Evaluation Question 4
What is being said:
Throughout the project my understanding of the hardware that I had to use to produce my magazine has become greater. To begin with, in my preliminary task I struggled to set the camera to the correct settings but found that the AUTO setting was very helpful. As I progressed from my preliminary task photos to my main task photos I came to understand how certain settings on the camera can change the quality of a picture. There are different settings on a DSLR camera depending on the photograph you want to take. For photographs which capture movement, there is a SPORTS mode, or photoghraphs that have limited light there is a NIGHT mode. I used PORTRAIT setting on the camera to get the right image, this helped me to use light effectively to create clear and bright images. Through practice I found that the right location and angle could help to create more dramatic and meaningful images. I used two types of camera in the course of the project, starting with a Cannon 50D DSLR and then moved onto a Cannon EOS 500DSLR. This change in camera was due to the limited memory available on the Cannon 50DSLR and this allowed me to develop my skills to produce a clearer photo for my final pages.
My main purpose was to take pictures that were editable in Adobe Photoshop. A larger camera memory meant that I could produce images as RAW files. RAW files are a much larger file than a JPEG because they do not deteriorate when edited, they have a greater dynamic range of tones and a larger colour space than JPEGS and they also maintain all the information captured by the camera sensor. However RAW files are very large and take up a lot of memory. In their uncompressed format they may look flatter and less vibrant than a JPEG and always need editing software to convert them into other file formats (like JPEGs). The original RAW file I used produced a good quality JPEG image for my magazine. Whilst I still have the original RAW file under the edits that I made.
Also during this project my understanding of software has improved. Adobe Photpshop is the leading choice for editing photographs. It has many functions and special effects which allowed me to achieve results other software cannot achieve. It can also rescue a poorly taken photograph, if the lighting is wrong, or there are unexpected items in the image. As I followed a brief for my photo-shoot I was able to control the elements of my image and ensure I captured a suitable photograph. I was then able to use photoshop as an editing tool rather than a rescue tool.
I plugged the camera into my computer and my image uploaded onto my Creative Cloud Photoshop folder. Uploading my images to the creative cloud meant that i didnt have to carry it around on a pendrive and risk losing it and allowed me easy access to my images on multiple computers
Photoshop allows the user to edit through layers. Layers can be arranged into different orders to edit thew arrangement of items on your workspace so you could hide one behine another, or bringing them to the front to emphasize them. To place an object so it hides partially behind your model you would use the 'Quick Selection' tool. This works by highlighting the outline of your model, followed by the use of copy and paste to create a new layer with just the model and no background. The model layer is brought to the front and a new layer with the new object is created between the background and the new model layer, placing the new object behind the model.
I made use of the editing functions such as the 'levels curve' to change the lighting of my background. Applying this as a layer mask allowed me to remove the effect off the model by using the eraser tool to bring her image forward and make her stand out form the background.
In terms of Online Software/Tools I used things such as Google Chrome, Blogger and E-mail
In cases where I was not sure how to do things I used Google Chrome as a search engine to find tutorials for Photoshop to teach me how to create effects that I wanted for my images.
I used Blogger to record my progress and keep my tasks in a logical order for my final evaluation.
I also utilized resources available in my fathers company to help with photoshop queries, this waas done through the use of E-mail and talking to some of the people I know in the Media department.
Finally there were two other bits of software I used in making this and they are as follows...
I used a screen recording software named 'Fraps' to record my screen in this video and Adobe Premier to put it together together
