Second (and final) Photo-shoot

Initial concepts and ideas

For this photoshoot, we began with trying the idea of making the guitar the focal point, however I soon discovered that due to the size and colour it would be extremely difficult to accommodate for the room it takes up and include the model. The model, being the most important element of the cover besides the title, needed to have space either side of her AND fill the page, so immediately a mid-shot was in order. However, the pose became tricky, as I wanted to create a persona for my model that challenged the normal conventions of a (heavy) metal magazine. To do this, we experimented with the use of a calm tone amongst the peripheral objects and colours to establish a persona of mischief or calmness while inviting the audience in to read a metal music magazine. The finished result did convince the audience (as shown in my feedback) that the magazine came across as part of the genre intended, and the feedback displayed little criticism of the images I chose to use. The other images (shown here) did not pass through as usable in my magazine for stated reasons, as well as issues with lighting, camera stability and angle, though they may be used for purposes that require smaller images, less detailed and less focal to the pages featuring them.

Final choice
My final photograph featured the prop we set out to use (the red guitar) with my models hair brushed to the right, as it laid better, with a surprised expression, almost tense with excitement, wonder and innocence. She is holding the guitar in hand, presenting it to the camera and allowing it to be featured clearly, with extra shine that I added with Photoshop. I also made thorough use of the contrast in the colour of her hair with that of the guitar, which draws attention to both separately. We chose to just use a fairly plain black shirt, as it didnt draw away any attention from the models face or the guitar, and would be easy to edit if need be (it also connotates with the genre well).

Final choice finalisation In the finished, and edited, result I reddened her lips, sharpened the overall picture, and took away her right shoulder to allow for the text to be uninterrupted and stop the page from looking crowded I also used Photoshop to increase the vibrancy of her green eyes, as well as sharpening and darkening her pupils I also added a more defined, sharper and noticeable light to her eyes. Making her pupils slightly larger makes her appear friendlier to the audience.

I used the brush tool in Photoshop (with increased smoothness, opacity and her normal skin colour) to cover up a few moles and blemishes. I used the same method to make her hair parting look sharper and less messy.
The colours were all increased using a filter for saturation/hue to attract the reader, the colours all featuring links and connotations to expression, anger and the music genre in general. The red guitar is an immediate indication to the type of music she plays, enforced and reinstated by the colours and features of the page. I added shine to the guitar by using the brush tool in Photoshop, of which had decreased sharpness, low opacity and a large size. For the guitar, I duplicated part of the neck to increase its height until it could reach off of the page and didnt end abruptly, as well as using the brush tool to paint over the dust around the strings (I also made a small pattern on the guitars body.)

Other trial images

These images were not used, as they either did not feature the guitar (which I thought is an amazing prop at assisting in the challenging of conventions pose and expression-wise) or were very poor quality, didnt feature the desired pose, did not fit the size necessary or had bad lighting, although the top right was considered, as it was almost perfect for the cover, but didnt feature the open feel that the final image does.