Evaluation

I really enjoyed this unit because it gave me more choice about what I could photograph. However if I was to do this again I would not choose story telling again as I felt at times it was a bit restricting and got a bit repetitive.

I did both studio shoots and location shoots but found there were some issues and positives with both.
My first shoot was the Alice in wonderland shoot in the studio where I set up the tea party with Sophie and the doll. The overall photographs that I edited turned out well however the lighting in these photos was very dark and at the time I could not sort this out. If I were to redo this shoot I would make sure the lighting was brighter although I did achieve the slightly dark setting that I wanted. Also the composition of the photo was good as Sophie is the main focus of the photo.

My second story telling shoot was the teenage life story in the studio. With this shoot I was trying to portray the way that teenagers lives are expected to be with the realistic and expected versions. This shoot went well because the lighting was good and bright. Another thing that went well with this shoot is that I used the blue background for the education shoot and the red for the party Shoot as these colours represent each thing well. Once again the composition in this shoot when Sophie is surrounded by the papers emphasises the fact that she has lots of work to do, which was the intention. To improve this shoot I would try and edit the photos in a more interesting and complex ways these photos may be a little boring.

The third shoot I completed was the fairy location shoot. This shoot went well because the natural lighting made very natural relaxed photographs which fit with the fairy theme that I had going with this shoot. I made the head dress out of flowers so it fits in with the naturalistic photograph. To improve this shoot I would use a more natural colour dress for Amelia as I feel this clashes with the natural due to its synthetic colouring. If I were to do this shoot again I would perhaps use another girl in a simular dress just to make the photos different slightly.

The fourth shoot I did was in the style of a comic book or cartoon. I chose to use Shannon because her blue hair fit with the theme of the shoot and I knew that she would pull the facial expressions that I wanted her to. This shoot went well as the lighting was bright and background was colourful and eye-catching as it should be. To improve this shoot I would like to try and use props such as a cape to make Shannon a character so that there was a more obvious reason for the facial expressions. I would also get her time wear a brighter top that clashes with the background so that it is obvious that I used bright colours on purpose.

The fifth shoot was the chalk board shoot which is one of my favourite shoots from unit two. what makes this shoot my favourite is the composition and lighting as this was really affective when telling the story that I intended to tell with this shoot. I also like how I used Taylor's facial expressions in order to illustrate the word shown on the chalk board. Another thing that I like about this shoot is that I used a chalk board as this is quite an old fashion thing when I could have use technology. To improve this shoot I would make sure that the chalk is clearly visible in the photos as when it came to editing they were uncloar and led to me drawing them however this resulted in then being to bright and unrealistic.

For my sixth shoot I wanted to show the story of generation and growing up by photographing different people's shoes in the studio. This shoot went well because it was easy to compose these photos exactly how I wanted it as it is an object instead of models. The lighting in these photos worked well because it showed all of the small details and scratches in the shoes which represents the generation. To improve this photo shoot I would try and link the shoes a little more other than the colour as when it came to editing it was limited what I could do with them. Another improvement I would make would be that when I edit to do more interesting edits as this once again got a bit repetitive.

For my shoot seven I did another Alice in wonderland shoot however I chose to do a location shoot as I felt that the setting played a role in telling this story. What went well in this shoot was the lighting and setting of the shoot. what I didn't like about this shoot was that the dress Sophie wore was very obviously a fancy dress costume and therefore made the photo seem very set up where as I would have liked to have a natural shoot to fit with the storyline.

Shoot eight is another one of my favourite shoots due to its positive and happy appearance and theme. What went well with this shoot is that I used a lot of relevant and attractive props to illustrate this milestone of life. The editing of this shoot also went well because I knew what I wanted to do with it. To improve this shoot I would consider using more models so that it wasn't as if she was celebrating on her own.

Shoot nine was a location shoot in the woods as what I was trying to achieve This shoot is another of my favourite shoots as I love how it is childish and magical. What worked really well is that the setting of the book matched the setting of the photo so when it came to editing the characters fit in well. To improve this shoot I would try using more characters and more books.

Shoot ten was in the style of Little red riding hood on a location shoot. This shoot wasn't the best because I completed it to late in the day either lighting was not very good, however once I had edited this shoot it turned out ok. To improve this shoot I would do it earlier in the day so that I get some natural light in the photos and I would also consider the composition more as some of the photos are quite unplanned.

My eleventh shoot was where I had Amelia holing up the pages saying 'once Apon a time' and 'she lived happily ever after' as these are the common begging and end to a story. What went well with this shoot was the lighting and bright colouring as this gave the photos a very positive happy feel. If I were to do this shoot again I would consider getting more words or get props to actuallybhelp illustrate a story however overall I was pleased with this shoot.

My final shoot was in the style of Beauty and the Beast. What went well with this shoot was that I used props and costume to illustrate the story. If I did this shoot again I would make a lot of improvements. Firstly I would do it in the studio as this would help light the photos properly. I would also make sure that the dress was better and you could not tell his wife it was constructed. Finally I would take photographs of the book itself so that I could make it seem as if she had come out of the book and into real life.

Overall this unit went quite well and I am pleased with the majority of my shoots. As an overall improvement I would try and spend mire time on the composition and layout of the shoots and be more experimental when it comes to editing. From this unit as a whole I have learnt how to add cartoon characters into my photos. This has also given me more practice with both location and studio shoots and my composition has improved since unit one.