Write Up

After redoing my photo shoot, I found that the layout of my front cover was a lot better. I was able to do more with it, while still being able to show the story in my picture. It also helped my magazine to look like it was more professional. With my new image, I had more of a free run with what I was doing with my magazine; I had more space to use. In my previous front cover, there was not a lot I could do as the image was not very workable. Now, however, I have been able to create a more presentable front cover. 

My front cover has taken a lot of time for me to prepare, which means that I have cut into my time in preparing my DPS. This means that, during this week, I will have to put a lot of effort into making sure that my DPS is up to the same standard that my front cover is, and make sure that it is all complete by the time of my deadline. I think that this will be possible, as I do have a better knowledge of PhotoShop now and I do have a clear idea of how I would like my DPS to look. This means that it should be possible for me to create my DPS and front cover and make sure that they are both up to a high standard. 

Write Up

I have found that I will need to retake my photos as the photos that I originally took are too hard to work with. I thought I would be able to work with them, but when it came to putting them on my front cover, I had increased difficulty to arrange my front cover with the pictures I had taken, I will still be able to do my magazine layout, however I will have to make sure I take a lot of pictures, in varied styles to make sure that I do not have to retake anymore pictures as this will cut into my time even more.

 

I think that the layout of my magazine e.g. the sell lines have worked well. They look effective and my peers seem to agree that they work well. To begin with I had a slight problem with the colours I was using as they did not look too well and it all seemed to be a little bit messy but I managed to change them and to make them look more effective by sticking to just two colours that I wanted to use. I kept the red and white theme for my sell lines and as they complimented each other and worked well to give the intended effect. Throughout my magazine I will need to make sure that these colours are consistent on both my front cover and my double page spread. 

 

I am happy with the way that my front cover is coming together, I think that once I get a new image for my front cover and possible some new images for my DPS, my magazine will look a lot more professional and effective than it would with the images I currently have. I would like to be able to make sure that I have a professional looking magazine as I have put a lot of time into trying to make my front cover workable and as professional looking as I can make it. Once I have some new images I will be able to construct my magazine and put all of the final touches to it. Also, with my new images I may have to change the layout of my front cover, if things do not fit properly. This is still going to be easier than having to start my magazine from scratch.

Write Up

In doing my photography I have learned more about the different styles of lighting and which lighting works best for what kinds of shoots. I have found that it is hard to create the exact style that I was aiming to achieve. As I wanted to have my props in focus and my model blurred I thought that this would be fairly easy to achieve; however, I had a lot of difficulty in trying to create this style and I feel that I am, most likely, going to have to re-do my photo shoot in order to try and gain some images that are like what I wanted, or at least something that is effective.

I think that doing my photo shoot first was a good idea. With the pictures that I found were usable, I am more able to lay out my magazine the way I want it and to make sure that it looks professional. In creating my magazine, I have learned how to create new effects with my font and how to create a torn effect in the font. This is a new skill that I have learned if Photoshop and I think that it looks effective. I also found out that I need to have a bold font that will stand out and catch the attention of my target audeince.

Depth of Field/Aperture

These images were from testing out the depth of field and the apetures on the camera, using the F numbers. The different numbers determine how much of the image is in focus. The smaller the F number (e.g. F2.8) means that there would be less of the image actually in focus. The focus is on the image in the forground and blurs out the background. The higher the F number (e.g. F20) the more of the image is in focus.

The first image is in F3.5. This has blurred out the majority of the background and kept the clock in focus.

 

This image was taken in F9. There is more of the image in focus than there was on the previous image, however, the background is still slightly blurred.

My final image was taken in F22 and has the whole of the image in focus.

Bubble Gum and bubbles

I found it difficult to get the images of the bubbles, I don't think I had my shutter speed up high enough as it was difficult to capture the shots that I intended to get, which is why there were not very many images of the bubbles. That and the whether that day was not too good, which meant that it was even harder to focus on the bubbles and take the picture before they blew away. I think this was a good exercise, however, I would have liked to have done it somewhere else and with a bit more time because it was difficult to work with the bubbles.

I think that the bubble gum worked better than the bubbles as it was a lot easier to see and we had a lot more control over it. I think that I should have took more pictures and took them constantly; instead of of just the few that I did take. I think that this worked to create the effect that I was wanting, but it would have been better if I had made sure that that I took more pictures.

Brushes CD Cover

I create the whole of the CD cover using brushes downloaded from Brusheazy.com. As the scenario was to make a CD cover for a band called Natural Heroes, I made sure that I had something to do with natural. This meant that I chose brushes that were shaped like flowers. When I downloaded them, I then made sure that I chose bright and neon colours which would be eye catching and then created the different flowers. I made sure that I put one print of the flower in one colour and then another just off it in a different colour to try and give it a 3D effect to it. The text 'Natural Heroes' was also done by using the brushes that were ment to look like leaves or parts of flowers. I found this difficult do to as it was hard to get the brushes in the righ shape, especially when it came to creating the 'S' on heroes. I think that it was effective and it would have been better if I had a bit more time to amend it.

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.