Photos for a Purpose

Purpose of ShootThe aim of this shoot was to generate images for a poster advertising a used musical products store. As the store only sell used items it was essential to give an old effect to the image and not show brand new products. The target audience of the poster would mainly be students that could not afford brand new equipment although the poster could also appeal to antiques collectors and old people interested in instruments that they used to use themselves.

Contact Sheet

Original Images

Edited Image 1

I chose to edit this image as I liked the framing used; although the whole of the intended focus point isn’t inside the frame I believe this makes the composition more interesting. With this photo I decided to adjust the contrast and the brightness to enhance the people in the shot along with the instruments that they are using. By doing this the lighting equipment that you can see now has a silhouette effect which contrasts well with the green board to the right of the image. The main difference from the original image is the fish eye lens effect used to give the image a circular look and draw more attention to the middle of the image. I chose to use this effect due to the style of Khadija Bhuiyan; who I researched as my digital based photographer.

Edited Image 2

The second image I edited shows someone with their head inside of a trumpet. The image follows the balancing elements rule as the bland background helps to draw attention to the main image. I chose to make this image black and white to give an antique look to the instrument in the image; as the person in the image is wearing modern clothes this contrasts well with the old looking instrument. Eliminating all colour from this photo sets a bleak feeling whilst the person having their head in the tuba brings some humour back to the image.

Edited Image 3

This third image is my favourite of the 3 as the speakers stand out in the image so much. I decided to use a slight monochrome style effect on the image after researching the contemporary photographer Lewis Hine. The image is a perfect example of rule of third although I believe the composition would look better if the left hand side of the image had something to balance the elements such as a small poster or sign related to music.

Rejected ImagesI chose not to use this image due to the plugs that are visible to the right of the speaker as well as the top speaker only being half visible. This image doesn’t follow the rule of third compared to the other images and there is no clear depth of field either. To the top right of the image you can see a small amount of wire which looks like it wasn’t meant to be in the shot whereas with the similar image that I have chosen the wire adds more attention to the right hand side of the image.

This image was rejected due to the clothing worn by the person in the shot; the jacket is modern which does not suit the used, vintage theme intended. Another reason for not choosing this image was the condition of the instrument, although the shop sell’s used goods they don’t want people to think that all of the instruments are in poor condition. I believe this image would have worked well if the person was wearing plainer clothes and the framing was in shot, as well as using a stringed guitar.

EvaluationOverall I believe that the images I produced are suited to the intended purpose and appeal to the correct audience. Due to the nature of the images; the use of instruments the poster would visually attract music lovers and the quirky look will attract students even if they are not music fans. The posters could be shown in magazines, handed out as flyers in streets and even online to advertise the store.