Double page spread

In my DPS I have used the three colour rule which is black, white and green, this helps everything stand out because they all have their impact because the background is black and the colours of the text stand out against it, I have created a product that had 3D feel to it because of the background which looks like a typical surface so it looks like everything else is just lying on top of it and I have used some effects on the images in my DPS to make them look like Polaroid images which makes them look like an old photo that has come out of a Polaroid camera and it has a white border around it, I used effects like drop shadow to give it a shadow behind it and make it look like it is sticking out, I used a subtle background for my DPS to not take any attention away from the text and images, if i used a background with loads of different colours on it it would drag attention to the background and people would not focus on the text or the images.

To make the Polaroid effect images I had to group the actual image and the rectangle frame together so that they would then become one and I could move them both together to the space where I wanted them to be, I had to make the rectangle frame have a full white background to add the white border to the Polaroid affect, Once my images had been made with the Polaroid affect I had to rotate them to give them that 3D affect and to make them look like someone had just plonked them on the surface. I used Photoshop to make the masthead of this article so that I could add effect to it like drop shadow which gives it a shadow behind it which gives it a 3D affect, I then gave it the bevel emboss effect to make it look metallic and shiny which again gives it that 3D affect, I then exported my title as PNG to maintain the titles background transparency so it would not have its own background on my DPS.

I made sure my text was not bigger than 10pt so that i could fit it all on the page, and it also makes it look not as much reading as it would if it was in a bigger text size, I used text wrap so that the text on my DPS would wrap around the images and make it look more like a magazine article and to make sure that the images would not interfere with the text and that teh text would adapt to the image, I also used advanced text wrap which involves using the pen tool to draw a shape around your image which is meant to match the shape of your image, i then went to the text wrap tool bar and clicked on the wrap tetx around shape option and then the text adapts to the shape that you have just drawn   I applied a drop cap to the start of my article which lets the reader know where to start reading from and also to make the text look more assertive.  

My Title

I made this title by adjusting the height and width to suit the size of my InDesign document, i then typed the title in and made the the text white, I colored in disabled people because it is a main feature in the article, and added effects such as Drop Shadow and Stroke to make the title effective, I then cropped down the document so it was just the title, and then i saved it as a PNG 24 document so the background would be transparent when i place it in my InDesign document.

In Design Experiment - Not meant to make sense

My CD Cover

We have used the brush tool for this CD cover, I went on to the website called brusheezy.com and downloaded the brush that was called faces, I then had to place this brush into my brushes on the computer the same way I did with the fonts that I downloaded, I did this by going on to computer and then to windows  and then to brushes I then copy and pasted in the brush, I then went on to dafont.com to download the font that you can see on my front cover, I downloaded it extracted it and then copied it and went into computer- windows and then fonts and pasted it in to the folder, then when I went on to photoshop I was able to choose the brush and font that I downloaded and use them on my product.

Vampire After

I have used the sponge tool to desaturate her face and make it grey, I used the burn tool to make her lips a bit more dark to make it look more realistic, I used the magnetic lasso tool to make the teeth look like vampire teeth and stretch them out, and finally I made a new layer and coloured the eyes in red then I made the new layer darker and made it more see through 

Vampire Before

Zoe After

 

To heal Zoe's face i used the heal brush tool on Photoshop which is helpful for getting rid of impurities on the subjcts face, all you need to do when using this tool is to copy a piece of skin that does not have any impurities on, copying a piece of skin next to the place you want to fix is helpful, so you copy the good bit of skin and click on the impurity you want to get rid of and then photoshop merges it in with the skin around the spot and heals the spot so you cannot tell that there was a spot there.  

Zoe Before

Shutter Speed Write Up 2

Shutter Speed Write Up - Possible Problems

The photo could be underexposed and there is not enough light getting through to the camera because the conditions are too dark, to fix this problem you could retake the image at a slower shutter speed to let more light into the camera, retake the image at a different time of day when the lighting conditions a better or in a room or place where the lighting conditions are better, or you could increase the ISO speed of your camera so it captures more light.

You could have poor framing and the hands are cut off, the heads are missing or the subjects are too far away from the camera, to fix this problem you could review images as and when you take them so you get the perfect image, take your time when shooting to get the perfect image (do not rush yourself) If your subject is moving take a lot of different shots so you have more to choose from, use the continuous shot mode so that your camera takes loads of different shots, get closer up to your subject so you can get a better picture and so you can capture the whole subject including there limbs! Or use a tripod to keep the camera steady so you can get the perfect shot.

Your pictures may have focal blur which means the images are blurry or out of focus, take your time to adjust the focal ring on your camera so you can get the best focus possible and that none of your image is out of focus, or you could put you camera into automatic focus mode so that you do not have adjust the focal ring but you usually find that the best focus is when you adjust it yourself.

Shutter Speed Write Up 1

Shutter Speed Write Up - Shutter Speed Entry 

Shutter Speed or Exposure Time is the amount of time a cameras shutter is open, the total exposure is proportional to this exposure time. The shutter speed along with the aperture of the lens determines the amount of light that reaches the film or sensor.

Slow shutter speed can be used for two different reasons one of them is because it may be dark and we need to let more light into the camera, or because we want to introduce some blur into our photos... sometimes we can use blur or out of focus to make a creative effect. Fast shutter speeds have the opposite effect they freeze movement. 

The quality of the picture where the subject is jumping is pretty good you can see most of the image clearly but some problems could be that the subject is not in the centre of the camera so it is not where you look when you first see the picture, my subject is moving so I should have taken loads of shots so that I could choose the best one.

The quality of the picture with the star and the torch i also good the background is a bit out of focus but it does not really need to be when taking these pictures but it helps, I should have set the timer for a bit longer when taking this picture so that he could complete the star, I should have taken my time and adjusted the focal ring or put the camera in auto focus mode.

The image where the subject is running could have been a bit lighter so I should have taken the photo at a different time of day where there is better lighting conditions or in a room or place where is there is better lighting conditions.

My targets for taking these photos again next time would be to take more photos so I have a better choice of photos to choose from and when the subject is moving I should have taken more photos, I will try to take more time trying to find the best lighting conditions, and when I take the torch photos I will set the timer higher so they have longer to create a better image rather than a bunch of squiggles.

Basic Post Production Photographic Effects

Vignetting - This darkens up the edges and makes us focus more on the subject, before you use the vignetting tool you must click feather and 90 pixels so that it gradiates and does not give it a thick border, also use the the brightness contrast tool to light up the image and make it brighter it can make the image grey and flat.

Image - Adjustments - Desaturate - This makes the image black and white to give it that old vintage effect, The dodge and burn tools help to lighten or darken your image, the burn tool helps to darken the image and the dodge tool helps to lighten the image.

Filter - Sharpen - Unsharp mask - thi sharpens the image a little bit, it is very good for sharpening up the eyes. This also uses auto colour which can take some of the colour away from the image and make it abit more darker or lighter.

Composition Photos

This image is a bit out of focus but you can see a use of side lighting in this image, side lighting adds texture to an image even though you can not see it because this image I out of focus, it also adds an dramatic aspect to the image.

This picture is a low angled shot, these type of shots add superiority and toughness to the subject and In this case can make them look like a criminal, they can also allow you to see the nostrils which is why they are not used in the modelling agency.

This image is a long shot which allows you to see the landscape and setting around the subject these are used in advertisement quite a lot to add a nature look to the image.

This is a high angled shot these type of shots make the subject look innocent, weak and vulnerable they can be used to portray horror or can be used when taking pictures of children.

This image is using front lighting, front lighting is where the source of light comes from in front of the subject, it is the most used type of lighting as they can be used for things like wedding pictures or profile pictures.

Photo Faults

I did not use this picture for my front cover because the lighting in the background does not make it a good picture, also I think the subject was in the middle of talking when I took the photo so it doesn’t make for a good photo because of the weird facial expression on his face, also because it would not attract anyone to buy the magazine.

I did not use this picture in my front cover the subject does not look like he is in focus he is out of the centre of the shot so the tree behind him look in more focus than the actual subject, and if the subject is not in focus people will not be attracted to the magazine because it will not catch their eyes at all especially when he is not in the centre of the shot as well. 

I did not use this photo on my front cover because it is very out of focus and it would not attract an audience at all or catch their eye, also it will not catch their eye because the picture is very dark and it does not come right out at them like you would hope it would, and it might be a bit to close up for people to recognise the person that is the subject, also the subject has a really strange facial expression on his face which may not attract people.

Induction assesment

Induction Evaluation

When I took my photos I used the manual focus rings on the camera to change the focus on the camera to suit the shot, I learned that you had to twist the rings on the front to change the focus because I always thought that the camera automatically focused on the subject but obviously not, and when it focuses on the main subject which is usually the model it changes the focus of the background so as the front part of the shot becomes in focus the background becomes less in focus.

I used the T stance when taking my photos to keep the camera steady and try and keep the perfect shot, I learned that that using portrait mode is best when you are taking a picture of somebody because it does not contain any unnecessary background and it is easier to get the whole subject into a portrait shot, and you use landscape mode when you are taking photo of scenery or something along thoughs lines to capture the whole scene.

I accidentally took my photos in landscape mode when they should have been in portrait mode, this caused problems such as not being able the fit the whole image on my front cover, or it resulting in being stretched on my front cover which did not make look any good, so I had to go out and take my photos again and take them in portrait mode.

Most of my pictures were in focus but there was a few that were not in focus and if I was to improve that I would use the focus ring on the camera more precisely and try and get it to focus as best as it can be.

Back lighting is when you take a picture of a subject with the source of light behind them this creates a dark figure which adds an aspect of mystery to the image, front lighting is when you take a photo of someone with the source of light in front of them this makes best for profile pictures because you  can usually see every detail of the subject, and finally side lighting is when you take a picture of a subject with the source of light to the side of them which usually results in half of the picture being dark and half of it being light this adds texture to the subject and it also adds a dramatic aspect.

Most of my photos were well composed but maybe some of them may have had the subject too low down and their eye level may have been low down which resulted in the subject looking weak and vulnerable, I don’t think any of them were too high but if they were it could have resulted in the subject looking strong and superior.

I did think about the background of the photos I usually like taking photos with the background being a consistent surface like a wall because I think if you take a photo with half of the background being a wall and the other half being a wall it may look tacky, and I also made sure there was nothing behind the subject like pedestrians that would draw the attention away from the main subject.

My subject usually did what I told them to do so it was not really a pain to control them but there was a problem with them talking during me taking the photos which resulted in them having weird facial expressions.
Photoshop

Some of the tools used on Photoshop are text tool which allowed me to add text to the image which allowed to add my masthead and the spot remover tool which allowed me to get rid of some of the impurities on my subject.

I wanted to get rid of the background on my photo so it was just a white background which I thought would look good but I couldn’t because the only way I could think of to do it was by using the lasso tool but it was really hard to do because I had to trace perfectly around my subject to do it so I decided not to use the tool in the end.

My text was easily controlled I used the font that I downloaded from dafont.com and applied it to the font, surprisingly the only difficult part was finding the right size for the text so it did not look to big or too small on the front cover.

I added some effects to the text on my page such as drop shadow to make the text stand out, and I cant remember the name of the effect but it added a border around the writing to make it stand out I did this by selecting the fx button in the bottom right of Photoshop and adjusting the sliders to what suited it best.

I downloaded a font of dafont.com, I chose this font because it suited the name of the magazine the best which is Swaggy Music I downloaded them by clicking on them on the website and then clicking download when they downloaded I moved them into a created folder called fonts in my documents I then copy and pasted it into the fonts folder located in the windows folder in My Computer.

The main colour I used was red, this is because red is a colour that could resemble swag also it catches peoples eyes and attracts them to the magazine this is because it is a bright colour.

If I was going to change something about my front cover I would probably be the picture this is because I would like to get a picture that resembles swag a bit more maybe I could get the model to do a pose or something like that.

I think the strengths of my front cover was the text because it is very eye catching and it attracts people to it this mainly because of the colour I used in the text which were red, black and white which stand out against the background.    

Print Skills

AS Media Production: Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Jack Toward                     Tutor group: 1.19                Date: 19/9/12

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	x		In media at school we had a photography course, and when we were taking the pictures you used this to focus on the subject.
Shutter Speed	x		In the media course at school we used this to capture the photo that we wanted, i am pretty average with this tool
Aperture control		x
A tripod	x		At school we we made an advert for a newspaper in media and we used a tripod to keep the camera steady when capturing the shot, i have done this to a pretty basic level.
External flash	x		We used this in our photography course to help the lighting on the image, i did this to a pretty basic level.
Self timer facility		x	But i think i know what it is.
Light meter		x
Composition grids		x

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
Have you ever used Photoshop ever before?	x		Yes i used photoshop at school and i used it to a prettty basic level.
Text control	x		We used this when we wanted to add text to the pictures that we took, i used this to a pretty basic level.
Filters		x
Brushes	x		We used this when we wanted to add a bit more colour to the picture, i used this to a pretty basic level
Layers	x		We used this when we wanted to delete something that we had done or change the position of things in the image, i used this to a pretty basic level.
Opacity control	x		We used this when we wanted to change the opacity of something in the image, i used this to a pretty weak level.
Shape creation		x
Brightness and contrast control	x		We used this when we wanted to change the brightness or contrast in the image, i used this to a pretty basic level.
Dodge/Burn		x
Clone stamp tool		x
Colour curves adjustment		x
Resolution setting control	x		WE used this when we wanted to change the resolution of something in the image.
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool	x		We used this when we wanted to select something in the image, i used this to a pretty basic level
Cropping tool	x		We used this when we wanted to delete something in the image, i used this to a pretty basic level
Retouch tool		x

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
Have you ever used In design ever before?		x
Margin and column guide creation		x
Inserting text in ID		x
Inserting images in ID		x
Resizing images in ID		x
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation		x
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading		x
Text flow creation		x
Text effects – drop shadow		x
Drop cap insert		x
Using transparent imagery in ID		x
Shape creation In design		x
Text wrapping		x
Exporting to PDF from In-design		x