Disability DPS

This is my double page spread on the portrayal of disability in the media. The photo's are in a polaroid style. To do this I had to make a box around the images I was using and fill it in white. The picture ended up behind the white box, so I had to move it and right click. I then selected arrange and bring to front. This then put the picture in front of the box I created. after that I had to group the images together and make them one image. To do this I highlighted the picture and the white box and then went to object and selected grouping. Then I needed to create a dropshadow effect of the pictures. I used the fx tool, selected dropshodow and put it on 40% to give my images some depth.

I had to create my title in photoshop. I made the title 300mm wide nd 150mm high. I also used some drop shaddowing on it to make it stand out more from the plain white background. This gave my title more depth and made it look more lively that it would have been without the drop shaddowing.

In Design - First Attempt

I found that In Design was hard to operate. It was difficult to make sure that all od my text and images were axactly the way I wanted them to be. I found that when I put some parts of the text into a different colour, the colouring that I had used then went lighter after and gave a more faded effect than I wanted. Putting the text into the text boxes was easier than I had expected as there was a small tool that I could use to make sure that the text I had been unable to fit in one text box, could go into the other text boxes that I created. The images that I was using were harder to place that I thought the would be as I had to draw the box that I wanted them to be in, go to file and place the image I wanted and then I had to go through the different fittings that I wanted my image to be. I assumed that it would be much simpler to control than it was.

Photoshop-Heal tool and Vampire creator

For the 'vampire tutorial' I learned how to use to magnetic lasso tool in order to be able to change the colour of the eyes, as well as to be able to give a sort of cat eye effect. I also used this tool to create the fangs from the teeth. I found this was difficult to try and maintain the same length on both sides and to make sure that I didn't make them look too false. I also found how to use the Sponge tool to try and take the colour away from the persons face. I found that this was also hard to control as I had to get the full of the face without making some areas darker than others. I struggled with this and missed a few parts and went darker on the other parts, giving an uneven spread.

For the spot removal tutorial I found that it was easier to do than the vampire tutorial. I only needed to use the heal tool, however, it was different to make sure that I didn't make it look too blotchy and obvious. I feel on some parts that it went well, but there are some parts of the image where I have not done it so well and it is a lot lighter and more obvious than it should have been.

Shutter Speed

 Both of these pictures were taken on a shutter speed of 2 seconds. Keeping the shutter open enabled the camera to capture the movement of the light and create a pattern. The longer shutter speed, the more light can be followed.

A quicker shutter speed allows us to be able to capture people in motion. E.g people running and jumping.

Basic Post Production Photographic Effects

This is the original image I used. There has been no adjustment made to it.

On this image I used Unsharpen Mask and Auto Colour. To create the Unsharpen Mask effect I went through; filter, sharpen then unsharp mask. I set my radius to 2.2 pixels and the amount to 150%. This added a subtle emphasis to the eyes which create audience identification.

 Using my brightness and contrast too I put the brightness to -20 and the contrast to 15. To get to the brightness and contrast tools I went to; image, adjustments and Brightness and Contrast. I also used the vignetting tool. To get this I used the elliptical tool and set my feathering to 90 pixels. I then drew a large circle that covered the majority of my image. After I did this I went to select and inverse, then image, adjust, contrast and brightness, then brought the brightness down to -40. It is a subtle change but makes the subject stand out and draws the eye into the lighter sections.  The feathering tool creates a gradiated effect and makes the darkened area smooth and blended.

For this image I desaturated it and added light and darkness with the dodge and burn tool. To get to the desaturation I went into image, adjustments, desaturation. This took out all of the colour and made it back and white. I then used the dodge and burn tools to add a bit of darkness around the edges and a little more lightness around the eyes, this captures the audience’s attention and draws them to the eyes.

Magazine Front Cover

For my magazine front cover, I used a head and shoulders shot; this allowed me to make sure that my composition of my model was correct. E.g. I had the eye lines in the right place. When I first took some pictures I found it difficult to get the eye lines correct and found that I had to take more pictures to ensure that I had got it right.

I didn’t have to use the ISO settings as the weather was quite good, there was not a great deal of sun but there was enough to create an effective shot. I should have used the ISO to see the difference in the images and I would consider doing so in my unit 3 work if the weather is not great. 

There wasn’t really a frame for my model, so I didn’t have a frame when it came to adding text. I did, however, manage to use the picture to my advantage when it came to adding my sell lines. There were areas of the image that are not as important, so I used these to my advantage and place my text and sell lines into it. Next time, I would try to frame my image a bit better and give myself more to work with.

There wasn’t that many problems with the image I used, however, the images I previously took were not too good. The eye lines weren’t right, they weren’t head and shoulder shots and there were a few lighting issues with them which is why I chose not to use them.

The eye lines were harder than I thought to get right; I had to do a lot more than just make sure they were in the top third to get a good picture. I had to make sure that the pose was right and the lighting was too, which it seems that I focused too much on and neglected the eye lines. 

To create my margins I use Ctrl+R to access the rulers, I then dragged them down so that I had a border on my image. I used the margins to create a guide of where all of the features of my magazine would go. It would also mean that I knew that all of my pictures would print out as the margines would be a guide as to what would print out.

 For my font, I downloaded the Hard Rock font from Dafont.com. I chose this as it creates a unique magazine font. It looks different most other fonts that you see. 

 From photoshop I gained a lot of skills and used a lot of new tools on it. I learned about drop shadows. I also learned that when I want to change the size of the picture, if I hold down Ctrl+T I can make the image smaller or larger without distorting the picture in any way. This came in useful as the image was too big for the A4 sized page.