Feminine Militance

Image title - War Child

In this image I wanted to release this sense of innocence in the subject to enforce the frame with negative expressions that link to children in areas of warfare today. The staring eyes into the camera provides the frame with a terrified feel in the subject. The focus on the face allows the image to have this distant feel within it and therefore produces this mood of loneliness to be seen. With the camera aiming down in the picture, it emphasises dominance over the female subject, I did this to show a weak emotion that innocent children in areas of conflict suffer from.

To make this image I used a low key set studio with one flash unit high camera right. I used a Nikon D80 with a fairly closely zoomed sigma 17-70mm lens. To get the extra bit of height above the subject I used a stool to stand on to provide this sense of dominence I wanted over the subject. To get the interesting green effect around the left side of the subjects face I placed a sheet of green transparent plastic over the soft box. Having the soft box high camera right allowed the subjects nose shadow to begin to follow her cheek bone and give a subtle shadowed effect also for her chin and top lip. I cropped the sides and above of the image to bring the focus tighter in on the subjects face to create a more dramatic look.

Image title - Dirty Boots


In this image I wanted to capture the real life task of a soldier cleaning their boots however, I used the subject sitting down in this pose with her looking up to let the light hit her face in this way. I wanted to get this interesting light on the face to make it look mysterious and dramatic. The expression on her face reveals this emotion of intimidation, I wanted to provide this as I wanted to link it with her responability in her job. The lighting is like a spotlight effect as she is the only thing lit up and the dark low key studio allows the audience to view this female subject stood out in the frame.

To make this image I used the same DSLR camera with the same sigma lens and low key studio. The lighting was still placed high camera right but once the subject was sat down, the light began to create an interesting spotlight effect. To impove this lighting effect I darkened around the subject in post production. To create a greater focus on the subject I had her positioned like this to create a triangular composition in her form. I didn't want to crop this image as the black space surrounding her provides the subject with a feel of isolation and as mentioned earlier intimidation.



Image title- Salute

When working on this shoot I wanted to reveal some emotions from the effect warfare has. However I was first going to use this opportunity in using the studio to create a set of fashion shots. Instead I've used some shots to express this erotic sense to a woman in the military and with this I wanted to expand apon this idea of masculine and feminine in the image as the military first feels like a masculine aspect, but with out being too sexist I wanted to reveal this sexy feminine approach to the military outfit. To give this erotic look I used the jacket to reveal the subjects chest with the dog tags falling through the cleavage. With the subjects eyes making contact with the camera and the teeth biting the bottom lip it's created this sexual form in the frame.

With this shot it involved using the same camera and lens along with the same lighting set up and studio set up. However to get this close-up shot I stood away from the subject and zoomed in to get the right composition I was looking for. To get a more interesting effect on the jacket I used dodging and burning tools in post production and this allowed the jacket to create more of a textured feel.

Image title - Falling hair

This image is fairly simular to the last as I am trying to feed the frame with the same idea, however with this I wanted to created this contrasty look on the hair when it falls down on to the shoulders once the hat is lifted off the head. There is a bit more length and depth in this frame and this helps to give a wider shot on the subject to reveal this sexual look. The lighting high camera right keeps this contrast around the hair and jacket and allows the chest to be evenly lit.

To make this image I had my subject turned slightly to the right to have the soft light fall evenly on to herself. However I made my subject stand fairly close to the light so the soft light almost became hard. To get this tighter focus on the subject I brought in the sides and the top and bottom of the frame to keep a strong focus on the subject. In post production I also used dodging and burning to get rid of any blemishes and also using the patch tool to do so. With any high saturation areas I used the sponge and to get the high contrast I worked with levels.

Image title - Close up



I wanted to get a close up shot of the face to reveal part of the hat and the feminine hair falling on to the shoulders. This is more of a positive image as the subjects face is warm and with the blonde curly hair dangling down in a shiny tint from the light the frame becomes happy. I wanted to capture this close up shot as I wanted to capture this happiness from the subject and the hair looked beautiful once closely shot. I feel that the skin tones works evenly with the colour tones of the hair and creates a nice contrast between the golden blonde hair and the green military cap.

To make this shot I used the same DSLR as I did for all five shots and using the same lens I came in close to the subject. To get a tighter shot I brought in the top and the sides of the frames to focus more so on the hair and face. The dodging tool helped to bring out any dark patches in the hair to create a lighter golden effect. As the flash unit remained high camera right this allowed my subject to stand fairly close to it and have a nicely lit upper body.