Peer Feedback and my evaluation of my fanzine

1. Evaluation & Feedback

2. Peer Feedback
• What do you like most about my fanzine and why?
I like how professional the images look, there crisp, clear and very high quality. I also like the
layout of the fanzine, because of the way it makes you focus on the images.
• What could I improve and why?
Maybe have more variety of images, some images look similar to others, for instance page 8 and
9.
• What is your favourite image in the fanzine and why?
My favorite images is on nature page 7, I like how open and colourful the image is. And it’s a great
representation of the season.

3. Peer Feedback
• What do you like most about my fanzine and why?
I really like the colour scheme because it immediately lets the reader know what season the fanzine is
talking about. The colour scheme of the pages and images fit very well together which gives it a
professional look.
• What could I improve and why?
The white text on some of the brighter images is quite hard to read. The white text does work well on
the other images though. The images do look very good but I think that more effects could have been
used in Photoshop.
• What is your favourite image in the fanzine and why?
Page 7. I like this image because it is bright and colourful and it represents the theme of the fanzine
well.

4. Evaluation
Type Of Content:
My fanzine features portrait and nature photography taken by me. The locations of the images are
expressed in the fanzine so that the reader is aware. The portraits of Georgia were taken at York
College. I didn't’t want to use a studio to take the portraits because I wanted to mix nature photography
and portraits together. This means that I wanted to have leaves or flowers in the background so that it
had more of an artistic feel to it. To achieve this, I placed Georgia in front of flowers and autumn leaves
so that they filled the entire background. I think that it dramatically increased the quality of the
portraits and made them much more interesting. The nature photographs were taken at Homestead
Park and Thorp Perrow. These parks are some of my favourite places to photograph because the
autumnal change is so bright and makes a great impact that is portrayed strongly in the photographs. I
wanted to take the photographs at different parks because it would provide me with a range of different
scenery, flowers, trees etc. In the fanzine I incorporated an interview so that the reader has a better
insight to the photography and how the images have been taken and edited. I conducted the interview
with myself because I took the photographs, therefore I know the most about how they were taken and
the style that I edited them in. This allowed me to learn a lot more about photography and what new
skills and techniques I can apply to my work. For example, I recently bought a new camera lens so that I
could practice macro photography and close ups. I learnt lots of new techniques whilst I was using the
lens which helped my photographs become clearer and much better. This has helped me for the future
because I will be able to purchase more camera lenses and increase the range of photography that I
produce. I also discussed my goals and ambitions with my photography and what I would like to achieve
such as travelling. Underneath several images I encompassed paragraphs about my experience with
photography and the connection to my childhood. Furthermore, I also talked about the different
locations that I shot in and what they mean to me. Whilst looking at professional fanzines, I noticed that
the majority have doodles or other pieces of art work in the background. I wanted to copy this
technique because I think that it makes the page aesthetically pleasing. To create these doodles I
created a shape on Photoshop. I then duplicated them, changed the size and colours to make them look
more interesting, ( this is what I did on page 2). I also included shapes that correlate with my fanzine
such as autumnal coloured leaves so that the background was more interesting and not just white.

5. Evaluation
Design:
My fanzine is all about seasonal photography. The issue that I created is all about autumn which means that I have a
very strong colour scheme of yellow, orange and red. The colour yellow has connotations to happiness which makes
the fanzine look very bright and colourful. However, the colour red has connotations to anger, danger and love.
Therefore, these colours combined creates an interesting cover with a mixture of emotions all linking back to autumn.
During my research, I selected three different fonts to incorporate into my work, however I didn’t end up using any of
these fonts because they were not appropriate for the fanzine. The fonts that I used during production were
‘quicksand’, ‘champagne and limousine’ and ‘mermaid’. I liked these fonts because they were bold and had better
connotations to the theme of the fanzine; they were simple but yet effective. The page layouts vary on each page
because I wanted the fanzine to be creative and not so structured and predictable. On some pages such as page 2, I
wanted the layout to be very simple with just one image on the page. In the background there would be some doodles
and underneath the photograph there is a small paragraph about the location or about me. I also featured some
double page spreads so that the photographs were larger and more detailed for the audience. However, my favourite
page layout is page 8 and 9. This is because it not only features my favourite photograph and edit, but it also fills both
2 pages. This influences the image to feel like it is on a canvas: it is much larger and more noticeable to the audience
and leaves an impact. There is not much text in the fanzine because I want the main focus to be on the photographs
themselves and not what I have to say about them. The text is small and only fills a small section of the page except on
page 6 where there is the interview.

6. Evaluation
Design:
In my fanzine, I focused on two styles of photography: portrait and nature. I am very passionate about nature photography
and have created several different products based on nature photography. I wanted to challenge myself to a different style
of photography that would incorporate nature photography successfully. I thought that portraits worked best because I
had an idea of featuring nature backgrounds behind the model such as on page 2. I think that these styles of photography
perhaps restricted me to my comfort zone of what I'm used to photographing. However, I did branch out into portrait
photography which is not something that I have experimented with before. I learnt new techniques and skills to edit my
portraits and make them look more professional. I think that this influenced me to be more creative with my work and
introduce different styles of photography to work on. Once I had taken my photographs, I researched new editing
techniques and tutorials to follow to improve my photographs. Firstly, I used the camera raw filter because I always think
that it makes the colours in your images much brighter and more vibrant and dramatically increases the quality of your
images. I then followed a YouTube tutorial where you can include sunlight and rays so that the highlights in your
photographs stand out more. This is what I did to the image on page 4: I like this editing technique because it makes the
image much brighter and look more high quality. The final tutorial I followed was how to achieve the moody look on your
photographs. I did this by once again using the camera raw filter. After that, I changed the curves so that it was slightly
over exposed and more grainer. Then using the dodge and burn tool and deepened and lightened elements so that the
colours were more grey toned. I am very happy with the outcome because I think that it looks very professional. I used this
editing technique on the image across page 8 and 9 as well as on page 11. I am happy with the outcome of my
photographs and how they have been edited because I think that it challenged me to new techniques and improved my
photography much more. If I could improve one thing about my photography it would be that I wish I included some
landscape shots or macro photography as I love experimenting with these styles.

7. Evaluation
Subject and Context:
My fanzine discusses photography and what it means to me. When I was younger, I enjoyed taking
pictures whenever we would go on family holidays. I wanted to talk about this in my fanzine as it
addresses how I got into my photography and how it makes me feel. During the fanzine, I also discuss
the different locations that I took the photographs at and why I picked to shoot there. For example,
several nature photographs were taken at Homestead Park, which is a place I always went to as a child
with my family and friends: it makes me feel nostalgic. In the interview and the small paragraphs I wrote
in first person because I anted to talk about my personal experiences within photography. This also gives
the fanzine a much more personal touch and make the audience feel closer to the photographer. I did
not address the audience in my fanzine because I thought that it would make the fanzine seem less
professional. When looking at other fanzines, I found that the audience is not addressed which is why I
copied this technique. Seasonal Photography was produced at York College. This means that I had
access to looking at other products as well as learning new skills and techniques of how to improve my
photography and editing. I was also influenced by my family, friends and peers to help me improve m
work with their own preferences. I think this project went well, however it felt too much like previous
projects we have produced at college. I was not challenged which means that I did not learn much. I
would have liked to have learned how to improve my photography and learn new techniques as well as
actually learning about cameras. Finally, I think it would have been interesting to learn new editing
techniques on Photoshop by my tutors instead of looking up YouTube videos. Overall I enjoyed this
project because I got to work practically on my photography, however I would have liked to have learnt
more and be more challenged.