I chose to keep the location of my shoot within my bedroom, as I felt the set up would work perfectly for this shoot. My netted canopy hanging over my bed resembles a bridal veil, whilst also framing my bed nicely. I decided to turn my duvet over to hide the bold patterned side, allowing for a blank canvas to work with and to avoid any unnecessary distractions within the images.
My room is very small, with only just enough room for the tripod at the end of my bed. This made framing the image quite difficult and meant that I could not have my head cropped out of the top of the image as I had originally planned. However the small size of my room generally allows for good natural lighting, which I tried to use to my benefit.
The outfit:
- Pippa lace elasticated maxi skirt in 'nude' from Boohoo.com
http://www.boohoo.com/day-skirts/pippa-lace-elasticated-maxi-skirt/invt/azz53410
- simple skin coloured vest top from Primark
- old lace top in a pink/white colour, also Primark
I chose these items to create a bridal-esque outfit, with light, delicate shades and lace. I wanted to keep the outfit very feminine and romantic, yet without being over the top with something such as a gown. I much prefer the laid back, boho approach to bridal wear and also felt this fitted in with current high street fashion for spring. The resulting outfit resembled a lace maxi dress, which is currently found often within high street fashion. I kept my hair natural, almost unkempt, to add to the boho/hippy effect and so that it would cover my face well.
The props:
- dreamcatcher. I chose to use my large dream catcher within the background of the image, as it added more detail and emphasised the hippy effect I was trying to achieve. It is a neutral coloured item, and therefore I thought it would not distract too much from the foreground, whilst adding some interest to the background.
- net canopy. As described above, the net canopy was a large reason for my choice in location due to the bridal connotations and framing benefits. I also wanted the main colours within my image to be white, wish reddish tones throughout and the netting added to the white dramatically.
- flowers.
I wanted to use flowers to represent a bridal bouquet, along with the idea of spring. I chose a small and simple arrangement of flowers, including mainly white/yellow flowers to represent spring, along with only two red toned flowers as to compliment the reds within the rest of the image.
The most important 'prop'...
- pet rabbit. I chose to borrow my friends pet rabbit for this shoot, for many reasons. The initial idea behind including a rabbit in this shoot was the theme of spring fashion. Rabbits are a recognised symbol for the season of spring, along with baby animals born in this time of year such as chicks and lambs. 'In some magical traditions, the wild rabbit is associated with the deities of spring.' They are known to represent new beginnings and new life, reinforcing their connection to the Christian holiday of Easter, held within Spring.
This idea of new life brings us to the rabbit being a symbol of fertility and sex, which I personally feel is an odd connection for a seemingly innocent and naturally 'cute' animal. However when paired with the idea of marriage, we see the connection to sex in a different light. The innocence of the rabbit mirrors the traditional idea of young bride, therefore making the connections to fertility and sex much more appropriate.
The decision to include the rabbit also lead to my choices in colour throughout the shoot...
As previously mentioned, I kept the main colour scheme of the shoot along the lines of whites, and tones of red.
This was partially due to the aesthetic qualities of the rabbit, as both he and myself share red coloured hair. However red is a colour strongly connected to ideas of passion, love and sex.
Therefore red tones, matched with the innocence of whites, helps me to create an image that holds connotations of innocence, love and femininity, with more subtle undertones of passion, sex and fertility.
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/ostaramagic/a/RabbitFolklore.htm
Shooting:
As this is my first ever fashion shoot and attempt at self portraits, I decided to enlist the help of an assistant. This was also due to the use of the rabbit, as I anticipated it would be very difficult to keep him safely on the bed whilst focusing on everything else for the shoot. This in mind, I set up my shoot alone before getting the rabbit, simply for ease. I took a few test shots to see how I would have to position myself and the props, I didn't think a test shoot was needed as for the small framed location and I was wary of the rabbits welfare, not wanting to keep him used as a prop for too long (I could only borrow him for the one day).
Once set up, test shots were taken and I had picked up the rabbit from my friends house, I tried a few images with self timer, simply having my assistant nearby should the rabbit try to run off. This deemed quite difficult as I was rushing back and forth from the camera, in my small room, and the rabbit would be disturbed by me getting on and off of the bed. I therefore decided it would be easier and more productive to have the assistant press the shutter-release button for me. As the camera was already set up, it was simply a case of composition and trying to get the rabbit to co-operate, therefore asking my assistant to press the button when requested allowed for me to focus on these other factors. Any adjustments to the camera/positioning etc were made by me, whilst my assistant helped with the capturing of the image and any positioning of props, along with helping with the rabbit.
Images:
There was a number of elements important to consider when composing my images. I chose to place myself on the left hand side, so that my left hand wasn't exposed. This was simply due to the fact it is a bridal shoot and I own no appropriate rings! It also leads to the image being more open to a wider audience, as it could be a before or after marriage shot, or even a bridesmaid outfit.
Below are my images from the shoot...
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