EVALUATION OF SHOOT:

In my shoot, I took photographs from the perspective of somebody

with declining mental health issues and illustrated how they have had
to deal with them during lockdown - this shoot took place in my
bedroom. I feel that I was successful in communicating my meaning
as each image demonstrates the things that influence somebody’s
thoughts. For example, the second image of the series depicts how
this person picks up their phone every morning (which has become
part of their morning routine) as it provides them the happiness they
cannot seem to find in the “outside world”, making them have a
negative outlook on it. I also used all the equipment that I planned to
which was my Canon DSLR 4000D camera however, I feel I should
have planned to use a tripod as when I was experimenting with the
self-timer as it would have kept the camera still and I would have had
a better idea of how the image was going to turn out. I believe one of
my most successful photographic techniques was viewpoint as the
low angle used in every photograph demonstrated clearly how
vulnerable this person is to the “outside world” however, I feel I could
have still ventured out and experimented with other angles. For
example, I could have positioned the camera at a high angle therefore,
it would have positioned the audience from the perspective of the
window, looking down at the person which would not only emphasise
the power of the window but also make the audience feel
uncomfortable. Another photographic technique that was successful
was lighting as I carefully contrasted light and dark, particularly in the
fourth image of the series as you can see the shadow moving closer to
the person however, the bright lighting on their hand makes them
seem that they have the power to overcome their mental health issues.
On the other hand, the photographic technique that was not successful
– in some

images - was depth of field. For example, in the first image, I think I
should have tried to achieve a shallow depth of field because it would
have emphasised the extent to which this person is disassociated from
the world around them. Other times, depth of field was successful
such as the third image which made the top half of the image blurry,
drawing the audiences focus to the pills. For this photoshoot, I was
influenced by Bex Day who completed a series title “Seesaw” to
demonstrate how her OCD had spiralled during lockdown. One
photograph that I looked at in detail was titled “Paper Bag” and I feel
one of the key similarities between our images is the use of lighting as
we both contrasted the light to demonstrate that there is hope for these
people to get better. One difference is that we used different
viewpoints as Day used a high angle whereas I used a low angle
nevertheless, they both have a shared purpose: to emphasise
vulnerability. Another difference is Day didn’t explore with depth of
field as she sustained a deep depth of field in all of her photographs
whereas my images use a varying depth of field. This is because I was
shooting from the perspective of the person, so it was important to me
that in some images, the focus was emphasised on some objects rather
than others. I think my drawings do not match up clearly as it was not
raining on the day I completed the shoot however, that did not stop
me from communicating my meaning. Also, in the drawings, I drew
all the objects that I did include however in the images, they are in
different places to what I planned.

Overall, I believe that my use of photographic techniques such as

lighting and depth of field was very successful from the shoot as they
helped highlight the constant battles faced by somebody who has
declining mental health issues, which is what I wanted to
demonstrate. I have also been successful in making the audience
sympathise with the person in the photographs, particularly through
the use of viewpoint. To improve, I feel I need to explore different
camera angles and shot sizes to see if they would enhance any of the
meanings I wanted to communicate and/or change how the audience
feels. The next thing I am going to do, relating to this project, is
reshoot my original plan and use the mistakes I’ve made in this
photoshoot to improve on my original idea.