As I've mentioned in Blog 10, I'm very comfortable planning and making content digitally, but I do have more space to improve in taking the shots myself. Essentially, I’m much more comfortable with pre and post-production, than the production itself. I’ve decided to slowly work on that, starting first with a photoshoot. I also wanted to work on my 3D skills from the previous term and decided on a futuristic, sci-fi concept as it wasn’t something I had tried before. 

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I had a general idea of creating a background in 3D and editing the model over it. I did this because I was lacking a lot of props and didn’t have a specific space in mind that fit the image of what I wanted the shoot to look like.

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THE BACKGROUND

I did play around with 3D in the last term, but I had to step it up for the background. The sort of 3D imagery Illustrator could make would make the concept a little more cartoonish, which wasn’t what I was looking for. I needed something that could give more variety in texture, looked more realistic, and was more efficient in building larger structures. I decided to use Blender, which is a free 3D software. Honestly, Blender scares me; the software interface is incredibly complicated to navigate as a beginner, and I wasn’t sure how much patience I had to figure it out.

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Eventually, through a combination of Youtube tutorials and extensive googling, I managed to create a simple landscape background. It took me at least 3 hours to figure this out from a 12-minute video, and then I took a short break because I was mentally exhausted at this point. 

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I liked the outcome, but I was worried it would be too plain to edit on. I was also having issues with the mist as it often hid the moon, and I realized it would be difficult to replicate when I edited the model on. I decided to completely remove it and add metal orbs to direct the line of sight and make the background more dynamic. I also made the background lighter so the model could stand out later on. 

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PHOTOSHOOT

My vision for the styling was something futuristic and edgy. Clothing-wise, I didn’t have a lot to work with as I didn’t have pieces the model could fit, and she had nothing in that style. I also didn't know anyone with this vibe I could borrow clothing from, so I had to make do with what I had. I styled a backless top backward over a tube top and paired that with leather shorts. I had a ball chain necklace I shortened into a choker by tying the back with a hair tie.

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OUTCOME

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Overall, I really like the outcome. I stepped out of my comfort zone aesthetically, but also skill-wise. I find that I’m actually not that bad at taking pictures, but I do have to thoroughly plan for it beforehand. I did struggle with the process and I was surprised to see myself so determined to make what I had imagined come to fruition.