Bibliography

1. Dior & I
2. thegoodlifefrance - (Chosen Brand: Dior): http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/history-miss-dior-perfume/
3. queensofvintage - (Chosen Brand: Dior): http://www.queensofvintage.com/christian-dior-retrospective-the-story-behind-his-miss-dior-perfume/
4. Wikipedia - (Chosen Brand: Dior): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Dior_SE
5. Wikipedia - ("Real Beauty"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_Campaign_for_Real_Beauty
6. Wikipedia - ("Real Beauty"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_(toiletries)
7. adweek - ("Real Beauty"): http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/5-reasons-why-some-critics-are-hating-doves-real-beauty-sketches-video-148772
8. in-mind - ("Real Beauty"): http://www.in-mind.org/article/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-the-dove-campaign-for-real-beauty
9. Wikipedia - (Celebrity): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Factor
10.  Wikipedia - (Seasons): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revlon
11.  Independant - (Seasons): http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/how-revlon-created-the-scarlet-woman-7606558.html
12.  Wikipedia - (Medical): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinique
13.  theboah - (Medical): http://theboah.com/feature-article-the-clinique-story/
14.  aquabeautygem - (Medical): https://aquabeautygem.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/the-story-behind-clinique/
15.  scootermydaisyheads - (Rain): http://www.scootermydaisyheads.com/fine_art/symbol_dictionary/rain.htm
16.  Wikipedia - (Petrichor): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor
17.  medialit - (Beauty Advertising History): http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/beautyand-beast-advertising

Evaluation

   Overall I have really enjoyed this final unit of digital image as it has gave me an insight of what it would be like to work on a brand shoot, but also how you have to work when you are doing these shoots which has made me a better designer by changing the way I view my own work from feedback from my tutors which has helped me push myself to be the best I can be in these units. I also feel like my overall knowledge and understanding of photography and postproduction has improved since last semester due to my practical and technical sessions and finding them very beneficial in helping me learn new techniques, but also combine old methods into my current work.

  During both my final shoots I didn’t experience any issues when shooting, however, during my brand inspired shoot I did receive feedback on a few things I should change which was all manageable in post production. That in mind, I do wish throughout this semester I had attended more tutorials to get constant feedback rather than only seeing my tutors a few times over the whole semester as these final postproduction problems could be avoided. None the less, I’m so happy with both my final outcomes and also feel much more prouder of my word after receiving my brand feedback and acting upon it as the outcome is so much more stronger than the pervious images I had originally shot.

Final Edit For Brand Image

   After receiving feedback from my tutors and also wanting to change a few of these problems anyway, I decided to add some finishing touches on my chosen brand image. As you'll be able to see compared to my previous brand images, there are a few changes that I'm actually super happy with now that I've changed/got rid of them. My first task when changing this image was my models smile, or lack of one. I took the image into Photoshop and manipulated the shape of her outer corner of her smile to give it a slight lift, whilst also editing the other slightly and her overall shape of her lips. Once I had achieved my desired smile I then had to blend the edges into her natural skin texture as due to the manipulation, I lightly lost some of it. This is where the clone tool came in handy in taking a section of her skin and applying it to the areas I needed to fix. My last task was to fix the creases in the umbrella, which had bothered me when I first looked at these images and I used the same technique as blending the edited smile into her natural skin tone. This step took the longest, however the finished result is so worth it! The umbrella and overall image looks so much put together and professional compared to my previous images and I'm so happy I edited the creases out of the umbrella, although it would of been ideal to have shot with an already none creased umbrella, I sadly couldn't avoid it. Overall I'm very happy with my final image and am glad I went and made these final changes to my brand image as it has really finished off my final and made it look 100x better!

Feedback

   Today I had a tutorial with Sharon to discuss my final images and digital image blog. I was clam and collected when I went in, however I came out in a completely different state of mind. During my tutorial I had received some amazing feedback which I'm super happy about, however I also received some critical feedback that wouldn't have bothered me so much, if deadline was in two days. One thing that Sharon commented on was how she really enjoyed my photography in both my brand and word inspired images, which I was super happy about as photography isn't really a strong point for me. However what stuck with me the most (as expected) was the negative criticism I was told of my brand images. I was asked to remove the creases from the umbrella and also that my model looked "very sad" and to try and fix her smile as well, there was other small modifications that I was told about my images that I need to look out for when I shoot in the future, for things like looking out if the top the model is wearing is straight and looking perfect in the images, and also looking for fly away hairs that can make the images look a lot less professional. Although I was agreeing with Sharon on what she was saying, I guess you can't help but feel a bit soul destroyed hearing things about your work as for me I'm one of those people that like to get it right more or less within the first time doing something. And for the first half an hour of leaving Sharon's office I was running in a blind panic around the photography studios and staff rooms trying to locate my IT lecturer until I found him and I could somewhat relax. After discussion what needed to my changed with my images he told me how to make these changes and it was a lot easier than I had thought!
   Overall, I have learnt to make sure you're very prepared before doing a shoot, and make sure you look at every aspect of an image to look for anything that could be out of place or imperfect that can effect the overall image. Looking back I'm actually very happy with the feedback I have received from Sharon today, as if she or anyone isn't critical of you or your work then how are you meant to improve as a designer? And thanks to her, my images are a 100x more better than my original images and look so much more professional.

Final Images For Dior Brand Shoot: With Templates

    After editing my final chosen images I then opened inDesign and started to add my templates to the images. I decided to create a few different templates but using a few of the same images to give myself more variety when I decide my final image. As you can see from these images, each template varies in font sizes, placement and also product placement. My inspirations for these changes on each image came from original Dior adverts, I looked at popular placements of text and products and applied them to my final images. As you can also see I did not always use the image of the product, purely for variety but also due to how I felt the product image didn't also work with my final images and I personally enjoy the simplicity of having a lovely image and the brand logo on the advert.  

Final Images For Dior Brand Shoot: Without Templates

     Here are my final chosen edited photos for my brand shoot. Like I have perviously said about my lighting set up, I used two soft box lights pointing towards my model but facing the camera along with a soft box on a bomb light looking over my model and above where I was shooting. I also had two boards on either side of the camera to keep in the light from the two soft boxes.
   After taking these images and seeing them on a larger scale, I noticed that the lights had create a very soft, radiant look to my images which is exactly what I wanted to achieve and as you'll be able to see by my chosen make-up, I kept my model looking very dewy and fresh due to the inspiration from my chosen word.
   For the styling of this shoot, I decided to put most of my focus on this shoot with the styling due to the restriction on doing creating make-up looks to fit with my brand that is known for being very classy and elegant. I decided to style my model in a simple black top, paired with a black skater skirt (although in these edited images you're unable to see the lower half of her body). To also top this look off I used a simple black umbrella as a prop to fit with my inspiration word which involves rain, so I thought including this prop would work well in representing my word. This prop was also mainly the main centre piece, so deciding poses to make my images look more professional and elegant was a slight issue that arose when shooting these images. Although I found coming up with original poses for my shoot a struggle, I also found that these more simpler poses and angles worked a lot better with my brand.
   I'm rather happy with these final edited images, however, looking at some of my images I found that the label for the umbrella was present in a few of these images (yet some was easily hidden when using inDesign and using my brands template) along with some annoying creases in the umbrella that ended up making these images look a lot less put together. When also editing my models skin I noticed a few stray hairs around the face, which some was easy to remove but sadly not all could be removed from my images so this is defiantly something I'd change if I reshot these images, but also something to take into consideration for future shoots.

Word Inspired Final Images

   Here are my final images from my word inspired shoot. When shooting these images, I kind of went a bit off track and didn't technically stick with my original face charts, but more took them with a grain of salt and did something completely different than what I had set out for. I started by doing a very fresh, 'natural' make-up by perfecting the face and bringing out features of the face, such as my models eyes, bone structure, brows and lips buy simply making these features brighter and more intense, however when it came to stick the flowers on my models face, I decided against it and went with wet hair placed roughly over the face. I went against my face charts, due to I thought by having a fresh faced model and having a contrast on the face such as the wet rugged hair would really represent my word well, considering petrichor means; "the fresh smell after rain" I thought having a natural and fresh looking model would be a nice twist on incorporating smell into a shoot. And as for having the wet hair across the face, it represents the rain and that it has just fallen as it is a lot more fresher. Overall, I am happy with my final decision with changing my final design as I felt like this idea really fits my word well compared to my over designs I had previously done. 

Lighting Charts: Brand

   For my brand image shoot, I wanted to use the original lighting that we was shown at the start of this sermester. I wanted to use this lighting purely because I felt like it really lit our practice pictures perfectly, which would really fit with my brand image. For these images I will also be using props, so I don't want them to be missed or disregarded within the images and I know due to using this lighting around the start of the sermester that everything will be lit perfectly and will just overall work with my images.

Lighting Charts: Word Inspired

   For my word inspired shoot I wanted to recreate a lighting effect that Dior has previously used in their Dior Addict adverts. Although this isn't my brand inspired shoot, I thought this particular lighting set up would work well with my inspired word images as my word means "fresh", and when I think of fresh I automatically think of bright, glowly effects which is what this lighting set up will create.
   To create my final lighting, I chose a white background and placed two soft boxes on either side of my model and had them facing the background. Doing this and having the lights between a median or high strength will make the white background a lot whiter, but also brighter and create a soft, glowly effect to the images. I also placed a soft box on a bomb light above where the camera is placed to light up my models face instead of the background like the other soft boxes.

Final Mood Board: Dior

   For my brand inspired mood board, I also took images from Pintrest and my previous mood boards that helped me understand the brand by looking at Dior's original sketches and designs and vintage adverts to get a feel for what the brand is about and how they like to present themselves. I also researched into recent adverts for further inspiration for my final shoot, not just for poses but lighting, composition and colour schemes. I also included features that I want to incorporate in my final images that bring in elements of my chosen word into my shoot, and chose images that I felt had a Dior inspired vibe to them but also how I thought about shooting using umbrellas in my final images.

Final Mood Board: Petrichor

   After collecting images on Pintrest and using them in my several mood boards for my presentation of my chosen word, I have finally made my final mood board to show my process of creating my editorial images and my overall understanding of my inspirational word. This mood board covers all areas of my word from my definition of the word to how my word is shown throughout fashion to typography. I have also included ideas for my editorial shoot such as the wet hair look and having items (aka flowers) stuck on my models face.

Brand Inspired Design Ideas: Oversized Hats

   For this design idea my inspiration stemmed from my first idea of using an umbrella to show rain and shelter, however after looking at a lot of Diors shoots and designs even from the very beginning of the brand Dior has been very fond of using hats in shoots and being almost an iconic clothing item to the brand. Like the umbrella idea, using an oversized hat was to symbolise shelter from rain. When thinking of how I could shoot this concept, I thought about having the oversized hat covering most of the models face and only showing from shoulders upwards. I could also style my brand inspired images with pearl necklaces to also show a link to my brand. In terms of how I'd set up these images, I would light up the background but also try and cause contrast on my models face and body to show facial features and also shoot in black and white, to almost create a classic Dior image.

Brand Inspired Design Ideas: Umbrellas

   When thinking about my brand inspired images I wasn't quite sure how I could show the inspiration though my word as for my brand it isn't known to have dramatic make-up on their adverts and editorial images, so I decided to look at how I could style my brand images to get my chosen word across to the viewer.
   My first idea was using umbrellas in my shoot as my word does involve the rain and without my model in rain/outside I wanted to have an accessory that is universal for rain. Another reasoning behind my idea of umbrellas is in a few Dior adverts umbrellas have been present on the shoot, for example Dior Addict perfume with Daphne Groeneveld and Karlie Kloss 2010 Haute Couture Vogue. My initial idea for this idea was to have the model in natural, dewy make-up and styled in simple high neck top or coat and them holding an umbrella above their head/in front and behind the model.

Word Inspired Design Ideas: Flowers

   For my editorial image inspired by my word, one thing that came to mind was the aftermath of rain and how could I show this on the face. I found an image of moss growing on statues and I wanted to put my own spin on that concept and use flowers on the face to look like it was growing on the face by the cause of rain. I also liked the idea of using flowers as it links into my word by showing smell. Again, I would stick with a more natural/nude make-up look just so all the attention would go to the flowers on the face and body and in terms of placement of these flowers I found a lot of inspiration from the first and third images above, by having them in clusters in random areas of the face. Another extra idea with this concept was to try and recreate moss on the face. To create this I would use different tones and shades of green under the flowers which will not only add more texture but colour to the look.

Word Inspired Design Ideas: Wet Hair

   Having wet hair or water on the face is also another idea that I'd be interested in creating on my word inspired shoot, as I thought this concept would get my chosen word across to the viewer but a different approach to having an umbrella present on the shoot and make my images look more editorial compared to an advertisement. If I chose this as part of my word inspired image, I would pair this with natural or nude make-up with maybe an exception of a dramatic lip, and having the hair placed over the face in a controlled messy manner. In terms of how I would photograph and crop this image, I would have a very bright yet softly lit images and most of the image be a close up of my models face, this so you're focused on the hair over the face and not distracted by other elements of the image like styling etc.

Word Editorial Face Chart #3 - Final

   For my final digital image face chart I thought I'd try incorporate smell into my design by using small, pressed flowers stuck onto the face or body like in the example I drew above. To pair with the flowers across the temples and cheekbones, I'd have super glowy, fresh looking skin with rosy cheeks but placed in the hallows of the cheeks as if I was contouring the face to add shape to the face but putting a twist on the usual contouring. Alongside this I'd have my model wear a rosy lip to again keep in that freshness and 'natural' look to my design, but to also keep a monochromatic colour scheme.

Word Editorial Face Chart #2

   My second idea for my editorial shoot was to sprinkle glitter across my models face to resemble the look of rain but in a more fun and playful way compared to if I just dripped water over my models face. To achieve this I would have either a playful, fresh face make-up with fluttery lashes, or a dramatic, bold look paired with lots of glitter of different shades and sizes to show different textures on the face. Out of all three of my face charts, this is my least favourite purely because I feel like this doesn't fit my word perfectly and doesn't tell my word to the viewer.

Word Editorial Face Chart #1

   For my first face chart, I wanted to put a twist on make-up that has been caught in the rain and replace it with my aqua or super colour from Kryolan. Have you ever been caught in the rain whilst wearing a full face of make-up? If so, you know how your face make-up can react to water and how it either breaks up, smudges and drips on the face which as my work involves rain I liked this whole concept of having a different view on rain. But instead of doing a full on, dramatic make-up then drenching the face I thought I'd put a spin on things and drip the aqua colour across the face and body.

Word Inspired Hair Chart: #3 - Final

   For my third and final design, I put a slight twist on my first design of having a sleek wet look hair design but having strands of wet hair flowing over my models face to create the illusion that they have been rained on. I'm currently still trying to figure out how I'd like this design to look, in terms of how wet I want the hair and how much hair I want over the face, but I think once I figure out my final make-up design it will fall into place of how I'd like this design to look on my model. Out of all three designs this is my favourite one, purely because I like how different it is for an editorial. For this shoot/design in general I want to capture a more natural/organic effect to my images, as if the elements had really taken it's turn on the hair and has moved it in places without making the hair look to purposely placed.
   To achieve this look would be the exact same as my sleek wet look but a lot messier and move strands of my models hair in a natural way over the face and using sea salt sprays, wet look gel and wetting the hair itself. Also by using these different products I can manipulate the hair and make it look a lot messier and windswept.

Word Inspired Hair Chart: #2

   For my second hair chart I decided to still keep with the messy look but was inspired by one of the Dior adverts with Daphne Groeneveld for Dior addict advert, and also one of the beauty advert images I reviewed earlier on in my sketch blog. Although this design doesn't really fit with my chosen word, I still thought it would add a nice effect to my final images, and I'm currently unsure on how I would like my final make-up design to look like so I thought having a simply pretty, messy bun would suit a lot of designs that I could possibly come up with.
   To achieve this look, I would add texture to my models hair by using sea salt sprays and texturising hair sprays or gels to get a worn in effect to my design. For this design I'd like it to look like you've slept in a messy bun and your hair is a little disheveled and untidy compared to when you first put it up.

Word Inspired Hair Chart: #1

   For my editorial I wanted to have a more rough, textured look to my photos to fit my word perfectly. My first design I decided to go for the classic wet look, but put a slight twist on it by making it slightly rough and messy compared to making it super sleek and perfect looking, my aim was to make it look like someone had been caught in the rain and pushed their hair back from their face.
   To achieve this, I would start off by wetting the hair and pushing it into place then using various products such as wet look gels to make sure the hair stays in its desired place and also making it appear more wet and prolonging the wet look. I do really like this style, however I do have other ideas in mind that I think would make my editorial images look a lot pulled together and overall more interesting than if I used this design.

Dior & I

   'Dior and I" is a workplace film, a documentary that follows the workers and Simons himself preparing and viewing his process of preparing Simons first Haute Couture show. The “I” referred to in “Dior and I” does not refer to the new Dior designer Raf Simons, but to Christian Dior himself. In his 1956 memoir “Christian Dior & I,” quoted in voice-over throughout the documentary, the fashion icon reflects on his divided self. “There are two Christian Diors,” he writes. “Christian Dior, the man in the public eye, and Christian Dior, private individual.” 

   The documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a fashion house. It also focuses on the difficulties of the creative process, and the adjustments that must be made when a new successor has taken over a fashion house. For Simons, it’s a life of stress of trying to be creative with a brand, while deadlines approach quickly. Simons describes fashion as a mix between the present and the past, and in Simons Dior designs he wants to take Dior’s “gigantic and sublime” history and blend it with the modern era. Simons also can be a rather demanding as he has big ideas, for example turning the tie-dyed-like paintings of New York artist Sterling Ruby into prints on silk, one of many demands that test his staff’s resources and patience. And when he rents out a palatial Paris townhouse for the show, layering every wall with flowers, his dream of re-creating a mini-Versailles comes true.

   The final show and collection is a success, the clothes are magical, the elite crowd, including Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sharon Stone, is luminous. And you also witness Simons himself weep with relief and success. The workers from the atelier, meanwhile, look on at their work whilst huddle in the background in their characterless clothes. Dresses that will go for $350,000 or more to wealthy buyers.

Dior Story Board

   When researching into Dior as a brand, I first started to look at it's history and what launched the brand itself. I know when I personally think of Dior I think of elegance, femininity and a slight sex appeal so when it came to think of ways I could link my chosen word "petrichor" to my brand shoot I was stuck with what I could come up with. However, after researching into how the brand presents itself in advertisements I become inspired by showing my word though styling. Although my ideas for this shoot also include work done to the face and hair, I think I could pull off my ideas I have in mind for this shoot and have it looking very Dior.

  

Christian Diors original work. Showing his designs that broke us out of the masculinity from the war and started the "New Look". 

The last two slides show Diors successors after he passed away, I showed old and new designs and how they've all taken their own creative spin on Diors old classics.

Looking at how Dior advertised cosmetics early on.

Recent advertisements from Dior, still sticking with the same old themes they had originally.  

Thought about styling ideas for my shoot. Using umbrellas or big, oversized hats to show shelter from rain.

Lastly, looking at some inspiration for make-up for shoot. Flowers stuck on the face to show smell or went/damp hair draped across the face mixed with an umbrella or hat.

Chosen Brand: Dior

   Founded in 1946 by the designer Christian Dior, today the company designs and retails ready-to-wear, leather goods, fashion accessories, footwear, jewellery, timepieces, fragrance, make-up, and skincare products while also maintaining its tradition as a creator of recognised haute-couture.

   On 12 February 1947, Dior launched his first fashion collection for Spring–Summer 1947. The show of "90 models of his first collection on six mannequins" was presented in the salons of the company's headquarters. The two lines were named "Corolle" and “Huit", however, the new collection went down in fashion history as the "New Look" after the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar Carmel Snow exclaimed; "It's such a New Look!" The silhouette was characterised by a small, nipped-in waist and a full skirt falling below mid-calf length, which emphasised the bust and hips, as epitomised by the 'Bar' suit from the first collection. At a time of post-war fabric restrictions, Dior used up to twenty yards of extravagant fabrics for his creations. The New Look became extremely popular, its full-skirted silhouette influencing other fashion designers all the way into the 1950s, and Dior gained a number of important clients from Hollywood, and the European aristocracy. As a result, Paris, which had fallen from its position as the capital of the fashion world after WWII, regained its excellence. The New Look was introduced in western Europe as a refreshing cure to the austerity of wartime and de-feminizing uniforms, and was embraced by stylish women such as Princess Margaret in the UK.

   The designer’s instructions to the perfumers creating Miss Dior was simple; “Create a fragrance that is like love.” But, the perfume went unnamed until the elegant Mitzah Bricard saw Dior’s sister Catherine enter the Dior Couture boutique and said; “Look, there is Miss Dior”.

Dior then went to say; “Miss Dior! That is my perfume!” And that’s how the perfume millions of women still use today was named. More than one litre of pure fragrance was sprinkled every week in Dior’s first boutique when it opened in February 1947. 

“What I remember the most about the women who were part of my childhood was their perfume – perfume lasts much more than the moment.” said Christian Dior in his 1951 biography Je Suis Couturier. Dior then went on to explain that “perfume is an indispensable accessory, a final touch in my dresses.”

How To Identify a Beauty Brand? "Real Beauty"

   Dove has been one of the big beauty brands to take a different approach to advertising, which created the Real Beauty Campaign. The adverts showcase photos of regular women (in place of professional models). The ads invited passers-by to vote on whether a particular model was, for example, "Fat or Fab" or "Wrinkled or Wonderful", with the results of the votes updated and displayed on the billboard itself. Other ads also involved women of all different shapes, sizes, ethnicities etc in order to make the “everyday women” to see that womens beauty can come in different forms and questioning beauty standards. 

How To Identify a Beauty Brand? Celebrity

   Factor began experimenting with various compounds in an effort to develop a suitable make-up for film. By 1914 he had perfected his first cosmetic product, and with this major achievement to his credit, Max Factor became the authority on cosmetics in film-making. Soon movie stars were eager to sample his "flexible greasepaint".

   In the early years of the business Factor personally applied his products to actors and actresses. And he developed a reputation for being able to customise makeup to present actors and actresses in the best possible light on screen. This made Factors products even more desirable as he was using a celebrity based approach, by hiring gorgeous celebrities to wear their products and linking their products to the new rise of moving pictures. Among his most notable clients were Ben Turpin, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Judy Garland. As a result, virtually all of the major movie actresses were regular customers of the Max Factor beauty salon, located near Hollywood Boulevard.

How To Identify a Beauty Brand? Seasons

   Revlon was founded in the mid of the Great Depression, 1931, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who added the "L" in the Revlon name. Starting with a single product, a new type of nail polish. Using pigments instead of dyes, Revlon developed  new shades of opaque nail polish. In 1937, Revlon then started selling their products in department stores and drug stores. By 1940, Revlon created an entire manicure line, and added lipstick to the collection. Revlon also created the idea of seasons for their products, by bringing out new colours and products each season to made the buyer think that they needed to renew their makeup every 6 months or to keep up with beauty and fashion trends and the seasons. Revlon promoted the idea of collecting colours and how make-up could be used as an accessory.

How To Identify a Beauty Brand? Medical

   Evelyn Lauder, an executive at Estée Lauder and member of the Lauder family, created the Clinique brand name and developed its line of products. Clinique has a medical look about the whole brand, to achieve this they use very minimal colours and minimal advertisements. Lauder was also the first person to wear the trademark white lab coat, now worn by Clinique Consultants worldwide, which also helps keep the medical view to their products alive. Clinique also claim to be fragrance free and hypoallergenic, which in fact is just made up terms to sell their products better as the term “fragrance free” just means they’ve used more chemicals in order to make the products seem fragrance free. It has now been said that the makeup and beauty industry can no longer make scientific claims like this as it falls under false advertisement.

Gobo Lighting

   In last weeks photography session we was taught our final set up of how to shoot a beauty/editorial image using a gobo. A gobo is a harsh single light that can project different designs onto backgrounds, people, or objects by using lazer cut out designs to block the light, therefore projecting the image that isn't blocked by the light. Compared to the other set up we was taught a few weeks back, this set up is a lot easier and quicker to set up. However, when setting up you have to keep in mind the power setting of the lights in this set up to make sure they don't overpower the gobo, therefore the design you wish to project onto an object/background won't be captured in the image at all.
   When shooting with the gobo we started shooting with the projection on the background which kind of created a 3D effect of the model, but not necessarily the desired effect I'd be looking for in my beauty shoot images. Another way of using the gobo is by projecting it onto the face (something I was very excited about doing), and whilst taking them I fell in love with the effect it gave! Especially because we was using a woods pattern on the face it looked so beautiful and mysterious so after today I will defiantly be looking into maybe working with gobos for my final images.
 

Rain

The saintly abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) likened rain to the vital energy of the soul, which makes the body flourish and "keeps it from drying out, as the rain moistens the earth. For when the rainfall is moderate and not excessive, the earth brings forth new life. But if it is inordinately heavy, it destroys the earth and drowns new shoots. From the soul there emanate certain forces to vitalise the body, just as rainwater with its moisture vitalises the earth..." 

Hildegard also compared tears and rainfall. "The spiritual person is so shaken with fear of the Lord as to break out in tears, just as clouds draw their water from the upper reaches and pour it forth as rain" thus the gift of repentance irrigates, fertilises the soul, "washing sin away."

Ancient cave paintings reveal that in the civilisations of southeast Africa rain was symbolised by a snake coming down from heaven, a creature maybe linked with lightning as well. In other contexts a gigantic horned snake appears to have stood for rainwater. And in many ancient cosmologies clouds were thought of as reservoirs of rainwater, waiting to be split open by thunderbolts.

   Rain is nourishment for the earth and is known as the water of life. Rain takes many forms and can be anything from a gentle sprinkling and light watering of the earth, up to a torrid downpour and possible flooding; life giving on one hand and potentially death dealing on the other. Rain is a very serious affair, especially wherever water is scarce and/or crops are growing. An example of this is the world famous Native American rain dances, created to induce rain. 

   Rain drops can symbolise heaven's tears and the accompanying lighting can be seen as heaven's anger. For example, thunderbolts were the favoured weapon of Zeus. Rain is a symbol for tears, sorrow, anger, cleansing, renewal, forgiveness and more usually on a heavenly, worldly or very large sort of personal scale. Slang terms/phrases such as: "Don't rain on my parade", "Save it for a rainy day", and "It's raining cats and dogs”. From these slag phrases, it would seem that rain is more of an annoyance factor than a life/death matter.

Petrichor

   For my inspirational word chosen for me for this project of digital image production is "petrichor". The definition of petrichor is; "a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather". When I first googled my word and saw the definition I was quite disappointed and nervous as at first I wasn't sure how I could show or describe the definition in images let alone my final project which would be a beauty shoot, but after breaking down what the word actually means into just smell and rain I found some interesting ideas of what I could use for my face and hair charts. 

My original thoughts, colours and mood of when I thought of petrichor

This mood board was inspired by the aftermath of rain and all the things it can cause, such as mould, damp, floods, moss, fungi ect. 

I decided to take a look at fashion and beauty that have been inspired by rain, the outside and smell. 

Going with the fashion theme, I found designers that have used rain in their runway shows that have interesting concepts as to why they chose to use rain/water. 

As I felt I hadn't incorporated smell enough into my mood boards, I decided to look at perfume ads that involve water/rain. 

Lastly, I decided to take a look at typography that has either been inspired by rain or what I would personally use for my beauty advertisement.