Thoughts on my book

My book has just arrived and overall I am very pleased with it, but there are a few things that I will adjust when I re-order it so that it will be perfect for submission. 

I am really pleased with the quality of the photos as they are printed very clearly so you can see all the detail of the make-up, and overall the colours are very vivid in them. 

However, some of the images have printed with a slight green tinge to them which I feared would happen, as although they looked of normal colouring on my computer, when I uploaded them onto the photo book website they uploaded with a tinge to them, so when I re-order the book I will make sure that the images upload with the right colouring. 

The text in the book is ever so slightly blurred as I typed it out on word and then screen-shotted it and saved it as an image then added it into the book, so the quality of the image was not as good as it should have been, so when I re-order I will make sure to save the word file as a PDF and then export it as a JPEG so the text won't be blurred when I insert it into the book. 

Finally, on one of the zoomed in images of the Deer shoot, she has a strand of hair across her cheek, which when I looked on my computer was not visible but in print it shows so I will get the photographer to edit it out in photoshop. 

When I amend all of these little tweaks I think the book should look the best it can and will showcase off my work well. 

Book title:

For the title of the book, I originally wanted to get it embossed but could not find a suitable company that would do it on time or in budget, so I decided to create it myself. 

I wanted the text to look like an old-fashioned fairytale book so decide to use the 'Old English' font which I got outlines of from the internet and printed them out. 

I wanted my title, 'Beauty in the Beast' to have two capital 'B's that are bigger than the rest of the text, so printed the B out larger. I then cut out all the letters that I needed and arranged in the centre of the book and then traced round them with a pencil. Next I filled in the pencil outlines of the letters with acrylic gilding glue and let it dry for 15 minutes before placing a sheet of gold leaf over the letters and then rubbing it off leaving the leaf stuck on the letters creating a gold title. 

 

The gold leaf did not come out as smooth as I would have liked and has a bit of a rough outline on the lettering, however it looks quite old-fashioned but also with a slight rugged modern twist which I quite like. 

When my new and updated versions of the book come I will experiment with painting the lettering on with gold paint and see which style I prefer and which ever one looks best I will hand in for submission. I also feel that the hand crafted title adds another USP to the book as book titles are always professionally printed using machinery and not hand made. 

Changes to my time plan schedule

Originally, I planned to have my book put together and sent off by the 25th March before I went on holiday to Australia for three and a half weeks, however because of the late notice Deer shoot, the photographer had not finished editing the shots by that date. 

When I went to order the book whilst I was on holiday, I wanted to order the silver linen book cover but it was not available in the A3 size which was a shame. So instead my only option was black linen which I decided would be fine. Bonus print did not offer an embossing service on the cover which was suitable to what I wanted, so I decided to look else where for an embossing service and chose to still order the book from bonus print. 

However, when I went to order the book, because I was abroad, they would not let me order it which was extremely frustrating as it was complete and I wanted it it be ready for when I got back home, but unfortunately I had to wait til the 19th April when I was back in England to order the book, which put me behind schedule.

Layout of my Book

I have planned to layout my book in a specific way, and will insert the photoshoots in the order they were taken as I think they flow well that way; Butterfly, Crow, Beetle and then Deer. 

The book will be A3 sized with a linen covering and will be created using www.bonusprint.co.uk . The paper will be of a normal standard (not overly glossy) but of high quality. 

The first page of the book will be a small amount of introductory text in a poem format, reading: 

'The Beast appears from time to time 

A dark shadow in sand draws the line 

We choose to cross or hold our ground 

Until Beauty once more can be found 

Everyone of us has a little of the Beauty and the Beast within…' 

On the next page will read the Butterfly poem adjacent to a portrait photo from the shoot, the next two pages will be a double page spread with a singular landscape image spread across both the pages for maximum impact, the same layout will be on the next two pages also. On the following two pages I will take the image of her lying down and mirror it for an effect of butterfly wings which'll look striking and eye-catching. The next two pages will be a portrait shot from the shoot on the left page, and on the right page to end the chapter will be the double exposure image. This layout pattern will follow throughout the book. 

After all of the shoots there will be a page reading 'Behind the Beauty…' and adjacent will be a singular photo of me creating the makeup on one of the shoots. When you turn the page, across the next two pages will be a collage of images of myself creating the hair and make-up looks on my models to give the audience an idea of how the looks were created, and I fell this is a strong USP of my book.

The book will end with a brief page of thanks to my photographer and models. 

Introductory Poems

To introduce each chapter of the different photoshoots for my book I have collaborated with my Dad to write some short poems to 'set the scene' for each different character. The poems help to enhance the dream-like nature of the book and tie in the idea of an old-fashioned fairytale style.

Each poem will be typed up in word and saved as a PDF and then exported as  JPEG in order to insert into the book in a high quality. The poem with be typed using the font 'Baskerville Old Face' for the main text, and for the first letter in each poem I will make it larger than the rest of the letters, again to bring in the old fashioned style text idea, and I will use the font 'Edwardian Script' so the letter is slightly curled.


Poem for Butterfly shoot:

'A breeze as faint as whispering mice
Crossed her face not once but twice
Beats from two beautifully coloured wings 
Full of magical swirls and circular things

One settled and then more they came
Wonderful beatings again and again
As one by one they arrested on the brightest flower 
Covering her stem like a perfect shower '

Poem for Crow shoot: 

'First the crow came often

With a clump of hair in its beak Its eyes would soften
As its wings became weak
Now the crow doesn’t come To my tree anymore
But I still hear wings hum Past the crack of my door' 

Poem for Beetle & Flower shoot: 

'A black coat dull like rubber she wore

As she crawled across the forest floor 
From leaf to leaf she moved without grace 
Until she found her resting place

Round and pale against her skin
A most strange happening did begin
Her black coat turned to iridescent green 
A prettier beetle had never been seen' 

Poem for Deer shoot: 

'He could not be sure if beast or foul

The faintest trace caught on the breeze 
Perhaps a sound of foot through gorse 
Gone again, if it was ever there

A sight, a glimpse of brown or red 
Then stillness, nothing, shades of green 
Movement definitely down by the copse 
A shape shifting in the blowing grasses

Again once more, this time a story 
There stood the stag in all its glory' 

Final Edited Double Exposure Images

Here are the double exposure images from all of the different shoots which I will use to close each shoot chapter.

Originally, myself and the photographer decided to merge the landscape out of the top of the models head, but when it came to the editing, it worked better to merge the landscape from the neck down on top of the black polo neck tops, and I am equally as pleased with this choice and outcome. The images created are exactly what I had envisaged, keeping with the dream-like theme in the book and I think they add a creative and different twist to the flow of the book, and help to differentiate it from other books that could be similar on the market.

Double exposure image for the Butterfly photoshoot

Double exposure image for The Grange/ Crow photoshoot

Double exposure image for the Beetle & Flower photoshoot

Double exposure image for the Deer photoshoot 

Deer Photoshoot: Final edited images

Below are the edited final images for my photo book of the final shoot, the deer photoshoot.

I am very pleased with the way the make-up has turned out in the shoot as it looks soft and delicate much how I would interpret a deer. I am pleased with the edits with the antlers, however they do look a bit photoshopped, and the photographer has tried many time to fix this but it will not look any better than this, however I quite like them as the antlers look almost ghost-like, adding to the surreal and dream-like feel to the images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beetle & Flower Photoshoot: Final edited images

Below are the edited final images from the beetle and flower photoshoot that I will feature in my photo book.

I am very pleased with the way the edited shots turned out and love the vibrancy of the colours. This is perhaps my favourite shoot of them all, especially the photo where she is in the blossom as it adds a dreamy look.

 

 

 

 

The Grange Photoshoot: Final edited images

Below are the final edited images from The Grange photoshoot that I have decided to include in my photo book.

I am very pleased with the way the photos have come out post editing, however the only criticism I  have is that on the half face close up some of her eyeliner is rubbed away in the corner as it was so windy and the models eye was streaming. I fixed it as the time but it must have happened again and slipped my notice which is a shame, but I still really like the image.

 

Butterfly Photoshoot: Final edited images

Below are the final edited images that I have chosen to be used in my photo book for my butterfly photoshoot. The photographer that I worked with edited them using various techniques in photoshop. 

I am extremely pleased with the final outcomes of the shots, especially the one of her lying down as it is vivid and captures the dream-like element of the shoot perfectly.