The "Culture of Beautification"

Things are cruizin' right along! We've welcomed Nicole as a new member to our film family!! She's already proved as a great asset to the development of the film! We're really narrowing down what it is this film is going to be about! Its exciting now that ideas are coming together!

It looks like we'll be conducting our first formal interview next Friday in Bakersfield. We first thought this consultant would be a source regarding the experiences of botox, but this has changed. As it turns out, she has participated in breast enlargement, rhinoplasty, and mentoplasty (chin augmentation)! We're excited about interviewing her, as she'll provide great insight into the motivational factors behind cosmetic procedures, as well as being able to express how her thoughts changed as she progress through what we're calling the Three Levels of Cosmetic Enhancement. Non-invasive (laser hair-removal, dermabrasion, etc), Semi-invasive (botox, tattooing, etc), and Invasive (liposuction, breast augmentation, etc). The consultant has requested to see some of our questions before hand so that she can think on the questions and provide us with a better interview. I personally think this is a good idea, but that perhaps some questions should be left out as there may be certain questions in which we want to be answered spontaneously. And, of course there will be questions that will be spontaneously asked during the interview.

The camera.

As a photographer, I like this camera a LOT!!! I got the chance to explore it over the weekend, I must say that its a gem! Some of my favorite features are the on-board sound mix, and the focus ring. The sharpness of this camera's lens is amazing! This is a good thing, but it can also cause you problems. Its imperative to make sure you're in focus when shooting. If you're out of focus in the slightest bit, it WILL show.

"The Eyes Have it All"

In portrait photography, it is standard to focus on the eyes,as they are what express the most emotion, as well as sit in a good position to provide a good plane of focus so the rest of the face is sharp. The expression, "The eyes have it all" could not be more true. When one eye is closer to the camera then the other, be sure to focus on the eye CLOSEST to you. Here is a link to some basic portrait photography technical guidelines that may help.

http://www.picturecorrect.com/photographytips/207/better_portrait_photography.htm

You don't necessarily need to shoot so close that you can see the detail in their eyelashes, but zoom-in on the eye to focus, then zoom out to your preferred framing. I think these basic principles of photography can help. They certainly can't hurt. Just remember, that everything you do in regards to framing, focus, lighting, etc., guides the viewers eyes and influences how they'll interpret the image. I'm sure Steven talked about this, I just wanted to reiterate how important it is. If you have any questions feel free to ask!


Happy shooting!!!
Ryan