Margorie Ferguson and Trevour Millum

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Margorie Ferguson• Marjorie Ferguson (1980) identified four types of facial expression in the cover photos

of British women’s magazines:

• Chocolate Box: half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

• Invitational: emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.

• Super-smiler: full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.

• Romantic or Sexual: a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’

EXAMPLES…

Chocolate Box

Invitational examples

Super Smiler

Romantic or Sexual

Trevour MillumMillum comments on how the male facial expressions depicted in the women’s ads he studied related to his typification of female expressions:

There are fairly direct parallels with the above - the carefree, practical, seductive, comic and catalogue. The other two male expressions selected as types - the thoughtful and the self-reliant - have similarities to the female introverted and cool, though the thoughtful is far less introverted and the self-reliant more smug than aloof or reserved, but there are no counterparts to the narcissistic or kittenlike. (For the latter a type boyish might be postulated, but it remains potential). (ibid., 98)

Carefree

Practical

Seductive

Comic

Catalogue

TYPES OF LIGHTING..

The main types of lighting used when taking photographs are as followed:

High key3 pointmid key

back lightChiaroscuronatural lightartificial light

tungsten lights

High Key Light

High key light involves really intense lighting which eliminates almost all visible shadows. High key methods were originally developed as a solution to screens that couldn’t properly display high contrast ratios, but has developed into more of a stylistic choice.High key images usually convey a positive or upbeat tone. This method is perfect for a subject that is funny, lighthearted or beautiful.

3 Point LightThree-point lighting is a standard method used in visual media such as video, film, still photography and computer generated imagery. By using three separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the shot’s subject however desired, while also controlling (or eliminating) the shading and shadows produced by direct lighting.

Mid Key Lighting

Often middle key portraits will use skin tone to set the mood. In these cases, clothing may be used to accent the tone of the skin with contrast rather than allow all elements to blend together. Often a high key portrait can be converted to a middle key portrait by reducing exposure.

Back Lighta controlled technique of lighting used in photography, in which a light is placed behind or at right angles to the subject (object, person or scene) to produce effects such as depth or separation of subject and back ground.

often pertains to having one solitary light source and depicting stark contrasts between light and shadow. This style of lighting may seem minimalistic, but it yields very dramatic results. The high illumination contrast creates 3D depth on an otherwise 2-dimensional surface. Often this technique is achieved by having one bright, solitary light source - usually daylight.

Chiaroscuro

Natural and Artificial LightNatural light is a light which is applied directly from the Sun, with no help from any additional lighting sources, whereas Artificial light is light which is produced manually by humans. The two types of lighting have their respective different uses.

Tungsten LightTungsten lighting is a term used by photographers to distinguish from fluorescent lighting or strobe lighting. Tungsten is a type of incandescent lighting using a bulb with a filament made of the metal tungsten, as opposed to, say, carbon or platinum. Unless you have switched to compact fluorescents, most of the lighting in your home is tungsten. In still photography, tungsten lighting gave studio photographers greater flexibility than the classic north sky light.