If you had to leave your heart somewhere were would it be?

When I first think of leaving my heart somewhere I think about leaving with someone I love, in the future, like a partner or maybe even my family. But I really started thinking about leaving it somewhere literally.

I typed into google: 'Leaving your heart somewhere' and most of the pictures that came up were about friendship, love and leaving your heart in a country/city. I like the idea that you could visit somewhere and leave part/ if not all of your heart there due to the great time you had there. Another one that came up was leaving it in a book, something you have read and it has touch your heart so much or it could be that you pour your heart and soul into a diary.

So going back to my idea of taking 'leaving my heart somewhere' literally, I remembered that I have an organ donor card and that maybe I could take a picture including that.

These are two ideas I drew out and anatated.

This is the other idea I had, which was to make and write a letter addressed to the one I love saying that my heart is theirs.

I will try both ideas out and see which one comes out better.

I have decided to use the studio at college to take my photos.

Props I will need include: Heart shaped confety, wallet, donor card and the letter I'm making.

I set the studio up like this:

This is the black cloth I used as the background to my pictures.

I had my ideas page open on the table so I could see what I had planned out.

I placed the donor card on the black cloth and turned the beauty dish and tried that light out first.

I had my little hearts in a box.

This is where I set the beauty dish light.

I then sprinkled the little hearts around the card. This is with the light from the beauty dish. I think it is a bit dull and it doesn't really add much texture or mood to the picture, it has to much shade.

I then tried out pictures with two lights but this turned out to be too bright, the whole room was lit. So I then decided to just try out the other light that was a bit brighter then the beauty dish.

This looked better but the light was still abit harsh, so I used the defuser to soften it.

I decided to add the wallet in so that the card was proped up and you could see it properly because I wanted to take the picture at an angle like these. I think I prefer the first picture I like the angle of it, how it is not front on and how the hearts at the front are out of focus.

My other idea didn't turn out so well in the studio.

I used the beauty dish this time because the other light was too bright for the words to come out on the white paper.

I didn't like the lighting in there and how it lit up this picture. I might try taking a picture of the letter on a desk or table with just the light from a window.

The next thing I am going to do is edit the card picture on photoshop.

I put the picture into photoshop.

Then went onto 'Filter' at the top and then down to 'Artistic'.

Then went down to 'Fresco'.

Then I messed around with the sliders.

Then I went on 'Palette Knife'.

Next was 'Pixelate' and then tried 'Crystallize'.

'Chalk and Charcoal' I then tried.

I like the 'Poster Edges setting. I think it brings out the texture and highlights the key elements of the photo. It has also made the little hearts have circles of light on them.

I think I will be using this as my final image for 'Somewhere I would leave my heart.'