Setting the Mood PB4 Post #1

Reflections from Panel: 
When pitching my idea and original images, I was relived that straight away the mood I was trying to get across was picked up by the panel. Dark, eerie and an uncomfortableness brought on through absence of colour. The idea that you can create a photo book solely on a emotion is what I want to work towards. Dan brought up the point, what I would really need to look at my black points and white points, as not to completely wash out my images. When editing test shots I still feel as if I’m not getting a complete tonal range and will need to consider how I can overcome this. Brain suggested a tool that aids in creating black and white images that I will look at, as I want to achieve the best results for my final product. All and all I feel as if I’m confident in the direction I’m heading. In the following weeks I’ve have a photo shoot with my model, so I can focus on the body as I did in PB2, however I will still practice by taking every day photos and trying to capture that same dark mood I want to focus my photobook on.

Test Shots: Taken on Iphone 6S

When playing around in Photoshop, I found cropping this image helped remove elements that confused the atmosphere. For example, although the light adds some nice contrast it distracts from the ominous alley that stretches before the viewer.


The same goes for this image of pigeons. The picture on the left with the pigeon flying in gives the viewer reassurance the the birds are fine, it also mimics the symbol of a dove which is important to note when considering how one might read my photobook. The picture on the right however is much more successful in creating the mood, as the pigeons almost look lifeless.

Continuing with this photobook I will have to stop thinking about what makes a good photo and consider what works to progress my story, as I want this photobook to sit on the mood of uneasy/uncomfortable.

Moving toward I will need to download InDesign to start playing around with how I can position images and whether the contrasting of white and black images together ads to my overall theme.
I will also need to start brainstorming a title the more the photo book comes together. As Brian highlighted that a strong title will unify everything I put into the book if I want it to.