Photoshop 1

This is the original image. It could be improved by adjusting the brightness and reducing some of the shadows.

In this image I have used the auto colour, tone and contrast features in Photoshop, though I feel the image could still be improved.

















I adjusted the brightness and contrast manually for this image. I am happy with the contrast, however in some areas the image is overexposed. I can fix this later using the burn tool.

In this image I have applied an unsharp mask filter to improve the image by sharpening it.

















This image has been enhanced using the dodge and burn tools to fix the areas which were overexposed or underexposed. For example, the shadows on the subjects face have been reduced.

















When I was happy with the image, I experimented with cross processing following an online tutorial. I created a new adjustment layer and adjusted the curves in the red, green and blue colour channels to create this image.

Composition Techniques

The first image shows three different eye lines, and also demonstrates rule of thirds as each of the subjects is in a different third of the photograph. Different eye lines have different connotations; low eye lines imply weakness and high eye lines suggest power or importance. The image is well composed because it uses the rule of thirds and showcases different eye lines. It is also in focus, which was achieved using the manual focus ring. However, the subjects are slightly off centre.



The next two images are demonstrating the technique of tilting the camera. Tilting the camera upwards gives the impression the subject is looking down and connotes power and importance. Sometimes this can create shadows, which emphasise the chin and nose, but my image does not show this. Tilting the camera downwards is used to convey insignificance. This image is not as well lit as the previous one. As before, these images were focused using the manual focus ring which appears to have been done successfully.



The following image includes a line, created by the wall, which draws the eye to the subject.  This image would have been better if the person in it was standing at the end of the wall rather than halfway, as the eye continues to the end of the line and doesn't pay attention to the subject. Aside from this, the image is fairly well composed as it is in focus and features the subject at a distance; I was asked to experiment with different distances.



The next image makes use of the framed composition technique, using the gates to a tennis court to create the frame. This draws the eye towards the subject and adds depth to the image. The subject is mostly in shadow, which connotes a sense of mystery. This image is fairly well composed as it is in focus and the subject is in the centre of the frame.



My images are mostly in focus and explore a range of composition techniques. To improve I could pay more attention to the position of the subject within the frame as some of the images have a lot of unnecessary space around the subject. To fix this problem I could experiment with the zoom function or pay more attention to where the subject is placed before taking the photograph. I could also experiment more with these new techniques to give the images different connotations, for example by combining multiple techniques in the same image.

Induction Evaluation

For my induction project I was asked to create a front cover for a music magazine using a cover image that I had taken and containing at least three sell lines.

I used a Canon DSLR to take some pictures for the front cover of my magazine. From this I learnt how to manually focus the camera using the focus rings and how to zoom in. I also learnt about the difference between landscape and portrait mode. For this project I was required to take a medium close up portrait. At first the images I took were out of focus, but after practicing the quality improved. We were asked to have our images lit from the left but this was difficult to do, as it was a cloudy day. Despite this, most of my images were of a good quality and were fairly well lit. I took several different images with different backgrounds and found some of them to be problematic. For example, using a fence as a background was too difficult for me to focus correctly. The subject I was photographing was very co-operative and allowed me to take several different shots until I was happy with the images. The final image I chose is in focus and well lit so the subject can be clearly seen. The background is quite dark, making the text on the cover easy to read. The background is tilted slightly; if I were to re-do this project I would angle the camera so the background was in line with the subject.

To create the magazine cover I had to learn to use Photoshop and have mastered many of the features. I used the text tool, rectangle tool, elliptical marquee tool and the paint bucket tool. I found most of the tools easy to use after I had practiced. While using the elliptical marquee tool, I held down shift to ensure a perfect circle was created. I occasionally found the text tool difficult to use as I kept forgetting how to move the text, though on the whole I was successful. I added effects to several of the elements on my front cover using the fx button, such as stroke, drop shadow and bevel and emboss. Mostly these effects were successful though I could have experimented more with the opacity and colours of some things to make my cover more interesting. All of the writing I used was white with a black outline so it would be easy to read against the dark backgrounds. I used the rectangle and elliptical marquee tools to create backgrounds for my sell lines. All of these were different colours so my magazine cover didn’t look to uniform and boring. If I were to improve my front cover I would experiment more with different effects to make it more interesting. I would also use a variety of fonts as all of mine are the same and fairly boring. My magazine cover is successful because it is colourful and uses a variety of techniques in the sell lines such as ellipses and question marks to intrigue potential buyers.

Raw Photos

Magazine Cover

Skills audit

AS Media Production: Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Belinda Smith                           Tutor group: 1.06               
Date: 18/09/2013

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		N
Shutter Speed		N
Aperture control		N
A tripod		N
External flash		N
Self timer facility		N
Light meter		N
Composition grids		N

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		N
Filters		N
Brushes		N
Layers		N
Opacity control		N
Shape creation		N
Brightness and contrast control		N
Dodge/Burn		N
Clone stamp tool		N
Colour curves adjustment		N
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool		N
Cropping tool		N
Retouch tool		N

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		N
Inserting text in ID		N
Inserting images in ID		N
Resizing images in ID		N
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation		N
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading		N
Text flow creation		N
Text effects – drop shadow		N
Drop cap insert		N
Using transparent imagery in ID		N
Shape creation In design		N
Text wrapping		N
Exporting to PDF from In-design		N