SHOOT 2 - CASE STUDY - BODYBUILDER

SHOOT 2 - CASE STUDY 2 - PROGRESS

This shoot is a progression from the shoot of my Granddad. I believe at my Granddad’s age, there was a limit to how much power I could portray through my own images, however still feel his shoot is important in showing the intense life long effects of a lifestyle built around sport, body form and healthy lifestyle.

CASE STUDY:

This shoot is a shoot of my friend Josh, 21, the second case study I will be using for this project. Josh has played football, rugby, studied sports science including practical work in a number of sports in his studies, and worked out in the gym almost everyday from around the age of 17. I have chosen Josh as a case study to watch his progression, habits and emotions during 14 weeks of preparation for bodybuilding competition. When looking at bodybuilding training and diets, they are similar to those of a boxer. I feel as though although I am going in reverse in finding the effects, this will progress to unfold the mental and physical capability of the body and the power it takes for a sport like this. Josh: "Bodybuilding is so intense, it's all about improvements and how hard you work for it".

This shoot was inspired by Benjamin Von Wong. Adjusting the images to a higher contrast highlighted the definition in the models body showing muscular and vascular definition. I also changed the images to black and white to limit colour range with the idea to focus more on tonal range, which again showed more definition. Like the previous shoot I believe this gives an intense feel because of the harsh lighting and the emphasis on definition but also a personal feel because of the relaxed composition using rule of thirds loosely and not shooting the modelling with a particular focusing point.

The initial shoot was not as organised as I had hoped. I used only a plain white wall for a background and used a torchlight and basic room light for lighting - also the flash from my camera. Although the initial images weren't as successful as hope, when edited I was more than satisfied with the outcomes. In some images to replicate the idea's shown by Vong Wong, I over exposed the photos slightly using Photoshop and then blacked out the white background to create the illusion that the light and exposure brought out the definition of the body. Below are some of the successful images and edits from the shoot along with the contact sheets.

The image to the right is the most successful image of the shoot. I wanted high levels of contrast and a large range of tones. Because of the camera flash a shadow was creaed

The lighting in the image in the image on the top left corner of the grid is significant as it's the only image that I have used a simple iPhone torch as for lighting. I placed the light to the side of the model to capture the shadows of the chest, shoulder and abdominal muscles. Unfortunately because of how dark the image was and without a tripod it was difficult to capture a completely still and clear image. Although the models arm moved, I was able to crop it out so it simply looked like a bicep tense instead of me asking the model to hold the light up against him. I felt like converting the image to black and white was better than the colour. I feel one scale of tones highlighted definition more than it being in colour and varying tones in different colour as highlighting definition in the body was my aim for this shoot. I do feel however this image is a little grainy because of the lack of light. To improve this I will most likely change my shoot location to a studio with the correct equipment.

When editing the images, I increased the contrast and exposure and changed it to black and white. Changing the image to black and white and in some images, blended shadows on and behind the body, this created the illusion that the body was bigger than what it actually was and again highlighted definition in the models body.

The model is stood in a harshly lit room with the lighting coming from above him. This lighting created clear shadows on the body, especially on the abdominal muscles in his stomach and side stomach, and his lat under his arm. The change in contrast makes the image look slightly grainy, highlighting every uneven part of skin on the models body. This is similar to the work of Benjamin Von Wong. In highlighting that small amount of detail such as goosebumps or small hairs creates a very intense feel. For the body builder every detail of the body is important when stepping on stage to be judged. I feel thee images could be improved by using a studio background and studio lighting as I had little option. However with the lighting I had I feel I used it to my advantage. I also think that blending the background to a single black tone worked to my advantage and based the images around tone, shadows and highlights which then shows definition of the body.

These are the contact sheets for the shoot. First seeing these photos, I didn't think the shoot was successful but I believe this is simply down to the lighting and tones and colour in the images as they were not done in a environment set up for the shoot. After editing the images, I found them to look much more successful and much more alike how I wanted them to look, influenced by my researched artists - Benjamin Von Wong and Tim Tatter.

To improve on this, the photo's taken of the model's body progress will be done in an environment more suitable with lighting that can be experimented with in order to coinside with the model.