Flower boy- Work record

Basic information:
Date: 04/04/16
Camera used: Nikon D5300
Props or subject: Subject
Editing program: Photoshop CC 2014
Camera settings: 1/125, F9, ISO 200

Plans for shoot:
In this shoot I will be taking portrait images of the subject to capture images of his beard and will then be adding objects associated with femininity to his beard by either using physical or computer manipulation.

What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve a series of eye-catching images through the combination of computer and physical manipulation.  This series will aim to tackle the ideas of men being unable to express their femininity by contrasting the masculinity of a beard with more feminine objects.

This series will use a deep depth of field in order to make sure that the entire portrait of the subject is in focus.  The images will then be cropped to a square shape in order to give them each a uniform shape and style.

The series is largely inspired by The Gay Beards whom have a series of beards containing objects such as glitter, flowers and confetti as well as Hannah Altman whom has a series in which blood and tears are substituted with glitter on women.  These photographers are relevant due to the way in which they focus on contrasting masculinity with glitter as well as the brutal aspects of being a woman with glitter.

Outcome of shoot:
I opted to use the image of the subject in profile opposed to the image in which he is facing towards the camera I believe that this image provided the most iconic view of the beard and conjured images of masculinity.  

This shoot was highly successful due to the success of the editing process and the stark contrast which was created between masculinity and femininity through this.

The computer manipulation in this shoot incorporated various complex processes in order to achieve the final result.  Firstly I used the spot healer brush to remove any stray beard hairs as they disrupted the refined look of the edge of the beard that I desired.  I then altered the saturation and brightness of the image until I was satisfied.

After attempting to remove a section of the image using the lasso tool in order to allow the images background to be visible I discovered that this would not give me a clean enough edge as it produced very jagged lines so instead I opted to remove the section be drawing in guidelines using the pen tool and then implementing the eraser to remove the section of beard.  I then inserted the image of the flowers in a lower layer of the image to allow it to show through the transparent whole in the image.  I then made the image more vibrant by altering the hue and saturation as well as the brightness of the flowers and adjusted their position.

In the physical manipulation I used the edits of the subjects fact prior to the removal of his beard in the computer manipulation and added glitter and flowers to several images using glue.

Progression:
If I were to revisit this shoot I would attempt to find more subjects with beards as I believe that this would make my series more engaging as the images would bot all feature the same subject.  I would also aim to find more flowers however due to the season in which this shoot was taken there were not many flowers in bloom on the college campus.

Favourite image:

This is my favourite image due to the way in which the pink of the cherry blossom conjures gentle calming emotions and ideas of felinity which contrasts very well with the masculinity of the subjects and the obvious profile of the beard in a way that suggests that people can be both masculine and feminine.

Denotation: The denotation of this image is that it is of a man whom has had his beard replace with flowers.

Connotation: This image show the way in which the flowers in the beard contrast with the masculinity of the image highlights the fact that men can be both masculine and feminine as well as the fact that women can be both feminine and masculine.

Context: This images social context is that currently men are becoming more embracing of aspects of femininity in their lives.

Least favourite image:

This is my least favourite image due to the fact that I have used a plant opposed to a flower in place of the subjects beard.  In my opinion this image does not convey as powerful of a message as the others in the series for this reason.

Denotation: The image above is of a man who's beard has been replaced with a plant.

Connotation: The connotation behind this image is that men can embrace their femininity and still retain their masculinity however due to the fact that I used a plant opposed to a more feminine flower I feel that the message has been somewhat removed from this image.

Context: This images social context is that men are becoming more accepting of aspects of femininity in their lives.