Butterfly Photoshoot: Behind the scenes

To create the hair and make-up look for my final Butterfly photoshoot, I stuck with the make-up and hair designs I created in the test shoot, but with slight changes, such as the rice paper butterflies instead of the paper ones. 

I started by doing the skin, which I used a Bobbi Brown foundation in shade 'Porcelain Peach', mixed with Illamasqua hydra veil and Illamasqua satin primer and buffed in well to give her skin a very glowy and shimmery look. I then highlighted her face further by sweeping some Bobbi Brown highlighting shimmer brick across her cheekbones and down the centre of her nose, and I did the same with Lime Crime eyeshadow in 'Fly'. 

Next I primed her lids with Urban Decay eye primer and blended Lime Crime 'Filter' eyeshadow all over the eyelid up to the brow and under the eye in a soft winged shape. I then blended 'Fly' shadow in the inner corners of the eyes. Finally for the eyes I applied a small amount of mascara to the top and bottom lashes. For the brows I stuck small butterflies over them using lash glue and stuck them out to the hairline. 

For the lips I again used the Urban Decay eye primer and then pressed 'Fly' shadow all over them to create an iridescent look. I then finished the makeup by sticking the various sized rice paper butterflies up the chest and neck. 

For the hair I simply backcombed it all over and slightly smoothed it back and pinned into place whilst pulling some of the front pieces out to create a slightly more unkept look. I then placed a few butterflies into the hair also. 

I will use a variety of photos like these in the 'Behind the scenes' section for each shoot in the back of my book. 

Butterfly Photoshoot: Moodboard

 

The concept of this shoot is a 'Queen of Butterflies' look, as the butterflies will be placed all over her chest and neck and eyebrows, making it look as though the butterflies are swarming towards her and resting and that she is one with them. I will use the model that I used in the test shoot for this look as I feel she worked well. I will have this look photographed in Ashridge woodland. 

Sources:

• www.allfreedownload.com 
• www.kids.nationalgeographic.com 
• www.latesthairstl.tk 
• www.lifewithchampions.com 
• www.makeupandbeauty.com
• www.pintrest.com 
• www.pixiwoo.com 
• www.polyvore.com 
• www.stylesweekly.com 
• www.youramazingplaces.com 

Double Exposure Image Inspiration

For the double exposure studio shots I have taken inspiration from images such as the one below by Antonio Mora where the natural landscape comes out of the top of the head.

(http://www.mylovt.com)

For the images like this in my book, instead of covering half of the models face with the landscape, it will just come out of the top of the head. My photographer Holden Tuffield created this example on photoshop, which I am really pleased with and it is the sort of image I would like to have in my book, however the images will be in colour not black and white. 

Updated Production Schedule

Week Commencing:

• 11th January: Plan each shoot, know what props are needed for each shoot, 
  choose models for shoots and notify them, start to source and buy costumes, 
  wigs etc., start to design make-up and hair for each shoot. 
• 18th January: Continue buying necessary items for shoots, add onto any 
  costumes that need altering, finalize all make-up and hair designs, make sure 
  wig preparation is underway. 
• 25th January: Continue photo shoot prep. Start blogging.
• 1st February: Continue photo shoot prep. Blogging.
• 8th February: Continue photo shoot prep. Meet with photographer to discuss ideas and make sure he understands my visions for each shoot and what I'm after.
• 15th February: Mermaid studio shoot 16th Feb. Butterfly theatrical photo shoot 21st Feb. Blogging.
• 22nd February: The Grange theatrical photo shoot 27th Feb. Blogging.
• 29th February: The Grange studio shoot 29th Feb. Butterfly and Beetle & Flower studio shoots 5th March. Beetle & Flower theatrical shoot 6th March. Blogging.
• 7th March: Mermaid theatrical shoot. Blogging. Start to choose and finalise text to go with each image.
• 14th March: Make sure with photographer that all chosen photos are edited to standard and saved in a high quality format. Start to arrange photos in the correct layout for book.
• 21st March: Finalize book proof and send off for print no later than 25th March.
• 28th March: Australia 
• 4th April: Australia 
• 11th April: Australia 
• 18th April: Check print is up to standard incase corrections are needed. 
• 25th April: Write 1500 word project evaluation on blog. Make sure blog is complete.
• 6th May: FINAL MAJOR PROJECT DUE 

Further Changes to my Book

I have developed my ideas on my book further and have decided to introduce a new aspect to my book, and change a few other things also. Firstly, I have decided to change the theme to 'Natural Beauty', tying together the idea of natural settings and animals to the beauty of the model and hair, make-up and costumes.  

I have also decided to still do 8 photo shoots, but instead of them being all on location, I will do 4 theatrical shoots on location, each using a different model and theme, and then use the same model for a studio shoot, totalling 4 studio shoots. On location the model with have an elaborate hair and makeup design and costume fitting to the location, and in the studio the model will have a very minimalistic hair and make-up look with one element from the theatrical shoot. The photographer who I'm working with will then take the shot of the model from the studio and merge the top of their head with a natural element to compliment the shoot, e.g. I plan to create a butterfly themed photo shoot on the woods, so he will merge the top of her head with a woodland scene. 

The 4 photo shoot themes that I have decided on are:

Shoot 1: Butterfly inspired shoot in Ashridge woods in Hertfordshire 

Shoot 2: Bird inspired shoot at 'The Grange' house in Winchester 

Shoot 3: Mermaid inspired shoot on Bournemouth beach 

Shoot 4: Flower and beetle inspired shoot in Ashridge woods and gardens in Hertfordshire

I will still have an introductory page of text or a quote to introduce each shoot, and am still keen on presenting the book in the same way I have originally planned, with the linen covering in A3. I will have around 4 images from each shoot and the double exposure studio shot at the end of each 'chapter', totalling in around 6-8 pages per shoot 'chapter'. I will also keep the idea of a 'behind the scenes' section but just with the images of me doing the hair and makeup and some photos of the location without the model in it, as more of an insight rather than a 'how to' so that I don't take any of the 'magic' away.

Changes to my Book

I have decided to make a few changes in the layout of my book in order to improve its unique selling point and differentiate it to any similar books on the market.

Firstly I have decided to decrease the amount of photo shoots I'm creating from 10 to 8, in doing this it will allow me slightly more time to plan each shoot, create the props and costumes and organise the models, photographer and locations as well as designing the hair and make-up for each shoot. Each shoot will have 6 pages in the book, including 1 page of text to introduce each photo shoot, followed by 3-5 images of each shoot, totalling 48 pages.

To compensate for lacking pages (as with 10 shoots there would have been 60 pages), I have decided to insert a 'behind the scenes' chapter to the back of the book. This will be broken down into each shoot, with a mix of images of me doing the models hair and makeup, the set being made up, the photographer taking the photos of the models, etc. There will also be snippets of text amongst the behind the scenes images explaining what was done and how, and also any camera technicalities and what, if any, editing tools were used in the post production of the images. Each shoot will have a behind the scenes spread of 4 pages, bringing the books page total to 80. 

New Inspiration- Benjamin Von Wong

I first came across Benjamin Von Wong's photography when I was researching surreal fashion photo shoots to give me ideas and inspiration for my own project.

Benjamin's work caught my eye with its beautiful setting, lighting and costume which made it look magical, like it had come straight from a Disney film. I watched a short video of Benjamin explaining how he created the lighting for the shoot and the challenges he faced whilst photographing the models in the old historical library in Admont Abbey in Austria.

His work was especially interesting to me as for one of my photo shoots I will be seeing it up in an old Tudor estate house which is of a large scale so it helped me to think about possible lighting that'll need to be used and the placement of the models in the large old rooms. 

'Beauty and the Beast' (http://www.vonwong.com)

'Fairytale' (http://www.vonwong.com)