Test Shoots and Final Submissions (Image Making)

For the Image Making unit, I had mixed feelings for my submission. My main subject is about my Filipino heritage, focusing on the traditional clothing, colours of the Philippine flag and traditional writing system. Initially I contacted modelling agencies regarding using their models of Filipino heritage. However, since it was the beginning of the COVID panic, most agencies by then were more precautious in allowing their models out.

And so I had to think of a contingency plan which was to use my family instead. This was made my project more personal and closer to heart. But as mentioned, my mum who is a nurse was quite busy due to work and my sister had still has school and went to bed earlier and since I wanted to do this shoot with the two together, it was quite tricky.

Because I wanted did the shoot during nighttime as I was using ambient lighting, I only had at least an hour and a half for the shoot in total and so I didn’t have much time to experiment with loads of film shot (which is what I wanted my project to be shot in). However, I made it work and the test shoot made me think of what to improve with next.

I also mentioned that I only had an f 1.8 50mm lens and because there wasn’t enough space, full body shots were limited.

My final shoot went a little bit better than the test shoot in terms that I had more time with my models. However, I would’ve hired out a Canon 5d and any zoom lenses so I can have varied shots but because of the early stages of lockdown I preferred to stay indoors and be safer.

I did enjoy using the Filipino snacks as props and I think my little sister did as well. These snacks are a way of her appreciation to her Filipino heritage since she is half Filipino and half English.

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The above images are the spreads from my final photobook. Editing the photobook was quite challenging since I had quite a few images I wanted to add, however, I have narrowed it down to the final images seen. If I had more time, I would’ve created my own background by crumpling and wetting a piece of paper and painting it brown to replicate the antique look I had with the background I ended up using.

What I like most about this photobook is the front and back cover because they are the only film images I took and I liked the colours that came out on these compared to the digital ones. These were taken on my Mamiya 645 camera with a 35mm adapter. Since it was my first time doing this, I have exposed the films and overlapped the films but this is one of the mistakes I liked the most. This is also an experiment I’d love to do for future projects or shoots in the future as it show my perseverance to experiment with ideas outside of my comfort zone.

If I were to change anything, I would’ve hired out a Canon 5d camera with a zoom lenses so I had varied body shots similar to my Styling Identity magazine spread. As well as incorporating more “Baybayin” throughout the spreads by adding texts written in Baybayin, Filipino and English on each page