6

1. LIGHTING
In order to take the images to the quality in which I
hoped I needed to make sure that the lighting was set
up well. I was provided with four soft boxes which I had
to position myself in order to find the lighting that best
worked with my models. When taking the draft images, I
did not take lighting into account and did not bother to
move the lights from where they were placed, feeling as
though they would work with my pictures as they worked
for other people. However, this lead to unwanted
shadows and pictures that were not up to the quality I
wanted for my magazine. As I had two models for my
magazine, this meant that the lighting that other people
used was not as appropriate for my magazine as they
were only using one model. Therefore, when taking my
pictures for my final magazine, I ensured I moved the
lights that would best compliment my models and make
sure the quality of the images where how I wanted them
to be. From this, I feel as though I have more knowledge
of lighting and the importance of making sure they are in
the correct place when taking the pictures.

2. PHOTOSHOP
I used Photoshop CS6 for all of my magazine pages. At the beginning of
this task, I had never used Photoshop and did not know how to use any
of the features included on this item of software. Therefore, when
creating the preliminary magazine, I was not able to use Photoshop to
the best of its capabilities as I was spending a lot of time trying to use
simple features. When creating the draft magazine, I feel as though my
knowledge broadened as I was able to do simple tasks easily, however, it
was still limited. I feel as though when creating my final magazine, I was
able to use Photoshop well, being able to complete all of the tasks I
wanted and did not feel as though I was unable to do anything due to my
lack of knowledge from the software. Although I am still not an expert of
Photoshop, I feel as though I can complete certain tasks well now and it
would take me a lot less time to create the magazine than it did initially.
Therefore, I feel as though, during the duration of the task I have learnt a
lot about this software and I am not able to use it to a reasonable
standard. I think Photoshop was a good piece of software to use to
create the magazine as I feel you are able to create the itended piece
easily, after understanding the software, and it offers a lot of features that
can be helpful when creating the magazine.

3. CAMERA & BACKDROP
Camera
Initially, I feel as though my knowledge of cameras was OK
as I was able to use the camera easily. Therefore, because
of this I was not worried about this aspect when taking my
images for the magazine. I had to use a camera three times
throughout this process, for the preliminary magazine, the
draft magazine and then the final magazine. Each of these
times I have had no problem with the camera that I was not
able to fix or find a solution for. I used a Nikon D3200 to take
these images and I found it took high quality images which
provided professionalism to my magazine.
Backdrop
For the pictures, I used a white pop up backdrop which
made the images look professional and realistic. This was
already assembled when it got to me taking the images
meaning I did not have to learn how to put this up myself.
However, I did need to make sure that I kept the background
as white as possible to ensure the images remained realistic
and professional. I have never taken images with a backdrop
before meaning this was a new experience that I feel worked
well with the magazine.