Evaluation Six

Evaluation Six - Text Format:

Technology is a fast growing trend. It helps us advance in taking images, editing images, and putting things together to get a good final product. Through this project I was able to see the advantages of technology and how it makes production much easier. In creation of my product I used a range of different technologies in order to product a professional looking, well thought-out magazine. I did a photoshoot, in which i used a Canon 55OD DSLR as it is a camera I have used before and I was most familiar with and able to comfortable use and experiment with in order to make my magazine look more professional with good, attractive pictures. As the camera is digital, it has many helpful factors as I was able to take many photos and also check over them, deleting those I did not feel content with. I was then able to transfer the photos from the camera to my computer instantly, which saves a lot of time.

For this shoot I used an 18-55mm 4.6 aperture lens which enabled detailed photos and it ensured my photos looked clear and professional. This also ensured I has a wide range of possible angles to access and I could capture each image in a variety of angles and sizes.

As I took all the photos and I was happy with the quality, I uploaded them to my computer. After having made a decision which photo's I wanted to use in my magazine, I began to edit them. In order to edit my photos I used Adobe Photoshop CS3. This software allowed me to edit, cut, change and even create images and graphics. I am very familiar with Photoshop as I have been using it for the past 2-3 years to complete Media coursework. The key feature of Photoshop that without would have made my magazine very unprofessional, is the feature of cutting out images from their background. There are a few ways in which you can do this, one way being Magic Wand Tool, allowing you to attach a line to the outline of your image and then cut it out. On the other hand, I found this cut my photos out in a rough and bumpy way and the hair of my model would look very unprofessional, so therefore I decided to use the Colour Range, which allows you to click on parts of the image which you wish to erase and then edit to perfect using Mask tool.

Additionally another feature of Adobe Photoshop I used often was the Adjustment Layer option for photos, which I used to edit my photos further. Sometimes  however, this was used to make my photos black and white, in order to highlight some of my skills in Photoshop and also make the photos stand out from the page more.  I also used it for saturation, contrast, highlighting, shadowing, hue, exposure and many other effects for photos. This was again, to ensure my photos were of the highest quality and also to highlight parts of the photo, such as my models make up which has connotations of a feisty female, making my magazine more appealing, drawing in the reader. 

Popular sites such as Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Gettyimages have all contributed to my knowledge of music magazines also, as they have: provided me with information on particular companies; inspired me on different angles and poses my models should experiment with during the photo shoot; helped me to conclude with a particular style for my magazine; informed me on what the register of my article should be and so on. Lastly, Blogger has obviously been a huge part of the creation of my magazine, allowing me to document every stage of the production process, showing the different stages and features I considered when making my magazine.