Working With a Client Evaluation

I think it’s fair to say that LensLife has been a very hot topic in our class group chat over the last few weeks. This is my impression of the app.

There are some clunky parts and sections that take a while to load, there is also a fair amount of navigating to be done. Hey ho, it’s a new app that is still in the beta phase so this is completely understandable and not a problem for me.

The purpose of the app has been very hotly debated and I myself think that it does have a purpose. I’m viewing this app as a way of assembling feedback for a piece of work, however I think that what LensLife does is make it easy to refer back to it at a later date.

The Client deck we received mentioned about the app being a simplified inbox and I could definitely see this. I’ve done it myself, when I’ve sent off a series of 10 images to someone via email or something like WhatsApp of Facebook Messenger, I tend to get responses like “I Like this image” or “I like the 3rd image” usually I’m left wondering what image they are talking about cause there comment doesn’t have context. Whereas with LensLife the comments will have context because they are attached to their respective images.

What Went Well:

• The Client Process

This is the first time I’ve worked with a client and immersed myself in the entire process. Pitching an idea, managing their expectations, shooting, critiquing, reshooting and then handing over the deliverables.

• Amount Of Imagery

Whilst my final images are not exactly work that I’m overtly pleased with. I feel I can still admit that I have really tried to make them work. I did four shoots for the Workspace image. One test and one shoot for the Joy image. Two shoots for the App image. A test and two shoots for the Sustainability image and two shoots for the Network image. Two tests and eleven shoots in 6 weeks. I feel this has really helped me develop my ideas, especially cause some of my sketches didn’t really take into account the lack of space I had whilst shooting.

• Relationship

I feel I’ve built a strong relationship with LensLife in a very short time. The founder & CEO, Jacqueline Lauren really liked my ideas when I pitched in week two.

Even Better If:

• Communication

Firstly, I do completely understand that the client came on board very late in the process. We found ourselves working with LensLife because of the Covid-19 situation. So of course there were going to be a few problems here and there due to the lack of time to prepare everything.

However there was still some confusion and miscommunication around the deliverables. When we received the brief from the client, we were told that the images would be used on Instagram and to look at it all “as one concept or campaign so that they could run individually or a group posting” So we knew that these were gonna be posts, so in theory we had to cater to the 3 Instagram ratios. The most common 1:1 square, the 1:91:1 landscape and 4:5 portrait.

After doing around 4 shoots, it came across that Lenslife only needed images in a square crop. So that was how I proceeded to shoot. Then I found out that we were to not crop images for the project submission and we were to also send uncropped images to the client. To which the client said that we had to send them cropped ones. We were also told that we had to use the LensLife app, which is still in the Beta phase and not everyone has an IOS device. There is a web-page browser but thats still in very early beta.

Like I said, it is completely understandable that there was going to be a few problems esepcially seeing on how this project could only be assembled when we entered lockdown, which was 5 weeks before the brief was issued. However something like how the images would be delivered is something that we thought would’ve been communicated fully right at the start.

• Shooting and Critiquing

While yes, I do feel that the number of shoots I’ve done is my only saving grace with this project, I really wish that I started shooting earlier and that I got more feedback from Geraint. My first and only tutorial was had a week before hand-in so it made me feel like I was about to embark on a real rush to get my images to an acceptable standard. It also meant that I would have very little time to get a second critique

I think my final submission would’ve been a lot stronger if I shot earlier and seeked Geraint’s advise sooner.

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Overall, despite the fact I’m not really that pleased with the images I’ve created and the communication errors and misunderstandings. I have enjoyed this project in a funny way. It has definitely been a great challenge, even more challenging than I expected.

I knew the client brief in it’s original form was going to be very intense with the art director Matt Hawker, who was going to keep pushing us to reshoot again and again in a very restrictive time frame. When I saw the amended brief I thought this project was gonna lose that edge. However I think it encouraged me to really critique my own work and to think of my own solutions and I think this showed in the development. Part of me will always wish that I started this development sooner.

This project has also really encouraged to think outside of the box or do some blue sky thinking as they say in the advertising industry.

I also think it’s fair to say that social media is most definitely far from my most favourite aspect of life at the moment. I’ve been signed out of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat for the duration of the project. During term two I even managed to stay out completely for two months. Despite this, I feel I’ve been able to get my head around what a social media photography campaign has to be like and how it can be used as a productive tool. Even though I don’t personally see it in such a light anymore.

Working With a Client Treatment

Benjamin Peters LensLife Treatment

Concept

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world was thrown into chaos as we started to turn our houses into our own offices. Somewhere that was safe but usually not an ideal environment to work. With my images I wanted to portray the calm and peaceful qualities of working from home.

Influences

The Stay-at-Home Heroes campaign helped me look at some of the mundane tasks in a much more fulfilling way.

Photograph Descriptions

Photographers Workspace

• A makeshift studio on my bed where I am recreating an image from the First World War.
• Airfix figures are advancing, to stand for LensLife taking a chance and sticking their head above the parapet.

Hashtags: #RemoteWorking #WFH #Patience #OfficeFromHome

Joy of Working From Home

• Subject is sitting back in his chair and is about to share his latest image on LensLife after spending a day working on it.
• There are two laptops, one with the contact sheets from the shoot and the other one has the final hero frame.
• There is a noticeboard above with sketches on it to show the entire production stage.

Hashtags: #Relax #Calm #Personal #Development #Reflect

App in Context

• On the app, I’m asking my friend for advice on an image I’m working on.
• My hand is moving over my graphics tablet to show that I am working as the comments come in.

Hashtags: #Work #Create #Produce #Feedback

Sustainability

• A phone is held up to the camera, displaying the LensLife inbox.
• The background is filled with vibrant forest that can be enjoyed because of all the paper waste that LensLife saves

Hashtags: #Sustainable #Admire #Shine

Network

• A phone is held up to the camera, displaying the LensLife inbox.
• The background has a photography, fashion, interior and an illustration magazine. The phone is suggested as the solution and replacement to the magazines.
• This is further shown by the images in the LensLife inbox. Interior photography, fashion photography.

Hashtags: #Together #Connected #InTouch #Collab

Common Hashtags: #LensLife #Social

Summary

I believe that I have been able to create a campaign of imagery that shows that working from home doesn’t have to be something that is chaotic or something where you are on your own. It can be a time to experiment, try something new. It can also be a time to focus on ourselves, whether it be personal work or developing our portfolio. Even though we can’t see each other face to face, we are still able to get feedback from each other.

I feel that this project was definitely a great challenge for myself. While yes in the end the images I’ve made aren’t exactly ones I’m proud of, I still feel they work with what I was trying to say.

Final Images & Hashtags for LensLife

Below are the final five images for LensLife

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Below are some of the hashtags that I’ve come up with for my images. I will hold my hand up and admit these are by no means great, after all social media is most definitely not my area of expertises. Especially seeing on how I’ve been signed out from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. for the entire duration this project.

Image 1: Workspace

#Relax #Calm #Personal #Development #Reflect

Image 2: Joy

#Work #Create #Produce #Feedback

Image 3: App

#Work #Create #Produce #Feedback

Image 4: Sustainability 

#Sustainable #Admire #Shine

Image 5: Network

#Together #Connected #InTouch #Collab

 

Common Hashtags

#LensLife #Social

Further Thoughts on my Previous Shoot

Workspace Image

I’ve decided to have a deeper thought about my previous shoot and I’ve come to the conclusion that the honeymoon period is over with it. At first I really liked the harsh lighting. It really framed the subject and made the screen stand out. I was planning to shoot it again tomorrow. However I’ve given it some extra thought and decided that I won’t.

 

 

 

 

 

The only problem with this image is the screen on the camera. It’s not as clear as the previous one. Also the the previous image had a slightly better composition by filling the trenches with soldiers rather than bunching them up.

Image 1: Workspace Shoot 4

About an hour ago, an idea popped into my head for the Workspace image. In the previous image, I had a single solider advancing to show LensLife taking a chance and sticking their head above the parapet.

However I’ve just thought of another metaphor I could use. I could recreate an image of the Christmas truce and let it be a metaphor for how LensLife are bringing people together. I shot this at 6PM when the sun was going down and shining right through my window. Maybe this could show LensLife on shining a light and bringing people together.

 

This is the image I came out with. From a technical sense I feel it is a lot stronger than my pervious image. The only problem is that it isn’t composed as strongly as the previous one. The camera and the subject are slightly off centre and the figures aren’t completely in the light.

So even though tomorrow is the penultimate day before the deadline, I am considering doing one last reshoot to see if I can make this image work. I think it’s fair to say this was a very quick and rushed shoot cause I was racing against the fading light. This is why the composition wasn’t as good as it could be. With tomorrow being set to be sunny all day, I’m going to try this shot one last time. I want to see if I can get this image to work with the framing of the shadows.

If I can’t, it’s not the end of the world, I’ll just submit the image at the top of this post for the Workspace image.

 

Update on Client Imagery

Now that I had done at least one shoot for all the images that Lenslife has requested. Here is an updated overview of what my submission is looking like.

Image 1: Workspace

I think this image is working a lot better now that it includes the camera screen so you can see that an image is being taken. The only tweaks that I can make is the brightness of the screen cause the highlights has definitely been clipped. I’m also not a fan of the tripod handle. I can’t retouch it out because the tripod leg is underneath it. So I might very well reshoot this so the image can sit a bit more easily in the frame.

I feel this image could stand for how LensLife has taken the risk of sticking their head above the parapet.

 

 

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Image 2: Joy

I’m 50/50 about this image. I really like the arrangement of the sketches and the laptops. I also think my body frames it nicely, however I’m not too sure about the edges of the frame. The cabinet is very chaotic and the window as good as blows out. However I feel the image works really well in a square crop.

I think I need to increase the contrast in the sketches so you can actually see that they are sketches.

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Image 3: App

This image is what it is. I feel it has improved since it’s first shoot but I’m still not sure if it’s there yet.

I was intending to show my a conversation on LensLife about an image I’m retouching and to be be actually retouching said image whilst feedback came in, hence the movement of the hand.

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Image 4: Sustainability

I think this image without a doubt is the most successful one. This was the first one that I shot and the one that I could have the most fun with. I feel the lines created by the trees creates a very nice frame. Especially the tree trunk on the right hand side. It goes along side the right and sits well above the phone, which compliments my hand being underneath the left corner.

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Image 5: Network

I think I might give this image another go, to get a bit more separation between the phone and the magazines. I also might shoot it without my watch cause I feel it is distracting in what is a very busy frame. It’s also covering up the contact sheets which are supposed to be the photography magazine front cover.

Overall, the images are what they are. I think I am trying my best with the materials I have but I’m not sure if these images quiet fit what LensLife are looking for.

Image 5: Network Shoot 2

Today I shot my Network image. When I shot it last time it was with paper printouts so this time it was shot with real glossy magazines. In the shot I have got a photography, fashion, interior design and an illustration magazine.

Image 3: App Shoot 2

Today I attempted to reshoot my App image. I think its fair to say I wasn’t feel very optimistic about this image. After Thursdays tutorial the image was feeling like a bit of a lost cause and it felt like I had to really pull a rabbit out of the hat to make this image work.

I decided that I wanted to get a much tighter crop than the last time I shot this image. So it became a lot more about the app, in this instance showing a conversation about an image I was retouching. Next to my graphics tablet and my open laptop.

As this was a tighter image, this meant that I didn’t have to put the tripod on my desk so I at least had a safer set up than last time. I also put a white board on the left side to bounce window light to make the light a bit more even in the shot and reveal the shape of the graphics tablet. I say whiteboard this was actually the back of a print that I had in an exhibition in January, I was very desperate.

Just like last time, the image just wasn’t working, it needed a human aspect to it. At first I tried a glass of water and a water bottle but it just wasn’t working.

After this failure, I decided to include my hand on the graphics tablet, to give the viewer some context of what it actually was, this also created a connection with the conversation on the phone.

Long exposure with natural light

I then thought to myself that I should do a long exposure and get my hand moving over the tablet. I feel this communicates how the Lenslife app can be used. It can be a way of getting quick feedback about a specific image, to point where you can work whilst your gathering feedback. After this I decided to take the long exposure a step further and freeze my hand and the pen with my speedlite then get the movement however this didn’t work as well as I expected. This was also shot on a wider focal length and cropped in, so the angle doesn’t really look as pleasing as the latter images. Also there is a red tinge cause I had to close my curtains to counter the longer expousre.

Long exposure with speedlite to freeze the pen

 

This has made me feel a bit better about this image, but overall I still feel this image is very weak compared to the rest of the series.

Image 2: Joy Shoot 1

Today was my first attempt at shooting the Joy image for my client brief. This was the only image that I was still to shoot and it’s definitely the one that had the most prep work as it involved removing every thing from my L-shaped desk and re-arranging certain items.

I also decided to do some sketches as well for the notice board. These include two very poorly drawn poses, a poppy and a lighting diagram. I also decided to pin the poppy from the shoot on the board as well.

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I came out with 4 variations for this shot. 1 with a monitor, 1 without, 1 with me and 1 with me holding my phone. Whilst shooting I came to the conclusion that the monitor was a bit overkill in all honesty, so I decided to remove it and I think this really helped the composition.

When I showed these four to Maddie, here favourite one was the one in the bottom right. Which I myself was pushing more towards the top right. Overall, this image doesn’t exactly give the joyous vibe that I wanted it to.

Image 1: Workspace Shoot 3

After yesterdays tutorial, I jumped straight into reshooting my Workspace image for a 3rd time. The most important thing I had to do to make this shot work was to have something in the frame that shows that a photo-shoot is actually taking place. As mentioned, I did consider having the flip screen of my 70D out so you could see the image that was being taken but the screen only goes out the side. Then I remembered that I could have the screen underneath the camera in the frame if I shot in portrait.

So first things first was to shoot an image on my 70D. To make it look more like a studio I put a white card behind the diorama so the background on the 70D wasn’t distracting.

After I’d shot the image, I pushed my 70D in a bit closer for compositional purposes.

Then I put my 5D4 in position to take the client image. I did a mixture of top down and 45% angle. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn’t think of the latter, my friend Chiara showed one of her images where she went with that type of composition so I decided to attempt my own to get some variety.

Below are a few images that I selected out of Capture and did some basic colour, shadow & highlights retouching.

 

As you can see, there is definitely more variety in the images that are shot from 45% but I’m still believing that the top-down image is more successful. Geraint agreed with this saying that it would work as an Instagram Stories. When I showed these images to Maddie she said “they’re so much better already” Maddie also felt that I should try to decrease the brightness on the screen, to which I’d already pulled the highlights as far as it could go and masked it, so I might have to mask it again.