I need feminism because- Work record

Basic information:
Date: 22/03/16
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 documenting both men and women's views of feminism and gender equality by having four men and four women write why they need feminism on a sign before taking their individual portraits holding the sign.  I will be using a white background due to issues that I have previously encountered when using the pink background for portraiture photography.
  What I hope to achieve:
In this shoot I hope to delve deeper into the discussion about gender equality amongst my peers which I began in my previous shoot "I AM BUT I AM NOT"; instead of asking people what they do that isn't traditional of their gender I will instead be asking them why they feel that they need feminism in their lives.

A deep depth of field will be again implemented in order to allow for the subjects entire form to be in focus.   I will be creating a starter sentence for the sign in order to keep the sings format relatively uniform and to draw the viewers attention directly to the sign writing I will be asking the subjects to write in red felt tip pen.

This series is largely inspired by Gillian Wearing's work with signs as due to the cross section of genders being featured as well as the use of signs.

Outcome of shoot:
I was not entirely happy with the outcome of this shoot due to the fact that the subjects appeared slightly washed out in the final images.  I believe that part of the reason behind this is that the white background and strong lighting made the image overly bright whilst some of this could be corrected in editing I found that it created issues with the colour balance of the rest of the image.

I feel that the writing on the sign got slightly lost in the image due to the subjects distance from the camera a way to remedy this would have been to have asked the subjects to make their writing bigger or to use portrait orientation in this shoot and take the pictures closer to the subject.

I also discovered that due to the fact that some of my subjects were wearing glasses in the shoot there is light reflected on their glasses in the final images so next time I shoot using portraiture I must remember to ask my subjects to remove their glasses.

When editing this series I increased the images saturation and contrast in order to make the red writing on the sign stand out more I also altered the brightness and lighting of the image in order to give the images background a more even colouration I could not use the white balance tool as I found that this altered the colours of the subject in an undesirable way.

Progression:
If I were to revise this shoot I would ask my subjects to write their signs bigger or possibly type their responses and then print out the signs however I feel that although this last option would be clearer it may depersonalise the images.  I would also consider altering my light settings against the white background.

Favourite image:

This is my favourite image as I think that the subjects stands out nicely against the white background and has not been overly washed out I also think that the text is both visible and legible.

The subjects brightly coloured clothing as well as the fact that she is positioned in the centre of the image draws that viewers eye to her and allows for her to stand out well against the white background despite the images deep depth of field.

Denotation: A women is holding a sign stating why she needs feminism.

Connotations: The connotations of this image are that women feel unsafe when walking home and that this could be amended through the better education of men.

Context: The social context for this image is the discussion surrounding the fact that men need to taught not to rape opposed to women being taught to not dress provocatively and that they need to protect themselves from men if they walk home alone at night.

Least favourite image:

Despite the obvious similarities between each of the images in the series this image is my least favourite due to the incorrect spelling go women on the subjects sign.  This shows me that if I were to use sign writing as a shoot concept again I should not rush the shoot and should take time to proof read the signs before shooting.

Denotation: A man holding a sign which states why he feels that he needs feminism.

Connotation: The connotations behind this sign are the fact that this image shows that it is not merely women who support the gender equality movement as men also believe that women "don't deserve to be penalised because of their gender".

Context: This image shows the contrast in opinions between todays society and the opinions of society in the 1900's when men tried to prevent women from voting as they believed that they were to fragile to understand the political workings of the country.