I experimented with images in photoshop and here is the out come, with before and after.
I really like these images because there all unique and are all about theme, union and girlhood. Here are some more images that I played around with…
I took 48 for my second photoshoot and I narrowed it down to editing 10 images.
Editing on Lightroom
I have edited these images also very similarly to my first photoshoot where they are all in black and white with strong white and black colouring. I have got one final image in colour which I will use to experiment with using when I am mounting my images.
Photoshop experiments and editing
On photoshop I will be adding text on top of my images. To do this I have separated my photoshoots and created two sections using feminism and consumerism. For photoshoot two I have linked it to consumerism and the thoughts that people would think about someone who is shown to be an over-consumer. The words and symbols I will be using are:
‘Consumer’
‘$$$$’
‘greedy’
Originally I was going to go with the Barbara Kruger style of displaying text, and I tried different colours. I decided that I should separate the people I have used to take images of and use different text to display the ‘Consumers’ and ‘Feminism’ so I decided to use large, plain black lower case letters with no border. I have done this because the large, lower case letters because the largeness of the text symbolises the need to get something but the lower case represents the calmness and casualness of wanting to buy it.
Final images for photoshoot 2 on photoshop:
For my writing on top of my images I have used a mixture of phrases, symbols and words. the phrase ‘I need this’ is used to create two different views, one being something she wants to buy which she thinks she needs, the other being a relationship where she feels as though she needs someone, which you can link to a feminism side of consumerism. The next thing I have used to go on top of my image is the dollar symbol repeated ‘$$$$’. I have done this because I feel it created a strong vision of spending money, impulse buying things as there are no words used and just big dollar symbols that are in your face when you see them, which is like impulse buying when you see it, you want it. The final word I have used is ‘greedy’. I have used this word because an outside perspective where someone is not an over-consumer, they can view consumerism and over buying as greedy. I think this is a good word to use as its not a nice thing to call someone yet people will call someone that anyway,
Comparison to Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer used large text on billboard to represent her work but I have used large text over a portrait picture. I have used phrases, words and symbols to represent consumerism and feminism in this photoshoot which could have different meanings for both terms. ‘I need this’ is a phrase I have used on one of my images which can be meant in two different ways, a consumer way in needing to buy something, then also a feminist way where she could be needing a relationship, which is something Jenny Holzer has done before with her work.
For my first photoshoot I took pictures in the studio of my model. These images are portraits of her face.
I took 153 pictures and have flagged 52. I then have rated the pictures from 5 stars, 3 stars and no stars, the ones with 5 stars are the ones that I will edit.
Editing
For most of my images I have edited them the exact same way, In black and white with either strong shadows or no shadows at all, I have done this as I want her face to be both prominent in some images, but then the images with shadows I want to hide half of her face. I have used these lighting techniques to create the thought of strength when in the bright light and the shadows. I have increased the white tones to make the backdrop brighter to increase the contrast of her dark hair, her features and the shadows. I decreased the blacks and shadows to increase the darkness of her features. I have edited one image in colour that I may use in my final presentation.
I then went onto photoshop and put text over the top of them.
Photoshop experiments and editing
On photoshop I will be adding text on top of my images. To do this I have separated my photoshoots and created two sections: One to show feminism and strength, while the other is about consumerism. I have used two different people to show these two things, and each has their own quotes and statements to what they are representing. The statements and words I will be using are:
‘What You See Is Not What You Get.‘
‘She is not your muse.‘
A job is better for me.
Final images for Photoshoot 1 on photoshop:
My final photoshop edits are inspired by Barbara Kruger. I have used statements that I think link to different aspects of feminism. The first being ‘she is not your muse.’ which creates an image of women being thought of by men as theirs to talk about. I think that the full stop emphasises a vision of strength as the statement is short and blunt so it ends the quote as if it would a conversation. The next statement ‘what you see is not what you get’ is showing that women are not what you expect them to be when you only see them. This means that she may look nice, innocent or weak on the outside but when you meet or get to know her its the opposite. This shows that women can be seen by men and just see a face or body and think one thing, but when actually meeting or speaking to the women its the opposite. The next statement ‘a job is better for me’ means that a job is more fulfilling for her than a man or his money would be. I have used this statement because its about being independent an not relying or benefitting from a man and his money.
Comparison with Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger edited her images in black and white, like I have also with white text bordered red. She used phrases which have a strong, powerful feminist meaning behind them which I have also done
For this photoshoot I am going to be taking detail shots, because I think they would look good with my other images in my book. I am going to be taking pictures of family heirlooms, my mum and dad’s wedding rings etc.
This links to the theme of my family being a union, because I will be presenting the union of two people (my mum and my dad) in marriage and how that has unified two families who were once separate and how it has grown the family union by bringing myself and my sister into the world. As well, as also presenting family heirlooms that have been passed down through the entire family really presenting how we are all connected.
I would also like to compare these objects to archive images of the same objects, but from many years ago, if I have any archive images of them. If not just the detailed shots on their own will be enough.
For this photoshoot I recreated an archive image of my mum and dad in 2006 in my first ever home.
I recreated this image of my mum and dad from slightly different angles at slightly different times. I did this, so I would be able to use these images to create joiners similarly to David Hockney.
Final Images
Analysis of 1 Image
The lighting used in this image is natural daylight, which is coming in through the windows in my living room. There are high levels of control in this image, because this is a staged image, where I have manipulated the positioning and distance of my subjects, as well as myself and the camera. I have also chosen the setting of the image. However, there is slightly less control in this image with the lighting, as I am using natural lighting, instead of artificial lighting.
F-stop: f/4
Exposure time: 1/50secs
ISO speed: ISO-320
The colours in this image include black, white, grey and red. I used these colours, because the setting of my living naturally has these colours and I wanted to compare my home now in 2025, to my home in 2006, which had a green couch and a wooden table. I kept my mum in the same black tank top, but my dad only had red shorts, so they are different to the shorts in the original image. There are also lots of light and dark tones throughout this image, due to the bright lighting coming through the window in the background and the darker tones of the couch. This creates contrast in the image. There is also a lot of contrast between my image and the archive image, due to the lighting difference. There is a lot of shape and pattern in the image as well, due to the patterned pillows and blanket on the back of the couch, which creates a lot of repetition.
The composition of this image is the same as the composition of the archive image, because that is what I am trying to replicate. The main viewpoint of the image is my mum and dad, which are the two subjects. They are in the centre of the frame.
The image I have taken is a recreation of an archive image of my parents in my first home in 2006. My mum was 21 years old and my dad was 26 years old. The image I have taken presents them in our current home in 2025 ages 39 and 44. I have replicated this image to present how they have grown together and stayed unified and how their bond staying strong has allowed them to grow together and now buy their own home together. This relates to the theme of union as it shows how their marriage union has stayed strong for almost 19 years and how it has allowed them to grow individually as well as together and achieve their goals together.
Evaluation
In this photoshoot I was able to complete what I set out to do, which was to take the same photograph of my parents, which is inspired by an archive photo of them in 2006, but from slightly different angles and at slightly different times. I also felt like I recreated the image well, even though I had to change the perspective.
However, next time if I were to do this again I would focus more on my lighting, as the window in the background made the images far too exposed, which meant I had to do more editing then I would have needed. I would also focus on my camera settings in order to try and prevent this as well. There was also one image that was slightly unfocussed, so I would also work on that.
Photobook model and design
My photobook and project – UNION.
I am basing my images and project on girlhoods. I want to show people that anything is possible and girls should unite together and stick together, this is what my whole project is about, with the title girlhood in black writing and the authors name on the back page bottom right in white.
To construct my photobook I am using Lightroom classic, with 20 images all spread out and distributed in its own unique way.
Front cover
I am using a black and white image that spreads across both pages. ( Front and back)
Page 1
This image is a photograph that spreads across the first right hand side page with a white boarder.
Page 2-3
For this page, I am using two side by side images, the one on the left is the normal one and the one on the right is the edited one, I also done this exact same thing with my other edited image.
Page 3-4
For this page I used one image and spread it across the whole page with no white boarder or background colour.
Page 4-5
For this page I used one image and spread it across the whole page with no white boarder or background colour,( same as the last page), however this image is black and white.
Page 5-6
For this page I used one image and spread it across the whole page with no white boarder or background colour.
Page 6-7
For this page, I am using two side by side images, the one on the left is the normal one and the one on the right is the edited one, I also done this exact same thing with my other edited image.
Page 7-8
For this page I used one image and spread it across the whole page with no white boarder or background colour.
Page 8-9
This image is a photograph that spreads across the first right hand side page with no white boarder, the image is in black and white
Page 9-10
For this page, I am using two side by side images, the one on the left is the normal one and the one on the right is the edited one, I also done this exact same thing with my other edited image.
Page 10-11 ( The Last Page)
For this page, the back I used an image that I created on photoshop.
Evaluation
My photobook represents girls and how we should all connect, I wanted to create a book with different style images such as vibrant, black and white,photoshop and natrual real images. i tried to capture every bit of detail withtin girlhood and with editing each image, whether this may be by using different tqchinuqes or just letting the flow go with each image. I am basing my images and project on girlhoods. I want to show people that anything is possible and girls should unite together and stick together, this is what my whole project is about.
I want everyone to see my photobook isn’t just images on a page but they tell a story…. “UNION” we should all stick together and be strong.
for my first experimentation I done when editing my images was to try and create images that looked some what like pop art as one of the artists made pop inspired images, however i took a different twist on it and decided to make images that looked very much like old school pop art.
aside the inspiration I got from the one of the artists I studied I also wanted to do this to create some bold images that would stick out from the rest of the images that I made, as I didn’t want everything in my photobook to look to bland. these examples that I just showed I believe came out well but I was only adding a bit of grain and messing around with the images. However after going on InDesign I think I came out with much better results producing images that look like pop art
after more experimenting:
this was exactly what I was looking for when creating these images which I believe came out perfect as they look exactly like pop art which what I was going for. I managed to create these images by editing them in Lightroom then taking it over to InDesign to add the final details to give it pop art look.
For this photoshoot I took the same photograph of my mum and dad once a day for a week, but from slightly different angles. The photographs I took were also inspired by the archive below:
However, I also took photographs that weren’t inspired by an archive. They were photographs of my mum, my dad and my sister sat together on the couch and they were also taken once a day for a week at slightly different angles.
Contact Sheet
Edits
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would look less dull and be slightly more vibrant.
Then, I selected the background of the image and decreased the highlights and whites and increased the blacks, so that the light coming through the window was less bright.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights, whites and blacks. I did this, so that the image would have less white/ exposure coming in through the window.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be slightly more exposed and look less dull.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be more vibrant.
Then, I selected the background and decreased the highlights and whites in order to lower the exposure of the lighting coming through the window, as it was too bright.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so the image would be slightly less dull and more vibrant.
Then, I selected the background of the image and decreased the highlights, whites and blacks. I did this, so that the lighting coming through the window would be less bright.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the subjects would have more colour to them and be more bold.
Then, I selected the background and decreased the highlights and blacks in order to make the background less exposed, because the lighting coming through the window was too bright.
When I start mounting my images, I am going to present these series of images together on a black piece of card. Firstly, I will mount them using white foam board ensuring that none of it can be seen. I am going to do this because when I present them on the black piece of card I want the images to be slightly elevated instead of blending in with the card. I think this will be the most effective way to show these images because there is a lot of white in my images and I feel as though putting them on black card will make them stand out more due to the contrast of the background. I also feel as though this is the most effective way because the background is dark it will make the images stand out more and catch the viewers eye.
I used a knife tool, to cut around my images to ensure that they are all the same size and shape before using spray mount to stick them onto foam board. Once I had completed this, I cut around the white foam board so that it was the same size as my image and to ensure there was no foam board seen when looking at the image. I then used a pencil to sketch out where I wanted to place the three images and to ensure they were all equally spaced out. After this, I used double sided tape to stick the images onto the black piece of card. Once I had done this I measured the sides of the card and made sure that they were all even and the same length apart from each other and from the sides.
I really like how my first final presentation of my images turned out. This is because I like how the contrast of the back and white really makes the images stand out. I also like the order I have placed them in because the middle one is slightly more different to the other two which has a nice pattern to it. If I were to do this again, I would maybe print out the images A4 as I printed mine in A5 and they came out a bit small.
When presenting my this series of images, I am going to present them on white foam board. I have chosen white foam board because I feel as though the contrast between the black colours in the images will stand out against white card. I think this will be the most effective way to present my images because the white background will make the images stand out and will allow the viewer to focus on the details of the images and notice the differences of each one.
I started by trimming down all the images to get rid of any unwanted areas around the image itself, after this I stuck the images down on a white piece of foam board. I then used the spray mount to stick the images down before using the knife tool to cut round the foam board right up to the image to ensure there is no foam board showing when looking at the image. I did this to allow the illusion of the images being raised and coming out of the background because it meant that they weren’t all the same level. After this, I used another big piece of foam board and laid out my images to see which way round would look best. After I had decided the order, I used a pencil and a ruler to measure out the sides and decide how much foam board I would be leaving out to be visible. I then used double sided tape on all the images to stick them down onto the big piece of foam board. After I had completed this, I used the knife tool to cut off any excess piece of foam board that weren’t within the measurements.
I really like how I presented my images because of the differences of each image coming together to make one canvas. For this presentation I like how I have left the foam board on display to contrast with the images.
When presenting this image, I am going to use a black piece of card for the background as I feel it would be the most appropriate for this set of images. I think this will be the most effective way to present my images because there is black in my image and I feel as though it will go well with showing the different dimensions and illusions that are in this image. I am also going to mount the image up onto a bit of foam board to raise the image from the background to create the idea that the image is coming out of it. I think this will look good as the image is quite gory and the black background correlates to this idea.
For this image, I used the cutter to get a clean precise edge on the two images instead of using scissors. After this, I got a big piece of white foam board and used mount spray to stick them onto it. I then used the knife tool to cut around through the foam board around the image ensuring that no form board was left on show as I wanted the background to be purely black. After I had completed this, I used a pencil and a ruler to create markings on the black piece of card to ensure that both images were the same distance apart from the edges so that they were equal. After I was happy with the measurements, I used double sided tape to stick the images together. I chose to put my two images on top of each other, this is because I liked how this looked and I liked how it created a sense of symmetry as they are similar images edited the same way.
I really like how I presented my images because I like how the black background contrasts with the images to make them stand out and ensure that the illusions are the focus point of the image. If I were to present my images again, I would make the images brighter because in one point there is a dark area on one of the images that blends in with the background.
I started by selecting my favourite images and giving them 4 or 5 stars, meaning they would be colour coded to green. Then my least favourite/ worst were given 1/2 stars and colour coded red. Finally, the rest of the images were given 3 stars and colour coded yellow, which means that they weren’t the best photos but can still be used. This helped me to stay organised with all of my photos.
For this photoshoot, I used the studio with the professional lighting and backdrop, as I felt my images would come out clearer and easier to use and edit.
