I used manual focus because it makes me
have more of an influence on the photograph. I learnt how to use the focus ring
and zoom ring on the camera, and where on the camera they are located. I also
learnt that the T-stance helps keep the camera steady when you are standing up
or crouching down, that it helps keep your own balance when you are taking
the photograph and it is a better body position when you are taking the
photograph. I learnt that most magazines take their pictures in portrait mode
and I learnt how to take the photograph in portrait mode. I took every picture
in portrait mode. I took most of my images in focus, the ones that weren't I didn't use. To make sure I take every picture in focus in the future I will take more
time adjusting the focus ring and take less picture that are better quality. I
learnt that lighting affects your photographs so you need to be aware of where
the sun is located and if it is affecting your photographs. Side-lit makes the
photographs lighter on one side than another, front-lit sometimes will create
shadows in the photographs and back-lit makes the front of the photograph
darker than the back. I use the rule of thirds; I took some photographs with
the eye-line too low so I crouched to make the eye-line where it is supposed to
be: the first line down from the top of the photograph. The background for my
photograph was easy to find because it was only a brick wall; I wanted this
background because it was supposed to look like the model was in jail behind
metal bars. My model was easy to handle and didn't cause any problems, he just
did what I asked of him to do in my photograph. My people skills were
good enough to be in control.
The tools I used
on Photoshop were: the cropping tool, the marquee tool, the zoom
tool, the move tool, the paint bucket tool and the type tool. I found it hard
to use the paint bucket tool because the fonts that I was using were
not compatible with this tool; also I found it hard to place
different things in the final position because I was unsure where to place
them. I controlled my text well by first of all choosing various fonts until
one would be compatible with the paint bucket tool and one that I liked and
thought would suit my magazine cover. I was careful when I was placing the text
where I wanted because I didn't want it to look out of place or simply bad. I
added a drop shadow and stroke effect on my masthead, I also added the stroke
effect on my bubble at the bottom of the cover. I did this so that they would
stand out more than anything else on the page. I did this by highlighting the layer
and clicking effects which brought up a menu of all the different effects and
then I chose the two I wanted to use and clicked on them;
from this I was able to edit them and see how they looked. I downloaded various
fonts but my initial choices were see-through which meant I couldn't
fill them with a colour. The font I chose to use looked like typical
bubble-writing, I chose this font because it is popular for people to use when
they are designing something similar, this makes it a slightly mainstream font
and my magazine would be about chart music which is mainstream. I downloaded my
fonts by going to www.dafont.com and searching through the different fonts and
then chose one. Once I had chosen one I clicked download, extract all files,
browse, then chose my font’s folder in unit 2 in Media Production, I then
copied the font and went to my C-drive and opened the windows folder then the font’s
folder and pasted it into that folder. The colours I used were mainly red and
yellow with black outlines and the background from the image. I used these
colours because they are primary colours, bright and noticeable colours and
popular colours. Another reason why I used these colours is that they suit each
other, and they will reflect that the magazine includes popular mainstream
music.
I really like what I have produced but if
I was able to improve it in any way I would improve my image. The reason for
this is that I would prefer if the bars were clearer and straight, also I would
have liked it to be I little bit sharper and change the lighting. I would change
the lighting because it is supposed to look like a jail cell which is stereotypically
dark, but this may have also made it worse because if it was dark it may not
look appealing. I think the strengths of the project as a whole are that the finished
product looks like a real magazine and I learnt a lot on Photoshop and have
developed skills on it that didn't previously know.
