What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

IN ESSAY FORM


In the creation of my product I used a range of different technologies in order to produce a professional looking, well thought-out magazine.
Firstly, I did a photoshoot, using a Canon 55OD DSLR as I feel it is a camera I am most familiar with and am able to comfortably use and experiment with. The fact this camera is digital is another helpful factor as I was able to take hundreds of photos and also check over them, deleting those I did not feel content with. I was then able to transfer the photos from the camera to my computer instantly, saving a lot of time. I used this camera when taking photos of my models against a white back drop light by interfit portrait photography lighting, in order to create the right amount of light for my photographs to appear professional. Another feature of this lighting was that it had trigger lighting, this means it was in sync with my camera, and therefore every time I took a photo, the lighting would flash also. This ensured my photos looked as clear and professional as possible. For this particular shoot I used an 18-55mm 4.6 aperture lens, ensuring I could capture each image in a variety of angles and sizes. Whilst doing my shoot, I also set up another Canon camera on a tripod behind me, focused on the set. I then connected this with an interval meter. I then changed the time limit to 5 seconds, meaning every five seconds a photo would be taken of my photo shoot. This was to capture a time laps, displaying that I remained on task throughout the whole photo shoot and also works as evidence, proving that I took every photo used in my magazine. The lens of this camera was 50mm 1.8 aperture as well as using a polarised filter. This meant it would focus only on the set, blurring the background, giving the photo shoot a more skilled appearance.
Once the photos were taken, I uploaded them to my computer. After deciding which photo’s I wanted to use on my magazine, I began to edit them. For this I used a programme called Adobe Photoshop CS3. This piece of software allows users to edit, cut, change and even create images and graphics. I am quite familiar with this piece of software in an advanced manner. One key feature of Photoshop, that without would have made my magazine appear less successful, is the feature of cutting out images from their background. There are a few ways you can do this, one way being the Magic Wand Tool, allowing you to attach a line to the outline of your image and then cut it out. However, I found this cut my photos out in a rough and bumpy way, therefore decided to use Colour Range, which allows you to click on parts of the image you wish to erase and then edit to perfect using the Mask tool.
Another feature of Adobe Photoshop I used often was the Adjustment Layer option for photos, which I used to edit my photos father. In some cases, this was used to make my photos completely black and white (as shown on my last double page spread), in order to display my skills on Photoshop and also to make the photos stand out from the page more. I also used it for saturation, contrast, highlighting, shadowing, hue, exposure and many other effects for photos. This was again, to ensure my photos were of the highest quality and also to highlight parts of the photo, such as my models bright blue eyes or red lips, as both conotates seductiveness, making my magazine more appealing, drawing in the reader.
Popular sites such as Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Gettyimages have all contributed to my knowledge of music magazines also, as they have: provided me with information on particular companies; inspired me on different angles and poses my models should experiment with during the photo shoot; helped me to conclude with a particular style for my magazine; informed me on what the register of my article should be and so on. Lastly, Blogger has obviously been a huge part of the creation of my magazine, allowing me to document every stage of the production process, showing the different stages and features I considered when making my magazine.