The document summarizes the key equipment used to create photographs for an indie magazine, including a Canon 550D camera, 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 zoom lens, InterfitStellarX studio flash lights, white and black screens, colour gels, Adobe InDesign and Photoshop software, and a Neewer RT16 wireless flash trigger. The equipment enabled the creator to take high quality photographs with professional-looking lighting and backgrounds for use in the magazine.

1. EquipmentUsed

2. Camera:Canon550D
This is the camera that I used to
capture my photographs for my
magazine. This camera is fairly
lightweight, making it easy for me
to hold and carry around to
different photo-shoot locations.
The camera was one of the most
important pieces of equipment that
I used for taking my pictures. It
is an SLR camera that can produce
high definition photographs.
This camera was not only used to
take the photographs, but to
temporarily store the images on its
memory card, which I was then able
to transfer onto a drive and access
them through using a computer.
Lens:18-55f3.5-5.6Zoom
This is the lens that attaches to the
camera that I used, it is specifically
used for indoor, studio photo-shoots,
hence the fact that most of the images
used within my magazine were taken in a
studio using a white/black background.
However I did also choose to take some
photos outside which turn out just as
well although the lens isn’t specifically
made for outdoor photos.
This lens is also very lightweight,
making it easier to hold and move with.
Great at focusing images and producing
high definition and professional looking
photographs, allowing my magazine to have
a very sophisticated appearance.
£100
£360

3. Lights:InterfitStellarXStudioFlash
These are the lights that I used in order to illuminate and create
better quality photographs, during my photo-shoot.
This type of light is to be used for indoor photo-shoots and the
voltage of the lights can be adjusted either higher or lower
depending on the style of photo you are going for. The angle of
these lights can also be tilted up or down to change where the
lighting and shadows are formed. This was effective when I carried
out my photo-shoot, due to the fact that I am creating an Indie
magazine and liked some of my photos to have shadows to give the
model more of a rough and mysterious appearance.
These lights were very easy to operate and change depending on what
I wanted particular photographs to look like. The lights are quite
light and therefore made it fairly easy for me to move them around
the studio if I felt like I needed to move them.
£150

4. WhiteScreen:
This white screen was an extremely
useful piece of equipment to use
during my indoor, studio
photoshoot. It meant that every
photograph I took of my model
standing in front of this screen
would have a bright, illuminated
white background. It makes the
photos look very bright,
professional and sophisticated.
Having a white background on some
of my photographs also made
removing the background of the
image a whole lot easier on
photoshop, if I wanted to have an
image placed over some text without
the background covering it.
BlackScreen:
Similarly to the white screen, the black
screen is very useful when taking indoor,
studio photographs. It means that each
image has a dark black background.It
meant that some of the photographs I took
were dark and had a moody apperance to
them which was the look I wanted to
acheive in some of the images as I am
creating an Indie magazine. It enabled my
magazine to provide a nice
variety/contrast from white background
photos and outdoor photos.
Low lighting is usually used with a black
background, and coloured gels can also be
used over the studio lighting to give a
coloured effect on top of the background.
£75
£75

5. ColourGels:
A colour gel (also known as a colour filter) is a transparent
coloured plastic material that is used to colour studio lights and
for colour correction. These colour gels are incredibly easy to use,
you just have to select which colour you wish to use and sellotape
it over the normal lighting, and then position the lights to the
desired position and angle.
I chose to use the colour gels for a few of my photographs, to allow
some form of variation within my magazine. I also thought that by
having the coloured lights on some of my photographs was quite
unusual and interesting as I had never really seen them being used
in many magazines and thought I should take advantage of this.
I used a technique called “two strobes with colour gels” this
requires you to have one on each side (vivid and rich colours.) I
added a red colour gel onto the background light. I was shooting
with a black backdrop and it looked really dull behind the rich,
colourful subject.
£15

6. AdobeInDesign:
The software is a professional page
layout application that gives you
control over design and typography.
I have been using this software to
create my magazine. It provides you
with many tools that help you to
edit and construct your magazine.
It allowed me to create pages and
place both images and text on the
page in a very professional way.
This programme is fairly easy to
use, once you understand where to
find specific tools and what to use
them for. This has been the most
important element during the
creation of my magazine.
AdobePhoto-Shop:
This is the software I used in order to
edit my photographs once they had been
taken. It allows you to manipulate them
in any way you want them to look.
I used photo-shop to touch up my images
e.g. make them brighter, more contrasted
and to remove the backgrounds.
If I needed to fix anything within a
photograph, perhaps give my model a more
‘airbrushed’ effect I can use tools such
as the patchwork or magic wand tool.
These are just a couple of the many tools
available on photo-shop. Similarly to
InDesign, it is fairly easy to use once
you understand the tools.

7. NeewerRT16WirelessFlashTrigger:
This is the device I used during my indoor, studio photo-shoot that
connects the camera in use to all of the lights so that every time
you press the button on the camera to take a single photograph the
lights flash at the correct time, resulting in the best quality
image, making them look highly professional and clean.
This is extremely important to use when taking high definition
photographs as it means that the flash lights up the image
correctly, without this small device the photographs I took would
definitely not be quite as bright or clear.
This is a very explanatory device when it comes to using it and
putting it in place, as all you really need to do is plug it in.
£12