Moments and moments and moments and...

For this assignment, I knew I was going to be shooting with one of my models, Melany. We were going to do two different shoots within a day, one with casual clothing in low lighting and one running outside (Melany loves to run marathons, so I knew she would be my best bet for getting some work-out clothing).
I also went to MPPA on Friday and took some shots of random moments in the lives of the people around me.
While I had several moments from my shots with Melany, I found one from the MPPA shots that I just loved. Here it is:
This is Sara Winkler, a senior here at CMU. While eating lunch at Chipotle in East Lansing, I saw her just staring out the window. With all the noise and chaos around her, this moment was so quiet. As soon as I chimped it, I knew this was my shot. I've been sitting here for almost an hour looking through all my other moments, but I keep coming back to this one. So this is what we're going with :) Hope you (and she) like it!

Camera stats: F 6.3, shutter speed 125, ISO 400.

*Messing with the lights.

Our first assignment for JRN 521 was to experiment with dynamic lighting.
The first thing I decided to do with this project was shoot indoors without my bounce flash. Ever since I got my strobe a year and a half ago, we've spent too much time together. I decided it was time to remember how to shoot indoors using the light that was available to me and nothing else.
So, I went to the U Cup and found Catheryn Currell, a graduate student who is working on her dissertation in psychology. She was at the U Cup to meet some friends to work on homework. I found her before her friends arrived and asked if she would be my subject for a few minutes. She is shown here, writing down some notes for her dissertation.
For this photo, I pulled my F-stop down to 4.5, set my shutter speed at 60 and threw the ISO all the way up to 1600. I love how the light hits her on the side, grabs a little bit of her face and isn't too extreme on the rest of the picture.

The second thing I was really excited to do with this project was doing something outdoors at night. I rarely do this, so I knew it would be a good time to try things out. For my final project, I have been envisioning something that was dressy, outside and dark. I met Melany Desrochers downtown Saturday night to try this out. We did a shoot with a lightpole, which is what I had been wanting to try. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it, but it's pretty darn close...We'll have to try it again when it's not so f-ing cold out! Here's what I came up with:
This, too, pulled the F-stop down as low as I could get it (3.5), shutter speed 20 and ISO 1600. It really is a treat shooting with zero light, even though my eyes say, "Hey, this will work." Crazy how the camera doesn't believe me... :) I love how the light is on her face and leg, but too harsh anywhere else. That's why I chose the lamp post, it's directional!
But I will definitely be re-doing this photo when the weather gets a little more cooperative. Good for now though.

Final Project Proposal

Working title: Fashion for You.

In life I believe that fashion and advertising are the most persuasive powers in woman’s world. My project will show this in action by persuading women to buy into a certain fashion and believe it will work well for their life, body and world.

Ultimately, I want the audience to feel the need to buy the products shown right now and understand that they want to do so because it will make them feel good about their life and their body.

The subject of my project is a fashion advertising campaign for Kohl’s. This is a well-known department store, so there is very little background information the viewer will need that they don’t already know.

The activity I will record includes photographs for print ads, billboards and possibly an internet ad. I will also tape a television commercial and possibly a radio ad. All of these will have a unifying theme: Fashion for You. The premise will be that these clothes are for all, but they fit you perfectly and will make you feel good about your body and your life. Each will be able to stand on its own, but they will all have the same theme and will fit together well. I will include clothing for females only to make this theme easier to understand and to keep the elements cohesive.

The main subjects of my campaign will be my models. Thus far, I have four models in mind: Brittany Fessenden, Cassie Mull, Melany Desrochers and Stacey Chiesa. If necessary, I will include more models to help prove my point. The models’ main goals will be to sell the products by showing that the clothing of Kohl’s fits all and helps one to feel good about her world.

Instead of camera interviews, I will be conducting a television commercial. It will be a 30-second spot that will help to further demonstrate the fashions in a way that will persuade the viewer to buy the clothing. I will shoot and edit the commercial in a way that fits with the rest of the campaign.

The structure of the campaign will be unique in that each piece will have a beginning, middle and end and will be able to stand alone. However, when the pieces are put together, they will also portray one idea and will be able to portray one idea and theme. While there won’t be a set order in which the pieces need to be viewed (and hence no beginning or end), the pieces will still portray the idea of Fashion for You.

I will shoot the images and video in the next three weeks (before spring break) and will begin editing at that time. The project will hopefully be complete by April 1, before the deadline, so the works can be included in my portfolio during my job search. During the month after the project is complete, I will fine-tune everything so it will be ready to be turned in by May 3.

I hope my project will impact my viewers and convince them to buy the fashions in the campaign. I also hope my project will convince employers that I have the skills needed to find a job in the advertising industry.