Shoot 2 - Work Record

For my second shoot I will be replicating the first, but will use temporary tattoos as my method of adding barcodes to the images. I will be doing this as I want my images to have the effect of the barcode really being on the skin - this is something that I am able to do through the use of temporary tattoos. Whilst I liked the look of the straight images from shoot 1, I felt that they still looked very Photoshopped, which is why I am experimenting with other mediums. The images will still have the same connotations - women are objectified in society and are a product for men to consume. It will also have the same denotations - close ups of different body parts with barcodes on. The difference between the two shoots is that the overall aesthetic of the image will be created in different ways. Another difference with this shoot is that I have asked my models to wear white this time around instead of black. I felt that this would help with my theme as it connotes innocence and implies that women are often objectified for their purity and innocence. The use of white will also help prevent a problem I had in the previous shoot where the dark clothing appeared to blend in with the background, making some images look odd.

Throughout this shoot, I faced problems when applying the barcodes to the models skin. When I tried to place the barcodes on to curved areas - such as the wrist, it was difficult trying to keep it in one place whilst the tattoo transferred. Many times, it did not work properly or smudged and so we had to take it off and try again. Secondly, I wanted my models wearing make up in any images I took of the face, but this meant that the tattoo would not adhere properly to the skin. In the end, I managed to place one barcode on the face by removing makeup in the area it was sitting. As I had problems with lighting last time, I used a softbox light this time around to ensure that my lighting was good in the images as I was able to use the burn tool and levels tool to bring the darkness of the background down to how I wanted it. Although, I am very happy with the overall result of the shoot. I felt that the images came out how I wanted them to and that the barcodes in this shoot came out looking very natural on the skin and so create the exact effect that I wanted, but it did take many attempts to get the barcodes perfectly on the skin and so it is much easier to use Photoshop to insert them.

Camera Settings: 1/80, f/5.6, ISO 200

This image was one that I felt turned out the best in terms of what I was hoping to achieve. I feel that, as the barcode is in the centre of the image, it becomes the focal point and so it clearly delivers a message to the viewer. I used the burn tool, levels and brightness/contrast in order to darken the background so that the model is in full focus. I then added a vignette to the image so that the centre of the image was bright than the rest, drawing more attention to this area. I feel that the use of white to connote innocence in this image works well as the white shirt surrounds the barcode, implying that the product is pure. The different tones in this image do well in creating a contrast of light and dark. For example, her skin in this image appears quite light, which makes the darkness of the barcode pop so much more.

This image is an example of what happened when I tried applying the barcode to a curved area. As the tattoo could not hold down properly on all sides where the arm was quite curved, it meant that the product could not stick to the skin properly and so peeled and smudged when the paper was taken off. If the tattoo had properly been placed on the arm and did not get damaged, this image would have done well in connoting the objectification of women. When attempting to fix this issue in Photoshop, it made the skin look slightly patchy and you could see that it had been manipulated on the computer - this was not an effect I wanted in the images from this shoot.