Christmas CD cover

To create this CD cover i used a verity of tools, the main one being the use of the brushes tools, i used this by downloading preset brushes online then applying them onto the image in different sizes and applying different shading effects onto the image, this is what allowed me to create the glow effect on the star.

to create the coloured backgrounds on the image i simply used the shape tool to create different shapes on different layers while colouring them different colours.

The colouring tool allowed me to change the colour of certain features within the image, for example it allowed me to change the colour of a blood spray brush, into a white colour making it appear like snow on a tree rather then blood.

Lastly i used the text tool to create the text on the image, i made sure to make it of large enough size to be eye grabbing and also is clear enough to read, i also made sure that the font fit the christmas sort of theme.

Cross processing

Before

 After

Cross processing allows an images colourings to be altered, through the main use of the prime colours red, green and blue. this ends up giving an image a coloured effect to its background. If the image is sharper in red the colour a red tint will be applied, but if multiple colours are sharpened they can merge colours, in my after image i have a very sharp red and green tint, while keeping a small blue tint, this changes the white cloud in the background into a hazy explosion.

I performed this by creating a new layer and using the curves tool to allow editing of these colour tints this allowed me to change the shades of certain features of the picture making the effects on the image appear a lot stronger and powerful.

Because of these changes i have made the image appear more exciting making it appeal to a younger audience, for example if this image were to be used on the front cover of a magazine, it will connote to the audience that the magazine is more exciting and action pact, (which is exactly what the TA of a snowboarding magazine would like)

I may use an edit similar to this in my own magazine product if i can make an image look more exciting and action pact, i want to be able to do this because it will appeal to the young audience of my magazine, but on the other hand a lot of the images within the magazine are likely to be very un-animated and it would be hard to get it edited in this way to make them for exciting, so i am likely not to be using this edit type on my own product.

Shutter speeds evaluation

Shutter speed evaluation

what shutter speeds do:

The shutter speed is the length of time that the light hits the film or sensor on the camera allowing the image to be recorded within that time. Each variation in speed is best suited for different types of shots, for example a Image of a fast moving plane would need very high shutter speeds to capture the image, if the shutter speed is to appropriate for the model’s speed, it will often leave it out of focused and blurred.

why i would used a fast or slow shutter speed

A fast shutter speed is specifically used for fast moving models, such as a moving plane, the faster shutter speed the less light that is let into the shot, this allows the fast moving models picture to be taken without creating blur or losing focus.

We use a slower shutter speed for slower moving model, such as for a person walking or stood still, this allows more light to the film allowing a slower moving model’s image to be taken as clearly as possible, if this person moves faster blur can be created, this must be compensated for with a higher shutter speed.

examples of my picture: what shutter speed setting i set your camera too

,

 

The quality of the image and the problems that the image has.

The quality of the images is the worst problem when using the shutter speed feature on a camera, the camera has to be completely still to make sure the image isn't blurred to fix this i will next time you a tripod to keep the shot completely still and keep the image clear, some other issue i had while taking pictures in the shutter speed mode are:
Under exposure occurred due to a lack of light entering the camera, i to fix this i would have to retake the images at a slower shutter speed or increase the ISO speed on the camera to allow more light to enter the shot.
Framing was not a problem that occured during my time with the shutter speed feature although it is a potential problem for later photo shoots using the feature, to fix this problem in the future i will make sure to take more time to set up the surroundings of the photo shoot, i will keep them within an area large enough to fit an entire shot in so poor framing does not occur, i will also have to make sure that i keep the image in the right position by using the composition grid as this will make it easier to tell the position of the produced image
Focal blur was the main problem to occur during my photoshoot, as mentioned before it reduced the quality of the images to a point where the model could barely be seen, the best fix for it would be the use of a tripod or to make sure i got closer to my subject rather-than using the zoom on the camera.

what my targets are for taking pictures the next time

next time i use the feature i would like to spend more time reviewing how to use the feature so that i am better at using it effectively and quickly, i also want to make sure that the quality of the images are improved and i will use a tripod because the steadiness of my hands is terrible making all the images out of focus.

Vampire before and after

before

after:

I used a variety of tools when making these edits to the image: one of which was the use of the re-sizing tool, this allowed me to extend my image to the correct size in which i wanted it and to a size to which it is easy to make edits.

The second tool i used for making these edits was the magnetic lasso tool, this allowed me to take out a specific section of the image and edit it in the form of moving its proportions, on this example i selected out one of the teeth and made it a lot longer and sharper.

Another tool that i used was the Smudge tool, this tool smudged the colours that were in the area selected, this allowed me to make more defined colours such as on the lips i made them a lot redder to have that blood like effect and look.

I also used the blur tool, this allowed me to to make the skin of the model blur and appear a lot whiter then it was originally.

Lastly i used the preset brushes tool, this allowed me to select preset models which i coloured red to use as blood marks, these models came with a range of different shapes and i was able to resize these shapes allowing multiple different shapes to be used for blood marks to keep the image from being to similar in terms of effects.

I may find it useful to use these tools within my own magazine product as i want my images within my media product to reflect an ideal 

Heal brush tool

 Before:




















After:

Tools used:
I used multiple tools on the photoshop software, one of which was the heal brush tool itself, this tool allows a user to take one select colour from the image and apply this same colour to a selected area, in this case i used it to select a clear patch of the models skin, then copy this patch to a unclear area to remove/cover spots and blemishes on the model thus improving the image.
A second tool i used was the layering tool which allowed me to take separate attempts at altering the image allowing me to pick the best one at the end.
A third tool which i used was the history tool, this allowed me to undo previous alterations that i made and redo alterations which were correct, this was a very handy tool to allow me to fix clear mistakes that i made.
Lastly i used the size alteration tool to increase and decrease the size of the healing brush that i was using, this change in size allowed me to get into areas of the image easier and allowed me to do more open areas of the image quicker.

I am most likely going to be using this tool within my own product as i want my images to look perfect for the target audience, specifically because the TA is quite young, they are likely to be concerned over the appeal of the models on a magazine, so by using this tool i can satisfy the young target audiences need for perfection.

finished magazine front cover

Evaluation of photography and photoshop

Evaluation

Photography:

When i used the camera i used it in a portrait position and used a manual focus mode while learning how to use the zoom feature on the camera, at first i struggled to keep the shot in the form that i wanted (medium close up) while retaining a good focus within the shot but after doing some simple changes and position movements i managed to take a fully focused medium close up shot. 

first pictures taken (unfocused and wrong positioning):

This picture shows the first photograph i took with the camera, we can see that it is unfocused and the body is not symmetrically in the shot. these were some major problems as they made the images quality extremely low and inappropriate to use.

another problem with the image is the fact that the lighting within the shot is landing to strongly on the face of the person used in the photograph, this again reduced the quality of the picture taken.

After taking the first photograph i realized that some changes would have to take place in order to create a photograph which is both of high quality, fine level of lighting, and appropriate to use as the front cover of my magazine.

The first change that i did was the simple change of position while taking the picture, in my first shot i stood naturally and simple held the camera in the general area i wanted to get a shot of, what this caused was the wrongly positioned body placement within the shot, so to fix this problem i changed my stance to use the T-Stance, this is a stance that the photographer takes to give them attributes similar to that of a tripod which would usually be used when taking a picture, so by utilizing the T-Stance i managed to keep the camera both steady and in the right position. this fixed the problem of the body being out of place.

While thinking of ways to improve the pictures that i would take i was told that the camera can be effectively used in both a landscape and portrait fashion, so i took shots in both of these fashions and learnt that i felt that the landscape version would be a better choice if i was taking a long shot or a medium long shot. but because i was wanting to take a medium close shot i realized that taking the pictures in portrait was the best way to suit the shot that i needed.

-------

-------

After taking a couple more photographs i noticed that the lighting within them was adding refraction lights and added unfocused areas within the picture, to fix this problem i decided that we would change locations to a place where the sun would only shine on one side of the persons face and the place had to be well shaded with nothing reflective behind it the location also could not be in direct sunlit on the face of the person, this would mean that they're body language and facial expression would be different then what intended due to the irritation of the light, this meant that the light would not disrupt the shot that i took and also allowed a greater visibility of the persons face, it also added as a nice effect for the picture as half the face appeared lighter then the other.

While taking the picture i made sure to compare it to what i wanted the front cover of my magazine to look like, i intended from the start that the title would land right above the persons head and that the shot would be in a medium close up, to make sure i did this right i split the images that i took into three sections this allowed me to picture where each thing should be in each section

3 sections i used:            

                      

By splitting the photographs up into these three sections it allowed me to make sure that the photo was the best that it could be in terms of being on the front cover of a magazine.

While taking the photographs i wanted to make sure the photos had quite a closed frame to match the sense of it being a rock magazine, therefore i had to make sure there was not a lot of open space in the background of the photograph, after taking the first photograph i noticed that the space behind the person was huge and did not give the effect that i wanted to be given off, so while taking my other photographs i changed location to have a wall behind the person and then moved onto a tree behind, i decided to use the tree over the wall because while using the wall i struggled to get the lighting right for the picture.

I feel that one thing that let me down when taking the photographs was my lack of communication between me and the person who i took the photo of, because of this lack of communication i feel that the body language is slightly off from what i first intended it to be like, so if i had this communication i feel i could of managed to get a stronger pose thus matching the idea of a rock artist.

to conclude i feel that the photographs that i took were more then suitable for the proposed magazine and i feel that the quality of the photographs was well thought though and good, the only thing i feel that should be changed within the photos are the pose of the subject, and the body positioning could be slightly to the right more to make it more symmetrical.

After changes and experience:

Photoshop evaluation

While using the photoshop software i sued many different tools some of which were easier to use then others.

some of the tools used are:

•   Shape creation tool

•   Text creation tool

•   text editor tool

•   layers system

•   font editing

•   text shading and bulking tools

•   re-sizing tool

 I found it difficult to use some of the tools, one of which was the layers system, i struggled to understand that each new thing added to the magazine must be in a new layer, rather then a layer being for texts and a layer for colours etc. but i did find it easy to use the text editing tools as they were very well positioned and simple in design to use.

i feel as though the text on my magazine is controlled as it is well placed out and does not overlap any of the important features on the background image, the magazine also has a lot of white space due to the spaced out text i did this to make the magazine seem like it was of a higher quality as this is generally done with higher quality magazines.

Only a very small amount of the image on my magazine was cut out, as i managed to get the right sized shot while taking the photograph, the small amounts cut out were excessive space on the sides of the image, i removed this space re-sizing the image to fit the A-4 space that we used meanwhile being the right size to display the subject in the image correctly.

i added multiple effects to my main title of my magazine, the effects i added were: black shadow effects and a text thickening tool to give my title a look which makes it stand out and match the idea of rock and music. The shadow effect was used to give the title a professional finish, i did this by using the text editing tool on the Photoshop software to edit the depth of the shadows created by the text and also bulked up the text with the same tool. I did not download any different fonts for my magazine i used the preset possible fonts within the software as i felt a suitable one was already within the preset fonts.

I used a mixture of red and black colours, i did this to give the magazine a more edgy and strong look, i wanted this look as this look matches that of the target audience of the magazine, people who enjoying rock music tend to enjoy strong and edgy things so i used these colours to make sure that is addressed in the font i used or whether that is addressed in the imagery i took .

i feel that i could improve my magazine front cover by using different varieties of text to add more action and interest to it i also feel that i could of maybe played around with the text editing a bit more to create an even more bolder and rock like title.

i feel like the imagery in the cover is a big strength as it is in the T formation and also is the perfectly size shot, i also feel that the colours i have chose to use are the best choice of colours as they stick to a theme of black and red and do not stray to farm from a rock magazine style.

Skills audit

AS Media Production: Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Harry Stanforth                         Tutor group:              Date: 17/09/2012

Photographic Skills

Which of the following photographic features/equipment have you used on a camera before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Manual Focus features Creative writing classes	Yes		I used it when doing some ICT related work at GCSE so to a low level
Shutter Speed		no
Aperture control		No
A tripod		No
External flash		no
Self timer facility		No
Light meter		No
Composition grids		No

Photoshop Skills

Which of the following features of Photoshop have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Text control		No
Filters		No
Brushes		No
Layers	yes		I used this in ICT at GCSE level
Opacity control		No
Shape creation		No
Brightness and contrast control	yes		Used in ICT at GCSE level
Dodge/Burn		No
Clone stamp tool		No
Colour curves adjustment		No
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool		No
Cropping tool	yes		Used in ICT at GCSE level
Retouch tool		No

In Design Skills

Which of the following features of In Design have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Margin and column guide creation		No
Inserting text in ID		No
Inserting images in ID		No
Resizing images in ID		No
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation		No
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading		No
Text flow creation		No
Text effects – drop shadow		No
Drop cap insert		No
Using transparent imagery in ID		No
Shape creation In design		No
Text wrapping		No
Exporting to PDF from In-design		No