Photographic skills A - Final studio assignment

Having never used a studio, or even a flash in my photography, the idea of a studio assignment was a daunting idea.
We were given a brief, to create either 1 portrait photograph and 2 product or still life shots, or 2 portrait photographs and 1 product/still life. Having come from an entirely landscape based style to studio photography, which I previously had no real interest in was bizarre.



My instant reaction was to lean towards the idea of two product shots, as I have an inept ability to photograph peeople. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised I really had nothing to lose! University is about learning, many as well throw my self in at the deep end of the learning curve now instead of shying away from what will inevitably come.

So I decided upon 2 portraiture shots and one product shot. Only problem was, I had no idea about studio lighting.
Half of the group then took part in a lighting workshop with Anne, which was a superb opportunity to learn from an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher. I really enjoyed the workshop, and took away new skills and a confidence in studio lighting and what type of lighting I'm going to be using for my photographs.


For my first portraiture shot, I decided to keep it as simple as possible, here is a quote from my Proposal

This being my first ever portrait shot, and the first time using a studio, I’ve decided to keep this first photograph as simple – Yet effective as possible.

            My intention is to take a ‘standard’ head shot, the type of which are often seen in models portfolios.

These images aim to give the perfect balance of showing the subject in the best possible lighting, while producing a clean and natural image.

These photographs are referred to simple as ‘Polaroid’s’ in the modelling industry. Usually the model is require to wear little or more usually no makeup what so ever.

Meaning the correct lighting is an essential part of portraying the model in the most natural yet flattering way.

My model will be wearing make up, yet I still aim to reproduce a natural look.

There are many examples of this type of photograph on the Internet, here are some of the ones I found on google images that interested me the most:

 

I felt this sort of image would be an ideal outcome, so set about writing up my proposal.

Once my studio time came, I was happy and comfortable in the knowledge that I had a clear objective for the shoot. I set up my lighting as my model got ready and began taking photographs. I was pretty unhappy with the results at first, it just wasn't working the way I needed it too. With a little guidance from John, and plenty of experimentation, I soon got a few shots I was happy with.
Once I got home, I sorted through the photographs and shortlisted the images I was happy with. I started editing the photographs and began going down a different route. I decided I would step away from images as seen above, and attempt to recreate an image similar to this:

 

There were one or two images I edited, but I just couldn't recreate the style. An attempt of my own to create a smiler image can be seen below.

Neither of these images worked for me though, so I decided to go back to my original idea.I found a better image and began editing it, here is the final result:

Im pretty happy with this final outcome, considering I've never even taken a photograph of a person in anything other than family photographs before. The image below briefly outlines post production.

There we go, first every studio image complete!