Light To Side
Light Behind
Light In Front
For my final photos I used manual focus. This meant that I could control which areas of my photos were in focus and which were not. My final photo looks effective as the background is out of focus while the subject is well focused. To do this i used the focus rings on the camera lens. The larger ring controls the zoom while the smaller one focuses on the subject. In taking my photos I used the T-Stance, this ensured I was well balanced and made sure I could keep the camera stable and focused. For this particular activity I took my photos in portrait as I did not need a wide panorama as landscape gives and I was focusing on one close-up subject. Some of my images were not in focus as I found it difficult to use the manual focus as it is so sensitive. I will improve on this by practising this setting to ensure my photos are always in focus. I also experimented with lighting to look at the effect of the sun being in different positions in my photos. My final photo is taken with the sun slightly to one side. I found that photos taken with the light in front were a lot brighter whereas those with the sun behind contained a lot more shadow on my models face. In composing my photos I used the rule of thirds to add balance to my photos and make them more appealing to the eye. Getting the eyeline right was quite difficult but I think i have achieved the correct height in my final photo. I did not think about the background for my photo however I did like the contrast between the greens of the background and the red of my models hair as it looks very striking. However, this caused problems when inputting text onto my magazine cover. This was because red, green and black did not stand out very well. For this reason I have used the stroke effect on my text to ensure it can easily be read.
As I have had a good amount of experience with Photoshop I found it quite easy to use. For my background image I adjusted the colour levels along with the brightness and contrast. I did this because I wanted my models hair especially to be very bright and eye catching and for the the whole image to be bold. I used the stroke tool frequently ad it helped me to ensure my text stood out as the background was difficult to work with due to the colours featured. This tool was very simple but effective. For my fonts I downloaded several as I wanted them all to fit the theme of my magazine. I chose the font for the Vaccines section as it is similar to the bands signature font. I used a handwritten-style font for my main story 'Amber Morgan-My Life...On Record' as I wanted it to have a more personal, diary-like feel. I downloaded all of my fonts from DaFont.com. To do this I chose my font, clicked download and then had to right-click to extract my font to ensure it was accessible. To install it on my computer I went to Local Disk --->Windows--->Fonts and then copied it across. This meant that I could now use the font in Photoshop on my magazine. For my small button cell I created a circle using the elliptical marquee tool and used the fill bucket to colour it. I also added a drop shadow to add impact by clicking FX--->Drop Shadow and selecting the distance. My choice of colours was red, black, white, yellow and green. I used these as they are commonly used in music magazine production and fitted with the colours featured in my background photo. I have also included a small image of a live band I took myself. I decided to use this as it shows an example of the magazines contents and adds interest.
Overall, I am pleased with my final result as it resembles a music magazine which I think would fit alongside popular titles such as NME and Mojo. I think my background photo works well and I have managed to compose my final cover well. If I was to improve my final piece I would think about the colours featured in my photos as getting the colours for the text was difficult due to many blending in with those of the background. By doing this I would not use the stroke effect as often as the text would stand out by itself.
My Final Magazine Cover
