LILY HALLIDAY
Y O U T H
O U T D O O R S M O K I N G S H O O T
R E F I N E D
​To make the process of adding smoke into my photographs easier and to continue to work in the style of Mark, Mann and Janssens I have carried out another outdoor smoking shoot. This time, I plan to focus the shoot against more harsh backdrops and more enclosed scenes rather than open spaces like previously. I believe there is a possibility that adding smoke to these photographs will be a lot more successful as there is more of a backdrop for the smoke to show up against, rather than blending into the background making the overall appearance less effective. Although, I don’t want to make the background as dark as my experiments in the style of Janssens as I found that was too unrealistic. I plan to use the same model I have throughout my project so far to show development and still include my main theme, youth.
Inspired by my most successful previous shoot and smoke experiments, I have carried out a similar shoot capturing different surroundings that include similar aspects such as brick walls, railing and graffiti with darker backgrounds that all help to emphasise smoke and the idea of a young child being surrounded by an unsuitable world. The railing images have been set in front of a secondary school, further emphasising the aspect of younger children wanting to grow up too fast. Again, I have still included the bunny to keep the idea of youth at heart going and how even through other influences this aspect is not let go. The purpose of this shoot is to capture more harsh backdrops to include smoke, and I believe I have done this successfully.
E D I T S
This time round I have added both a greyscale and more muted tone effect to a selection of my favourite photographs. Even though none of my artists so far in my project use colour, I believe introducing very muted tones will help to show how through bad influences even a child’s appearance can change and their youthful look can be altered. There is also a possibility that adding smoking to these slightly coloured images will make the process easier and more realistic. It is important that I make the idea of influences on children more prominent in my work and I think this can be done using a smoke editing process.
S M O K E E D I T S
Initially I added the smoke and found that it was too dark against the backdrop, making it appear unrealistic.
Therefore, I adjusted the shade of the smoke and made it slightly darker. Again, I found this unrealistic as smoke is usually much lighter.
I found that one side of the image was a lot lighter than the other half, therefore I edited the lighter side of the photograph to match the rest of the image. As the section I was applying the smoke to was this lighter side, I felt this was necessary as I needed a harsh backdrop for the smoke to show up in the first place. Initially, I tired this by sectioning the image but found that I wasn't just adjusting the background, but also the models face which I didn't want...
Therefore instead I selected the section I wanted to edit using the selection tool, making the process a lot easier. I also made the smoke itself much lighter appearing more realistic and visually effective. In the end I found this very effective successfully showing the smoke...
Within this experiment, I have altered the size and position of the smoke slightly...
Within this I have used a different smoke image entirely, that focuses on much darker tones. I have found this not as successful compared to my other experiments due to the fact that it appears more unrealistic...
​To start my initial experiments, I have taken a smoke image from online rather than my own due to the fact that it has no background colour. This means that unlike my previous experiments, I don’t have to remove the background colour from around the smoke. I believe the unrealistic appearance of my last experiments may have been down to the process, and the halo effect that it left around the smoke itself. Although, even though the online smoke is more successful, I believe it would be more effective if I were able to use my own smoke photography.
To experiment further with this new technique, I have edited another photograph that includes a more harsh background from my shoot. Because it was so successful, I have used the same smoke image without a background that makes the process of creating the edits a lot easier. Again, I have experimented using both the greyscale image and muted colour image to see which is more effective. In this case, I feel as if the coloured image is slightly more effective for the smoke as smoke itself is slightly coloured. Therefore, if I were to experiment further solely with smoke I believe a slight tint of colour within the image would be more realistic. This time round I have also experimented more with the shape of the smoke. In the 3rd image, I have stretched the smoke further making it look more wispy and realistic. Moreover, I have changed the colour of the smoke itself (4) to black in a greyscale image. But, I found this unsuccessful as smoke from cigarettes isn’t usually this colour and therefore isn’t realistic which will always be n important aspect within my work. Overall, I have found this experiment very purposeful in informing my ideas and showing me what works well.