Here We Go

I have made my final decision! I'm going with the darker, powerful vibe for the magazine. It will still be lifestyle, focusing on music, love, and self (female) empowerment. The model will be Ambar, and I'm thinking of adding an additional two page spread highlighting her friends as well. The main focus will be Ambar, with the "advice" coming from her and the anecdotes supporting the article coming from her past. 

For the cover, I will emulate a photo I have take before in AP photography (see below), with direct eye contact. I don't have an exact title chosen yet, but I have five choices in mind: Belladonna, Atomic, Blaze, Ignite, and Reign. Basically words pertaining to women and fire. Powerful! Although, the fire words may not work, because I'm thinking of more cool tones for the lighting because it works better with the aesthetic in my head, but we'll see.

The table of contents will have a simple layout, text over a photo with the same lighting, probably Ambar's hand with a record player. Not sure yet! But I don't want any fancy fonts for the table of contents, something a little more simple and easy on the eyes. I want to work with roman numerals for the pages, just because it looks ~cool~. Kidding, but not really.

The following two page spread(s), (kind of want to do an additional two page spread) will focus on Ambar directly, her advice for readers, and a little bit of her past. I want music to be highlighted; how music can change your life for the better, escape through music, etc. I also want to do a fashion graphic, or just feature it inside the spreads. My thoughts are all over the place! I need to organize myself. For now, this is what I have in mind. 

Normally when I shoot colored lighting, I use the good old method of coloring a piece of scotch tape, covering my phone flashlight with it, turning it on, work it around my subject, and shoot with another phone, or my camera. But I looked up how to effectively get colored lighting, and this article mentions using "color gels" with physical lights (aka a lamp I will take with me everywhere) and the effect looks a lot more refined. The article mentions using two different gels on each side of the model's face to create a gradient where they meet, and I love the look. The malfunction of the tape and sharpie lighting is that it usually doesn't work unless it's pitch black, but the color gels seem to work in normal lighting which will be a huuuuuge plus for the quality of my images.

I don't think I've ever been this excited to start working on a project! It's mostly because it's completely centered around what I want to do and what I am able to achieve. Onwards!

“Shooting with Color Gels.” Fstoppers, fstoppers.com/studio/shooting-color-gels-2723

These two photos are part of my concentration for AP photo so I can't upload them full quality or collegeboard will get me in trouble, but this is what I was able to achieve with sharpie and tape!