Lighting Progression Tom Ford

For my Tom Ford shoot I wanted really theatrical lighting to bring out the contours and sculpt the face. However on the day, the things I needed for my shoot were unavailable, and my model was unable to shoot again. Therefore I had to stay calm and use the resources that I had to shoot my images.

I opted to shoot my image with a single light, some images with a beauty dish and others with a soft box. I then positioned a white board either side of the model to reflect light onto the face. 

This is the first image I took of my model, as you can see the light is far too bright and it completely washes my models features out, I really don't like this as you cant see the depth of colour in the images.

After turning down the lights and changing the aperture on the camera I got this image, this is far too underexposed and it would not be suitable for my shoot. 

I finally got the exposure on the images right and shot a few of the images with this light, I do still think that the colours could be a little bit more vivid, but this is something that I will work on in post production. This image was shot with the beauty dish straight in front of the model.

For this image I swapped the beauty dish for a soft box to make the skin on my model softer, this image is took with the diffuser still on the soft box. I am happy with the exposure and also the shadows on this image and they have started to look a bit more like tom ford's images.

For these images, I shot again with the soft box, but pulled off the diffuser, I really like how glowy this makes the skin look, but doing this made my images over exposed again.

These are my final images towoards the end of my shoot. I kept the soft box with the diffuser pulled off, and turned the flash down to make the image less exposed. To get this shot I took the white board from the right hand side of the model to get more shadows on the side of the face. I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Although the lighting is not exactly how I wanted it to be, I think I definately made the best of a bad situation and have produced some strong images.

Lighting Progression Gleam Shoot

For my GLEAM shoot I wanted to shoot my model by placing her in the middle of two soft boxes with gels in them and then a key light would be above her with another gel over the soft box. I wanted this lighting because I feel it is very different and the colours of the gels will grab onto the contours of the body and reflect the shimmer that I will be applying to the model. On the day the gels that were available to me were blue, red and orange. Originally I wanted two blue and one pink or purple, but unfortunately I couldn't get these.

In order to get this lighting set up to work I had to go round all of my lights separately and check how over/ underexposed they were, and to check the depth of the colours.

This first image is from the test of the blue gel, this is coming from a soft box on the right hand side of the model, after playing about with the brightness, I was finally happy with the strength of the blue.

I then switched off the blue light and turned on the red on the left hand side of the model, as you can see in the first image, it is far too bright, so after turning it down I got it to about the same as the first blue light.

I then switched on both of the soft boxes in this photo you can clearly see the light coming from either side of the model, on reflection I think the blue light on the right hand side of the model could have been a little bit lower, as the depth of colour isn't as rich as the red side.

I then turned on the key light with the orange gel on it, as you can see in this image it is too far down and needs to be brought up to illuminate the models face.

After bringing up the key light my images were starting to look a lot better, you can see clearly see the three gels on the models face and body and I was finally happy with the lighting. 

When looking at my images I realised that the hair wasn't right so I slicked it back and applied more of my liquid highlighter. I think this is a lot more flattering. I am really happy with this light as I feel that through this and make up the skin, especially round the collar bones is gleaming, so in this way I have really captured the essence of my word. 

Because I had done a make-up with lots of colour, I really think that having such extravagant lighting sort of took away from the makeup, so I tried a few more images without the gels on. as you can see from the image above my first shot was a little bit over exposed.

After turning the lights down you can start to see the make-up a bit better.

Then finally for my last two images I turned off one of the softboxes and placed a black board behind the model to create some shadows. I really like these images, and thhey are great for showing the makeup, but I think they lack the impact that you get from the images I have shot with gels.

Coloured Lighting Test

For my editorial shoot I have been inspired by these two images, I want to experiment with lights and shooting the model in a dark room. I have tried to create a lighting set up similar to to the first image by using two soft boxes either side of the model with a coloured gel in it and a coloured gel directly above the model with another coloured gel on it.

These fist two images we placed the model in-between the two black poly boards, we realised that the model needed to be in front of the poly boards so the lights were hitting the sides of the model. These images show the gels on the lights working.

In these images we positioned the model outside of the polyboards, the first image shows the red light only on the left half of the models face, I really like how it sticks to the contours of the face, the second image is the red on both halfs of the face but as you can see it isn't as strong on the right hand side of the face, this means we need to turn off all of the lights and go round systematically making sure all the lights are perfect on all sides. I also think the green light could he higher on the model to make it look more like the image.

Finally we experimented with just the red lights and an orange colour correcting one, this gives you more subtle colour like the second image, because my makeup for this editorial shoot will be quite strong this might be more complimentary for my makeup. However I will trial both on the day.

GLEAM Story Board

This is the storyboard that I have created for my word GLEAM, this is a more editorial shoot so we have more creative freedom to do something fun.

Makeup - Lots of irredescent colour, might be a full face and shoulder paint like the top and bottom left image, or just an intricate eye look like the third image along on the bottom row, I would also like to incorporate clogged lashes like the bottom right.
Hair - Hair will either be slicked back with glitter gel or placed into space buns with colour through the ends of the hair and maybe glitter in the roots.I might also look at incorporating baby hair into the design.
Model - My model has a fair complexion, with blue eyes and hair that is just past shoulder length. Her hair has been bleached but is grown out so she has mousey brown roots.
Styling - For styling I would like to apply adornments to the face and also I would like my model to be wearing a septum ring, I also want some irridescent material to have round my model. Otherwise I pronbably want the collarbones showing.
Poses - I want some playful poses for this shoot and also some dreamy poses, sort of like zoned out.
Backdrop - I am going to shoot this image on a white background.
Lighting- For the lighting I want to use the spotlight theatrical lighting, with a light at the back to show the messyness of the hair, and I want to use GOBO's as you can see on the top right imahe. I also want to use lens flare by breathing on the lens (top row 3rd picture)
Composition - For the composition I want to have the head, shoulders and a tiny bit of chest in the shot.

The way that these things link to my word GLEAM is through the use of iridescent colours, I want this shoot to be quite light and playful as my other shoot is going to be darker and more sexual. I will he focusing on light and reflecting light through glitter and iridescence.

Tom Ford Story Board (Second Draft)

This is the second draft that I have created for my Tom Ford shoot, I'm still not 100 percent happy with this storyboard so I think I will re do it at a later date,

Makeup - For the makeup I want flawless skin that is contoured, with a heavy blush application that emphasises the contour of the cheek, the eyes will be smokey, I was thinking of a burgundy smokey eye and an orange lip to contrast each other because that is what Tom Ford does in his adverts. I also want to apply eye gloss over the shadow. Like the top left image.
Hair - For the hair I want really sleek glamorous deep set waves.
Model - My model has shoulder length brunette hair, I looked for a model that was conventionally pretty and would be very easy to make her look glamorous.. 
Styling - For styling I don't want my model to be wearing anything except a strapless bra, so when I shoot my images this will give the impression of being naked. The only thing I will need to do in the way of styling is apply nails that match the lipstick or eyeshadow because this is also something that Tom Ford does in his images.
Poses - I want to incorporate the hands into the photographs, either touching the neck or lips. This is to make the images look suggestive.
Backdrop - I am going to shoot this image on a black background.
Lighting- For the lighting I want to shoot with two lights coming from the sides with different colour gels on, and one from the top with another colour of gel on, to get an image like the second on the top.
Composition - For the composition I want to have the head, shoulders and a tiny bit of chest in the shot. And maybe some close up images of just the head hair and neck.

The way that the word gleam comes into this will be with the glossy skin, lips and eyes and I think the way I am shooting this image will really highlight that.

Tom Ford Mood Board

This is the mood board that I have created for my Tom Ford shoot, the way that I have interpreted the word gleam to make it cohesive with Tom Ford's brand ethos is by looking at sweat to make my word a lot more provocative and sexy. For my mood board I gathered images of sweat dripping on skin, and parted lips, I was also interested in looking at body parts that look sensual and things like goosebumps on the skin.

I'm not as happy with my moodboard as I want to be, although it shows what I want to create, it isn't really as relevant to my brand as I would like it to be the reason why I struggled so much is because I created this moodboard after my storyboard, so I already have a clear idea of the makeup and hair that I want to create for this shoot, and it was very hard stripping it back to basics to think of my inspiration behind the designs.

Favourite 3 Images for Tom Ford

 For my Tom Ford lighting this is my favourite image, I would like to experiment with different gels coming from different angles. I think this will really pick up the gloss on the skin so this is how I have linked it to gleam. I also think it makes the model look flawless and plastic which is something that comes across in the Tom Ford advertisements. Also the use of black will suit the brand because it is simple, timeless and elegant which suits my brand perfectly.












And for makeup this image is definitely my favourite, I love the strong vibrant lip colour and also the gloss on the eyes. This is something that I want to incorporate into my design, but this image I don't think it represents my brand very well because it is too edgy, if I made the makeup look more classic then it would fit the Brands ethos better.

Tom Ford story board (Initial Draft)

This is the initial story board that I have created for my brand Tom Ford, this is what I presented to the class.

I started by talking about how my interpretation for gleam has changed from my other shoot and how now I would be focusing now gleam coming from bodily fluids like sweat and this will be interpreted through glossy makeup, and full lips and will be quite sexual, which I think suits the brand very well.
For the makeup I will be pairing a smokey eye with a bold lip, as this is something that I have seen on many Tom Ford advertising images, I have shown this in the bottom left and right, this is the amount of smokiness and shine that I would like to have in my images. I want the styling to be minimal and my model will probably just be wearing a strapless bra so she looks naked, and the skin will be covered in oil. I also wanted to use gels in my final images, I will use a black background to keep my images pretty dark and use spotlight lighting to make it very dramatic, with lots of difference between highlights and shadows. I have chosen this because I think

My feedback for this storyboard was pretty positive, and this was a relief as everyone seemed to like and understand where I was going with my brand. However after doing this storyboard it made me realise that I have not thought enough about my final shoot, I had not considered my model or the composition of the image so I understand how this could be confusing to people. So after doing my presentation I need to go back and completely think again about exactly what I want for my shoot, and show this all clearly in a storyboard, I also think it will make my life a whole lot easier if I create a moodboard for my word gleam. I plan to do this before next week as this is when I want to start shooting.

Face Charts

TOM FORD

For my Tom Ford makeup I have created a strong smokey burgundy glossy eye, with contoured glowing skin and orange lips.

• Face - Strobe cream, MAC Face and Body mixed with Kryolan foundations set with Illamasqua loose set powder & Sprayed with fix plus.
• Highlight and Contour - MAC sculpt and The Balm Mary Loumaniser.
• Lips - MAC Morange mixed with Tom Ford Wild Ginger.
• Eyes - MAC Burgundy x9 pallette, black mascara, lashes and eye gloss.

HAIR 

• Straight and slicked back off the face.

GLEAM

For my gleam makeup I have created a pink contour with clogged brows and lashes then I will cover the skin and hair with sprays made out of crushed pigment, glitter and glycerine.

• Face - Moisturiser, Kryolan foundation set with illamasqua loose set powder.
• Highlight and Contour - Pink Supracolour and Makeup Revolution blush pallette. Illamasqua loose pigment and GLEAM sprays.
• Eyes - Makeup Revolution blush palette, Illamasqua Obsidian, black mascara on brows and eyelashes.
• Lips - Makeup Revolution highlighter.

HAIR

• Slicked back off the face and covered in pigment and GLEAM spray. Curled baby hairs all over the face.