Evaluation: Q6



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

To help me construct some things for my music magazine, I had to use a variety of technology to help put my magazine together and also make it look professional. I learnt how to use a few things, such as a Samsung Digimax S700 digital camera, to take my photos. I also used another camera called Fujifilm FinePix S3300 camera. Another thing I had to learn how to use was Adobe Photoshop CS5.

When taking my photos, I took them all in one location, which was in my house, in my living room. I wanted to keep all my photos the same, with the same white background and follow how a real magazine will take their photos, because they mostly take all their photos in the same location. To create my required effect and come out with good quality photos, I had to think about the lighting in the room, the flash on the camera, the position I placed my model and myself and also the equipments I used in order to make my photos come out professional. While I was using a Samsung Digimax S700 camera to take my photos, I found it easy to use and work with. I had no trouble with lighting because I used the available lighting in my front room, as my main light source.  On the camera I set flash as automatic, in case I needed it in some of my photos depending on the lighting in the environment.  But I also used flash in all the photos when taking them, because I was indoors. It was a good function that improved the quality of my photos. When using the Samsung Digimax S700 camera, the aperture was at f/2.8, which was a wide aperture shot, which lets in a lot of light because there was lighting in the environment. The shutter speed was 1/30 sec, which was a fast shutter speed. With a good aperture and shutter speed, my photos came out in good quality and looked professional in some ways. When using the Fujifilm FinePix S3300 camera, the aperture was at f/3.9, which was an average aperture shot and lets in some lighting, but not that much, because the lighting within the environment wasn’t that bright.  The shutter speed was also 1/30 sec. With these settings, my photos came out decent and in good quality. I focused all my photos so the model is the main thing that is in focus when taking my pictures, so I can get the best quality out of the photo as possible.

Also when taking my photos, the position of the model, the photographer, which was myself and the equipment that I used was important, because it helped me to take a good quality photo, to get the best effect. I placed my model behind my wallpaper, which was white and would be a good background for when I am taking my photos.  When taking the photos of my model I stood opposite her, around 5 steps away from each other. By standing 5 steps away from her, I was able to get good shots of her body while she was posing on the ground and also when taking a medium long shot of her, from her thighs to head. The equipment I used was a stand up fan, which blew my models hair while she was posing.  By doing this I was able to get some professional shots and quality standard shots from different angles, which gave me a variety of photos to choose from for my front cover and also double page spread. This created a good effect, because the fan blowing her hair takes away all the hair from her face, so I get a clear shot of her face and also it looked quiet professional.

Another technique I learnt from using Photoshop was, the drop shadow tool, which made my text stand out, by adding a shadow behind the text, giving it a good effect. Even though this tool wasn’t so hard to use, it was hard for me to find the size for my drop shadow, because if it was too big, it could ruin the effect of the text, making it look less professional. But finding the right size for the drop shadow, it gave me text a professional look to it, making it look more of a magazine.



Lastly a technique I also learnt and found it very useful, was the grid, which shows boxes in a grid form, which helped me when aliening my photos and text straight and equally. This gave me affect of making my article and images look professional and also realistic, because everything is straight and in the right position.  Also the guide was very useful because it helped me to find where the middle of my double page spread, so I know where I can place and structure my images and text.

I also learnt how to change my images into a JPEG file, because I found out that I needed my image to be a JPEG file before I can upload it to blogger. This technique was also useful and effective, because I was able to upload my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread to Facebook, so I can get some feedback on my magazine, without having any difficulties, with the type of file it was and also lose its good quality.