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Kimberley and I did a test run today for an upcoming advertising shoot. The advert will appear on the side of Sydney buses later this year, and this and other images will also be used for a catalogue and website.

The ad on the bus needs to be approximately 20 foot wide and 8 feet tall... Customer has expressed a preference for a hip-hop / grungy look against a brick wall... the brick wall (but not Kim) will be cut away where it covers the windows of the bus.

The product being marketed is a hoodie garment which is targeted at late teenagers.We don't have the actual garment yet, but the ad needs to display the back, side/arm and front of the hoodie

We already acknowledge that the RH pose needs a bit of work and that my tripod/camera should've been about 18cm lower, but we'd love you all to be super critical to point out anything else which might detract from the product placement...

Please don't hold back... Let us know what you REALLY think ... It will all hopefully contribute to a perfect end-image...

Click on image for a larger version...


Closeup for catalogue... (rough)...

John,

leek wrote:The ad on the bus needs to be approximately 20 foot wide and 8 feet tall... Customer has expressed a preference for a hip-hop / grungy look against a brick wall... the brick wall (but not Kim) will be cut away where it covers the windows of the bus.

In these shots, have you left enough of the wall at the top of this image for this to occur?

Will you be making extra images of just the wall to stitch together for this purpose?

We already acknowledge that the RH pose needs a bit of work and that my tripod/camera should've been about 18cm lower,

I'm also thinking that perhaps Kimberley needs to be a tad closer to the wall as well. You have certain constraints which will limit the headroom that you have in your final images. By moving her closer to the wall you may be able to reduce the space you need at the foot of the images.

Alternatively, what about having Kimberley jump for the images? Sort of a Toyota leap? The goal would be for Kimberley's body to be totally in front of the brick wall, rather than having the ground at the bottom. This would give you a more cohesive image.

If there's a height problem with that, I'd just go out and find a good grungy wall, shoot it for a pano stitch, and then shoot Kimberley in the studio against a plain background, dropping in the pano stitch in post. You're already almost doing that anyway ....

From a design angle, right hand Kimberley's straight leg, looks too static, if she unlocked her left knee and had a smallknee bend it would better convey motion and remove a straight line from the shot!.....design thoughts not photography thoughts.

Cheers Rob

Thanks for your input Gary... Much appreciated...

gstark wrote:

leek wrote:The ad on the bus needs to be approximately 20 foot wide and 8 feet tall... Customer has expressed a preference for a hip-hop / grungy look against a brick wall... the brick wall (but not Kim) will be cut away where it covers the windows of the bus.

In these shots, have you left enough of the wall at the top of this image for this to occur?

Will you be making extra images of just the wall to stitch together for this purpose?

I should have described it better I think... Kim will be a little larger than life size and the top half of her body will extend over the windows of the bus. We are only allowed 30% coverage on the windows, so all the brickwork will need to be cut away around the top half of her body.

gstark wrote:I'm also thinking that perhaps Kimberley needs to be a tad closer to the wall as well. You have certain constraints which will limit the headroom that you have in your final images. By moving her closer to the wall you may be able to reduce the space you need at the foot of the images.

She was only about a foot from the wall, but I see your point... Actually, the client just asked for more of the ground to be included so that they have somewhere to put the text of the advert

gstark wrote:If there's a height problem with that, I'd just go out and find a good grungy wall, shoot it for a pano stitch, and then shoot Kimberley in the studio against a plain background, dropping in the pano stitch in post. You're already almost doing that anyway ....

I'm seriously contemplating that anyway, as it'll give me more control over the lighting of the product, but also the positioning of the model so that she matches up with the windows on the bus...


I'm finding this an interesting project...

jaff wrote:From a design angle, right hand Kimberley's straight leg, looks too static, if she unlocked her left knee and had a smallknee bend it would better convey motion and remove a straight line from the shot!.....design thoughts not photography thoughts.

Cheers Rob

Thanks for that Rob... We're probably going to totally rework the 2 outer poses to make them more dynamic...

leek wrote:

gstark wrote:I'm also thinking that perhaps Kimberley needs to be a tad closer to the wall as well. You have certain constraints which will limit the headroom that you have in your final images. By moving her closer to the wall you may be able to reduce the space you need at the foot of the images.

She was only about a foot from the wall, but I see your point... Actually, the client just asked for more of the ground to be included so that they have somewhere to put the text of the advert

Interesting ... Wouldn't that be putting the text at a level that's somewhat below eye level? I would have thought that for a grunge look, they might try writing their message as if it had been sprayed onto the bricks, graffiti style.

gstark wrote:If there's a height problem with that, I'd just go out and find a good grungy wall, shoot it for a pano stitch, and then shoot Kimberley in the studio against a plain background, dropping in the pano stitch in post. You're already almost doing that anyway ....

I'm seriously contemplating that anyway, as it'll give me more control over the lighting of the product, but also the positioning of the model so that she matches up with the windows on the bus...

I think that's probably the best way to go, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Just stitch up the bricks as a background, and drop the images of Kim as and where you need them to be.

I'm finding this an interesting project...

I can understand why. Lots of challenges, and in so many realms. That's what I call fun.

Hi John,
Congratulations on your shoot and being used on a bus
I like the middle pose which is quite dynamic. I am not sure how many different hoodies you will be photographing but if just this one I think the wall is too close in colours and tones to the jacket. When looking at the close up, if you look at the jacket on the model's right hand side below her elbow, it is difficult to differentiate between the jacket and wall. That to a lesser extent exists on each pose. Final thought in the pose on the right, get the model to twist her hips say 30 degrees as I don't think that image does her rear end any favours.

gstark wrote:Interesting ... Wouldn't that be putting the text at a level that's somewhat below eye level? I would have thought that for a grunge look, they might try writing their message as if it had been sprayed onto the bricks, graffiti style.

Yep... I've already suggested putting the text in between the legs of the 3 poses... Graffiti has been rules an absolute no no because their target market is schoolkids and schools. Guess how long it took us to find a grungy brick wall without graffiti

gstark wrote:

I'm finding this an interesting project...

I can understand why. Lots of challenges, and in so many realms. That's what I call fun.

FUN indeed

Glen wrote:Hi John,
Congratulations on your shoot and being used on a bus
I like the middle pose which is quite dynamic. I am not sure how many different hoodies you will be photographing but if just this one I think the wall is too close in colours and tones to the jacket. When looking at the close up, if you look at the jacket on the model's right hand side below her elbow, it is difficult to differentiate between the jacket and wall. That to a lesser extent exists on each pose. Final thought in the pose on the right, get the model to twist her hips say 30 degrees as I don't think that image does her rear end any favours.

I agree with the contrast... The actual product is being manufactured specifically to Kim's size at the moment and will be available in a couple of weeks time... It will be bright purple, so should pop quite nicely without much help... We're gonna totally rework the outer two poses, but the challenge remains to have three poses that show off the back, side and front of the garment.

I see the need for the 3 poses John, should work well. Purple should pop nicely on that wall

Hi,

I shoot a lot of fashion/clothing work, and i'm sorry to say, but the poses don't really exude any desire or interest in the product or model.

You need to sit down with a big piece of paper and go back to the start and work out what exactly you need to say with every element in the picture.

A photo should always start with a single sentence story. Don't try and say something smart, say something silly, and people will find it genius.

It's the basics of advertising/marketing, all campaigns start with a SMP (single minded proposition) or your little story, and a USP (unique selling proposition), which is a benefit of the product to the consumer. That can be as simple as the hoody makes your tits look big, or whatever you like.

Within a minute brainstorm on this image, I would have the ground covered with a large cardboard matte, using a breakdancer or have the existing girl in break dance positions.

I would probably use a mamiya or hasselblad MF as well, for the resolution of the scanned film, but more importantly to encompass the look of the 70/80's hiphop roots, which is where the birth of the hoody as a staple streetwear item for gangsters/dancers.

Take care,

Hope this helps.