Induction Project - Evaulation

Photography

When taking the photographs I used manual focus to make sure they came out properly. To be able to use a magazine cover they needed to be focused properly otherwise they couldn’t be used. This allowed me to get the best possible quality for my images.

However, the first few photos I took were out of focus, as I didn’t set up the camera correctly. Although I realized this quickly and changed it so the rest of the shoot would be successful.

I have learnt that when using the focus rings it is important to check them in between different poses of the model. Things can change when the subject moves. By not focusing in all the way it created the best quality image for my magazine cover.

Here are a few examples of my earlier images; my later ones were more in focus and appropriate for my magazine cover.

Here are some of the photographs that turned out well. I used the first image for my final magazine cover.

 

When taking the photographs I made sure to stand in the T-stance. This made it easier to take the shot. I was balanced whilst focusing on the model and taking the picture how I wanted it. By trial and error I also learned that the best way to effectively take a medium-long shot photograph is to take the image in portrait mode. This is turn makes it easier when editing the photo as I won’t have to resize or crop the image to fit the A4 size of my magazine cover. If I took the photograph in landscape mode I would have to resize it lots in order to get it to work for my cover. Even then it wouldn’t look as professional for the magazine cover.

When organising background and lighting for my photographs, I chose to do the shoot against a brick wall with side lighting. I did this for ease and to help the model. By having the lighting at the side it wouldn’t blind the model so she would be squinting her eyes in the image. Also it wouldn’t wash out her face and have a reflection on the camera. I didn’t want sunspots on the photograph, which could have happened if I used front lighting. I didn’t want to use back lighting, as it would have thrown the models face into shadows, which wasn’t the effect I was going for.

Since I used a brick wall as my background no problems rose in the shoot. My first idea was to take the images in the park opposite the college. The trees could have provided a good background. However it could have brought it lots of problems such as people walking the background and how the model was going to stand around the foliage. Taking all this into consideration, I changed my idea to take the photographs in front of the wall.

At first I let the subject choose whatever pose she wanted to start the shoot off. Then throughout I instructed my subject to try new things and told her poses I wanted he to try out for the photographs. This gave me a wide range of images to choose from when picking my final picture for my magazine cover. Since I knew my subject, people skills weren’t that much of an issue. However I believe I need to be more professional during these shoots as we wasted a lot of time laughing and giggling when we could have been finished. In order to work efficiently I will have to work more professionally even in front of friends, in this kind of situation.

Photoshop

When editing my image for the magazine cover, I used a number of tools. Further into my editing I started to get used to working in Photoshop so it became easier to create my cover. First I put a black and white filter effect on my image. This is to make the image more mysterious and fit with the theme of a rock magazine. This also made the image clearer to see. By taking away the colours you focus more on the model than the background. I then used the history tool and used it to uncover the green of the coat. This would make it stand out more against the grayscale background. I found this easy to use but I had to be extremely careful. Several times I had to change the size of the brush used so it would only show the coat and not anything else. I only wanted the green showing through and not the red brick background.

I added then masthead in a different shade of green so they would all stand out against the black and white background. The page splash was also the same colour as the masthead so they would both stand out and catch the reader’s eye. I then used white for the other cover-lines to keep the same colour scheme for the front cover.

For my font, I kept it the same style for the whole cover. This gives it consistency and makes it look more professional. I didn’t need to download any fonts from the internet; I found what I wanted on Photoshop. I chose ‘Century Gothic’ as it is easy to read and stands out on the cover. I put the masthead in a different shade of green to keep in the colour scheme, and to make all the individual parts stand out more on the cover. I then added a drop-shadow effect so the writing would ‘glow’ on the page. This would make it stand out on the cover so readers will know what magazine it is. I chose to make the cover-lines in white so they would stand out on their own and not be overpowered by the green features of the front cover.

To improve my front cover I believe I need to add more cover-lines to make it more interesting. There isn’t much information about the magazine which could persuade readers into buying it. I was trying to go for a more laid-back look but it could do with a little bit more to make it brilliant. 

However overall I think my front cover is very aesthetically pleasing. All the important features stand out and there are a few stories that would drag the right audience in, used for the cover-lines.

Here is an image of my final design for my front cover: