Photography analysis

Photography Analysis

AS Media Music MagazineGloria Lai

Photography

This presentation is to let you understand why I chose to use certain photos and why I did not use some others.

Within this blog post, you will also see several slideshows of photos. Those are all the photos I took for this project. There are roughly 490 photos so I will only annotate a selection of photos I took.

I chose not to use this photo because…

The background was not the right setting I wanted for this band, it has too much of the building that looks too much like a school building.

My ideal background for this group was a derelict warehouse but because of time-issues and the fact I could not find a warehouse nearby, I had to change the setting to the best I had at the time.

The band members were not standing perfectly straight nor aligned in this photo which made it look messy and too casual for what I had in mind.

The girl standing on the right has her hands in her coat pocket which looks fine but the girl on the left has her arms folded. The whole image looks unorganised which is not very professional

Generally, I had no problem with lighting because I was doing an outdoor shot.

This photo is taken at an angle which gives a nice effect, especially when you can see more of the bright sky contrasting the member’s dark clothesAll the members

were looking at different directions which looks quite unorganised

The girl in the middle has her leg bent whereas the other two hasn’t, which makes it look unprofessional

The girl on the right appears to be huddled with the girl in the middle which looks slightly out of place


I chose to use this photo because…

The snow and the bright sky contrasts brilliantly with the dark winter clothing the band is wearing.

Although the members aren’t all looking at the same directions, I think this pose looks stylish and suitable for the genre they are supposed to play. Especially when it is the lead singer who looks away, she ‘stands out’ from the other two

I used a low angle full body shot to present the band in a ‘superior’ way, giving the ‘aggressive’ but elegant touch to their band.

The lighting again proved to give no problems as it helps lighten the scene.

The mise-en-scene is an outdoor setting in a garden-like location, but mostly the attention is the snow which gives connotations of winter and coldness. The buildings behind the members relate to the band’s name: ‘Urban’ Lullaby


The model’s expression is too bland and ‘common’ which is not what her music genre is based on.

The lighting is done incorrectly as you can only see light shone on the arm and the rest of her upper body is just one shadow, with the exception of a tiny bit of light on her face.

I believe a photograph should capture the best of a person and I think this medium close up photo is too bland and shows unimportant parts.

This was one of the photos I was considering to use. However, I did not use this because the photo I needed of the model was to be on the contents page. Since I already had several photos planned that has an indirect mode of address, I wanted to several to use direct address. The photos I used that did not have direct address were to catch the reader’s eye to the text or something alike but for this photo and where it would be placed, it would not make much difference.


If I had used the photo, I would have had to crop the picture to show the best of the model.

One other point as to why I wouldn’t have used this picture is because the balance of the image is tipped off to the right side, leaving the right with a lot of white space. This is because the model has her head titled to one side as well as the photo was taken at a side.


The lighting and shadows were the striking effect I had wanted which was perfect. The light came from the right with a reflector on the corner of the room on the left giving the bright look with several shadows casted. However, after editing, the shadows did not show as well because I cropped the image as well as changed the contrast settings. Regardless, the light shone onto the model’s hair gave a brilliant effect.

Her expression was calm and somewhat serious which fit in with what I wanted her to look as an artist. In addition, the slight high angle shot makes the middle look upwards, presenting her with an innocent and harmless feel.

The costume was a dark sleeveless frilly top which gave an excellent effect against the model’s pale skin.

I didn’t like the pose of the model as it does not give any real hint that he might be a musician as he is just sitting on the floor. The photo itself

does not attract much attention as it looks quite bland, the model himself is not looking at the camera but looking down.


There is too much white space surrounding the model which makes the photo look boring and does not focus on the model himself.

Ultimately, the photo is very boring and not suitable to be on a contents page where interesting aspects of the issue is displayed


There is far too much white space and oddly formed shadows in the background as well as not suited items in the photo such as the lights, reflector (camera equipment) and the socket plug-in.

The whole of the model should be in the photo yet the photo is taken with the model’s foot slightly cropped off.

The model’s expression is not I had wanted for the musician I want him to be as well as the lighting was quit dim compared to the right of the model.

Within my own contents page layout and designing, I later revised the look for this model and decided the stool as prop did not fit in well with the musician.


In this picture, there is a guitar which gives a better relation to the model to music giving you a better impression of what music the model/artist plays. In this instance, an acoustic guitar might suggest acoustic ballads.

There is a bright lighting across the model and the guitar with a stretching shadow between the model and the guitar, giving the photo an echoing/stretching effect.

The model gives a direct mode of address to the reader which is what I needed.

Later, I cropped the image so the photo would be focusing on the model and the instrument, decreasing the white space surrounding the model.


For the obvious reason, the lighting is terrible on the photo because of the early winter sunsets and that this was an outdoor shot.

I don’t think this pose generally fit the rebellious pop-punk music genre as well as the position of the members were set wrong (the last member on the end is quite blurry).

The yellow outdoor light tends to capture the main focus of the photo instead of the band which is unfortunate as I could try to edit the photo so it is brighter, but the light lamp would also be bright so it would not work.


The obvious reason is the intense light from the camera flash. I had tried to use flash because it was getting dark and had wondered if the flash would help. Unfortunately, it did the opposite. The flash made everyone’s eyes turn bright white which looks quite odd.

The lighting looks too unnatural for an outdoor environment and quite obvious that it was an average flash from a camera.

The pose does not fit very well with the band’s suppose music genre. Although the pose does allow the lead singer stand out but it does not look suitable to be on a front page.

The mise-en-scene in this photo looks too scruffy and just the incorrect location to take the photo.


I learnt from other magazines that this is the most ‘conventional’ pose for a similar rock/pop-punk bands.

I had learnt the rule of thirds that the photo should not be symmetrical so I made sure the members were not standing in exactly the same way.

The lead singer stands in front of the other band members so she stands out from the rest but not to an extreme point.

The background setting is curtains and the band standing on a stage which relates well to their band name: Theatrical Wonderland.


Extreme close up angles are striking, especially when direct address is used. It will catch the reader’s attention easily.

The photo of the model smiles at the camera which is different form her other photos used in the feature pages so it is something different for the readers to see.

The lighting on her face is lit up well with some shadows casted onto the left of her face but creates an interesting appearance.


The lighting is very bright on her face as well as her top, casting shadows on the wrinkles of the dark top.

Her top has a deeper meaning to the photo as the features page interview relates to Superman. Her thumbs in her pocket gives a casual and “cool” form which is also the musician’s style.

Her mode of address is to try and subconsciously make the reader look at where she is looking down. When placed together, where she is looking down, is the interview article about her.

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Photography analysis