WORK EXPERIENCE REFLECTION

For my work experience element of this project I completed several photoshoots for Bristol based clients needing photographic work for their social media websites and marketing, this included doing work for musician Liam Everett and fashion clothing company ‘MADWAG’ owner Sarah Wagstaff. These projects allowed me to work independently in terms of contacting clients and putting myself out there confidently for people to be interested in my photography work for their own marketing purposes. It was a great opportunity to focus on my skill set and be able to confidently apply them in my work for clients and to see them use the photographs on their social media sites. This type of work is a great example of the type of industry I would like to work in within the next 18 months, photographing products for a clothing or accessory company involving models to gain more portraiture experience. Working for Sarah was insightful for this type of work and being able to understand and create the right vision for her festival-style brand. I am confident I would be able to work independently for clothing companies such as ASOS, New Look or Topshop to capture their stylish, on trend, unique brand through my photography.

On Wednesday 31st January 2018 I completed a studio photoshoot for Liam Everett, an upcoming musician who needed head-shots for his album covers and social media accounts found here - http://liameverett.com

He wanted a variety of artistic shots with his guitars (both acoustic and electric) with high key and low key lighting. I experimented with both lighting techniques and also tried out a few low key poses from existing musicians' photographs that Liam liked and wanted to experiment with.  This opportunity to photograph Liam gave me the chance to boost my studio skills and focus on different aspects of the photograph other than the model. It was important to get the guitars as the focal point as well as Liam himself. I enjoyed photographing for Liam and hope he will be able to use these photographs confidently on his social media sites and future album covers.

I contacted Sarah Wagstaff through her Facebook page ‘MADWAG Clothing’ - https://www.facebook.com/madwagclothing/  on 17^th January 2018 and she was keen and quick to take up my offer of my photography services. I provided her with a series of studio portraiture work I had previously done and she was happy with the skillset I have and was open to meeting to talk about photoshoot ideas for her products. This was good timing for Sarah as she had recently received new stock and needed some photographs for her website and social media sites. We discussed dates to meet up to borrow garments and where we could also talk about her vision for her festival clothing brand, as her products are new to the market it’s important to keep the photographs current with recent festival styles so it’s appealing to customers coming up to the summer, festival months.

In my first photoshoot for Sarah, I shot at Ashton Court Mansion because I wanted to use the yellow stone house as one of my backgrounds as I was really intrigued by it and thought it would work really well with the outfits. This was one of my first outdoor photoshoots, therefore the images turned out quite dark as I didn't take any portable lighting with me and it was quite a dull day. I was quite disappointed in these photographs and they needed a lot of post-shoot editing to correct the lighting but as it was my first outdoor photoshoot, I realised my mistakes from this photoshoot and will correct them next time I shoot outdoors. However, the composition of the shots shows off the outfits and the festival theme of the products. I wanted to add in some accessories to show how the outfits could be worn, but not too much that it would seem as if the added accessory was also for sale, so I had to add it in discreetly (jacket around the waist or thrown over the shoulder and sunglasses on the face or on top of the head). I wanted to experiment with different locations around the Ashton Court Estate to benefit from all the different backgrounds that were available so I photographed in a variety of places to create some comparison to choose from in each outfit.

For my second shoot for MADWAG, I shot inside the studio as I wanted to get some more basic shots that purely focused on the clothing rather than the scenery. I used a different model as I wanted to show off the different ways people can wear these clothes and also how it looks on different body types. I also wanted to use a grey backdrop so the colours of the clothing are really enhanced and I feel this wouldn't be achieved with a white backdrop - a white backdrop would look more forensic rather than stylish. I think I have achieved this with the grey back drop as your eye is drawn to the clothes straight away as the backdrop is darker than the model. This shoot was a lot longer than the first one as my model was more comfortable inside the studio - rather than the outdoor shoot in the freezing cold. I experimented with a variety of poses for each outfit change as I wanted to show off the clothing at every angle possible, using different types of shots and props to enable this. I am really pleased with these shots and I feel a lot more comfortable shooting inside the studio as oppose to outdoor shoots. These photographs show off the product and look appealing for advertising and marketing purposes, of which I hope Sarah will be able to use on her website and social media platforms.

Overall, I have enjoyed both aspects of my work experience brief and have felt confident when working independently for both clients. I’m comfortable I would work well inside a team of photographers for a clothing company but will also be able to work individually. This experience has opened my eyes into working with two different clients on a freelance basis and after graduation I will be confident in approaching new clients to offer photographic services.