"Valkyrie"
Contact Strips
Please click on the thumbnail to view the contact strip full-size.
Green circles indicate images that I considered using, as I liked them.
Red arrows indicate images that I didn't like at all.
The Final Photographs
Please click the images if you wish to view them full size.
My aim in this photoshoot was to re-create Mary Raines style of simple portraiture using a plain background and the theme of "Disguise." In my previous photoshoot of "Ciel Phantomhive" I used the technique of colour popping in order to draw the eye to a specific point in a black and white or sepia photograph. In this shoot, I decided to use this technique again as I really liked the effect it gives on the overall image. For this shoot I used a mask that I believe is representative of a Valkyrie, a being in norse mythology that brought fallen soldiers souls to the mythological realm of Valhallas. The Valkyries were often beautiful female warriors, who directly fought under Odin's rule. However, there are many interpretations of this myth.
In this shoot, I have used the theme of disguise. It can be interpreted that the human girl we see, is in fact a Valkyrie in present day hiding behind the persona of a innocent girl. This first photograph features the model with her expression hidden by the mask. Her face is tilted downwards, and her shoulders are bare. For this shoot, I wanted to recreate the use of suggested nudity that Raine uses in her photographs. In this shoot I used a NikonD3100 camera and studio lighting, with the lighting as bright as possible. I chose to colour pop the gem on the mask for two reasons. Firstly, the colour purple represents prestige and royalty. It is a neutral colour, and I felt that it symbolised the persona of a Valkyrie well. It is a colour that has often been used in regards to honor and wealth, both of which these mythical beings would have had. The part of this photograph that strikes me as the most interesting is the angle. As the model is tilted forward, the majority of the photograph is taken up by her hair and the mask, drawing our eye to the main focal point. The rest of the photograph consists of the models chest, which is purposely out of focus, and the background. Looking at this photograph now, if I chose to edit it again I would clone stamp out the diagonal line that runs along the floor. Finally, I would like to mention the use of symmetry in this photograph. With the angle being face-on, this creates an aesthetically pleasing effect on the eye.
My aim in this photoshoot was to re-create Mary Raines style of simple portraiture using a plain background and the theme of "Disguise." In my previous photoshoot of "Ciel Phantomhive" I used the technique of colour popping in order to draw the eye to a specific point in a black and white or sepia photograph. In this shoot, I decided to use this technique again as I really liked the effect it gives on the overall image. For this shoot I used a mask that I believe is representative of a Valkyrie, a being in norse mythology that brought fallen soldiers souls to the mythological realm of Valhallas. The Valkyries were often beautiful female warriors, who directly fought under Odin's rule. However, there are many interpretations of this myth.
In this shoot, I have used the theme of disguise. It can be interpreted that the human girl we see, is in fact a Valkyrie in present day hiding behind the persona of a innocent girl. This first photograph features the model with her expression hidden by the mask. Her face is tilted downwards, and her shoulders are bare. For this shoot, I wanted to recreate the use of suggested nudity that Raine uses in her photographs. In this shoot I used a NikonD3100 camera and studio lighting, with the lighting as bright as possible. I chose to colour pop the gem on the mask for two reasons. Firstly, the colour purple represents prestige and royalty. It is a neutral colour, and I felt that it symbolised the persona of a Valkyrie well. It is a colour that has often been used in regards to honor and wealth, both of which these mythical beings would have had. The part of this photograph that strikes me as the most interesting is the angle. As the model is tilted forward, the majority of the photograph is taken up by her hair and the mask, drawing our eye to the main focal point. The rest of the photograph consists of the models chest, which is purposely out of focus, and the background. Looking at this photograph now, if I chose to edit it again I would clone stamp out the diagonal line that runs along the floor. Finally, I would like to mention the use of symmetry in this photograph. With the angle being face-on, this creates an aesthetically pleasing effect on the eye.
In this second photograph I had the same model look sideways. My aim in this photograph was to draw inspiration from Mary Raine's work, where the angle of the photograph suggests nudity, but the audience can't be sure. In this photograph, the models bare shoulders are shown, with her face tilting to the side and her eyes are hidden by the shadow created by the mask. Once again, I colour popped the gem for reasons that I explained previously. I particularly like how the mask has caused shadows over the models eyes, hiding her expression from the audience. This leaves the subjects emotions to the audiences imagination.
In photoshop, asides from colour popping, I edited the levels in order to emphasise on the lighter areas in the photograph and changed the image to black and white. I chose to use black and white as I believe this makes the image less cluttered, and allows for the colour popping to draw your eye to a particular point of the photograph.
Overall, I am pleased with this photoshoot - however, I would have liked at least two more images to display. Unfortunately, I felt that the other images taken in the shoot weren't good enough to edit and display in my coursework.
In photoshop, asides from colour popping, I edited the levels in order to emphasise on the lighter areas in the photograph and changed the image to black and white. I chose to use black and white as I believe this makes the image less cluttered, and allows for the colour popping to draw your eye to a particular point of the photograph.
Overall, I am pleased with this photoshoot - however, I would have liked at least two more images to display. Unfortunately, I felt that the other images taken in the shoot weren't good enough to edit and display in my coursework.
Editing Process
This process applies to both photographs.
- Used the pen tool to select the purple gem. Cut it.
- Used the pen tool to select the purple gem. Cut it.
- Pasted gem onto a new canvas.
- Edited image into black and white.
- Edited levels to enhance the lighter areas of the image.
- Pasted gem back onto the image.