my results. 

before

After

I then continued across the whole face. Below are my results. 

Eyes:

To change the eyes, I selected the tool 'Polygonal lasso tool' and selected around both eyes

I then created a new adjustment layer - hue/saturation and clicked ok. 

       

I then experimented with hue, saturation and lightness and below is the result on the eyes. Below is the result. 

I then used the liquify tool to change the shape of his mouth slightly and bring his neck in a little bit. 

Below is the finished version. 

Final ideas research

HMV My Inspiration Campagne. 

This image is of a well known music artist, Ellie Goulding. I chose to research Ellie Goulding because I thought she resembled my chosen model. 
I noticed the background was black, this relates well to my idea of using negative space. I also like how she fills the frame nicely. 

The lighting seems pretty simple, i image it's just one light to the right, maybe a slight hair lighting. Some reflectors at the left to highlight her left arm. 

If I were to take this photo I would have lit up her eyes more or even used Rembrandt's method and created the triangle under her eye more. 

The layout of these posters are quite nice and clean, I may experiments with different layouts.

 This is not a HMV poster, however it follows the same concept. The use of negative space and the movement in her body language is what I want to create. 

My plan is to make the model listen to her favourite song and act accordingly. 

Ideas

I find I'm personally drawn to very natural portraits expressing a lot of emotion based on the personality of the subject. 

I dislike posed images a lot. 

My idea: 
Based on HMV-My inspiration campaign.

Music retailer HMV has been running its 'My Inspiration campaign' for a number of months, inviting leading stars to choose their musical or lyrical inspiration. As the campaign marks the milestone of 100 different artists.

I really support the meaning behind this; celebrities showing the world what inspired them to work so hard. 

This is Madonna's inspiration poster. This is one of my favorites because Madonna is well known as being revealing, over the top and made up hair and make-up wise. Yet in this she's her natural self, she's not trying too hard, she's portraying herself as if she's lost in the words 'Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine'. Those were the words that inspired her. 
I also love the soft lighting, making her face look flawless. 

I plan on using regular students to model for me, asking them to personally choose their inspiration, whether musically, artistically or for just living.









I used a model that I personally knew to do some test shots in the studio, hoping to use an image as my final piece but unfortunately I wasn't happy with the results. (below)

EXPOSURES:
I shot in RAW, on manual mode. 
All shots taken were f2.8, 1/125

Evaluation: I found that even though my model was confident but stubborn. She wasn't really paying much attention to my idea and chose to pose how she wanted. 
Technically however I'm happy with the lighting setup. 


I wanted her to convey emotion to fit in with the theme of 'being inspired'. 
I came to the conclusion that I'm going to use a black backdrop and work more with negative space so when I add the 'inspiring quotes' they will look presentable in the negative space. 
Compositionally my image won't be the same either, I've decided to not have my model positioned in the centre as it can be quite boring, I will position the model off centre, possibly to the right looking into the frame. 

Below is the lighting setup. 

Cutting and merging in Photoshop

First I used the magic wand tool (W) to select the back ground on the left side, I then held shift to select the centre background and the right side. 










I then selected 'Inverse', this reverses the selection. 

I then copied and pasted the selection to the background. 

I then went to edit > transform > scale. 
I held down 'shift' whilst dragging the corner of the image to keep it scaled. 
I then noticed an irritating thin white boarder around the dresses. 

I went back to my original dress later, clicked 'modify' and then 'contract'. 

I chose 3 pixels and then continued to copy and paste the dresses to the background. Below is the result. 

As you can see the highlight around the dress is gone. 













I then proceeded to clear any blemishes around. Below is the finished result. 

Advertising Theory

Notes

Purpose of advertising: 

• Self promotion
• Create a desire within the viewer for the product- a desire they did not know they even had. 
• Make money/create awareness 
• Influencing society 

How advertising works:
Making a product look appealing:

• Colour- Adds mood and symbolic reference 
• Composition
• Continuity 
• Positive associations/ connotations equates lifestyle aspirations 
• Using shared cultural values and languages eg, Christmas
• Flattery- making the viewer feel clever
• Humour 
• Shock tactics- helps get the point across, can be disturbing but memorable 
• Semiotics 
• Detonation 
• Catchy strap-line! "Just Do It"-Nike - Short, simple yet effective. 
• Sexuality 
• Text/ Typography - suiting the connotations of the advert 
• Visual reference- Nina Ricci- Snow White, props-locations-models
• Metaphors- softness-Andrex puppy 
• Metonym- where one object represents a category, eg. One child to represent all children
• Parody 
• Sports personalities 
• Rich and luxurious lifestyles- aspirations 
• Celebrates
• Dreams
• Fantasies  
• The stereotypical idea of a 'happy family' having 'family fun' together
• Romance/love
• Nature/natural world
• Beautiful people-sex appeal 
• Ecological issues 
• Logos 

Types of advertising:

Source: http://www.parentdish.co.uk 

This advert is a great example of a 'Public Service' advert. It's aimed at parents alerting them to the potential dangers of sharing a bed with young children. 

By showing a young, defenceless child sleeping innocently inches away from a large, sharp knife, it creates an element of shock for anyone who see's it. Making it memorable.  

The child is a metonym of all other children. 

The text "YOUR BABY SLEEPING WITH YOU CAN BE JUST AS DANGEROUS." It's written in capitol letters, showing urgency.
The colour white is a key factor in this advert. White is usually associated with innocence and purity- the child is lying upon white sheets. White is also associated with doctors, cleanliness and more importantly to this advert- safety. 

Commercial advert.
To the left is Christina Aguilera's perfume advert.  Instantly by using Christina, the target market has opened up to her fans. This advert will be aimed at woman but also the use of sex appeal and nudity might attract males to buy it for their partners ect. 

The use of colour is fantastic, black with red and white all make the advert look pure yet sexy.
The elegance within the font of the name is also glamorous and beautiful- the red also creating a sense of passion.

The strap-line "Sometimes, it's all you need to wear" implies that clothing isn't even needed to wear this fragrance- using fantasy and sex to sell the product. 
This advert could be seen in woman's magazines, fashion magazines and possibly on bus shelters in cities. 

source: http://openfundraising.com

This image is a great example of 'Charity advertising'. It's aimed at everyone.
The words 'Beaten. Neglected. Starved.' capture our attention almost instantly. They are words you don't want to associate with the cute puppy.
The puppy is a metonym of all other animals.
Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquillity  understanding, and softness; all the things the advert are saying you are IF you "help feed a do like Archie". 
The words that are most important are slightly bigger than the rest- Donation process, heart-warming question, 
shocking horrid words. 

Source: http://www.i-am-bored.com

The image to the left is a hilarious example of a subvert/parody.
It uses humour as a weapon to show a exaggerated version of how unhealthy McDonalds is.
The original strap-line 'I'm Lovin It' has been warped to 'i'm luggin' it', fitting the connotations of this subvert.  
It uses a negative sex appeal to suggest that you will be 'ugly' if you eat this food. 
The well known 'm' for McDonalds logo has been used. 
This subvert was found on a website full of subverts. It's not an advert that would be published in magazines ect. 

Body Language

It's been told that 94% of body language is non-verbal, so of course it's a very important part of taking a portrait.
The slightest difference in your body language can set a specific mood or tell a story.
Props and composition are other key factors that can have an effect.

Arms:
The position of arms is an obvious sign of detecting the mood of a person. For example:If the subject is seated and places their head in their hands comfortably, this can imply boredom.
If the subject places their arms across their chest, this suggests they are feeling uncomfortable and possibly defensive. 

Head:
Overly tilted heads can be a potential sign of sympathy. If a person smiles while tilting their head this can imply they are being playful or even flirty. 
Lowered heads indicate a reason to hide something.
Cocked heads mean that they are confused or challenging you, this can then depend on eye, eyebrow and mouth gestures. 

Eyes
If someone looks to the sides a lot this can be a sign of being nervous, distracted or lying. If someone looks down at the floor a lot, they are probably shy or timid. Feeling negative, or thinking unpleasantly can often lead to staring at the floor.  
Dilated pupils mean that the person is interested.
If their eyes seem focused far away, that usually indicates that a person is in deep thought or not listening.

Here are some pictures I took to show different ways of showing emotion through body language. 

Exposures: f2.8
ISO: 200 
Shutter Speed: 1/125


I loved this shoot, it was fun and I think the use of camera angle helped capture the emotions, as well as the use of arms and eyes. 

Photoshop - Old photo touch up

The image to the left is the image I'm going to practice touch ups on.

I'm going to do this my using the 'Healing brush tool'.
To use it I'll have to press 'alt' click an area that doesn't need touching up and then an area that does.

AFTER

BEFORE

Above is an area of the image before I used touch up and after. I changed the size to 9pixels and the opacity to 50%.

After working for 2 hours, below is my completed version.