Photography:
The first modern day technology I gained skills in was the photography side of my productions. Digital cameras allowed me to take multiple shots and once or any given moment. The lens quality of newer cameras has also improved for example the ability to zoom while maintaining the camera focus is now possible. When comparing this to older cameras of maybe around 10+ years ago the photographer did not have the luxury of this and had to really focus to get a good shot they could use.
Following on from this digital cameras also have various settings to automatically improve the quality such as auto brightness, flash settings and even auto focus for example. It is much more convenient and allows you to choose the best image by simply uploading the image to a computer or even just viewing it on the camera itself.
My contact sheets below are examples of me using a digital camera and how easy it was to take multiple shot in a short space of time and still come out with strong looking images that can be used.
The two software programs I used to produce my music magazine product were Photoshop and InDesign.
Photoshop
Once I had learnt my way around Photoshop which was new to me when I began my preliminary task, it allowed me to easily edit and improve my images. I could do this by changing things such as brightness, contrast, black & white effect and even cropping. Changing the image to improve it does make it look more professional and magazine worthy.
All current professional magazines do use Photoshop to manipulate their images. Typically it is to sexualise women and give them more of a perfect look. This is to ultimately make it more appealing to the potential reader.
Below is an image I used in my music magazine, you can see the image before being edited in Photoshop and afterwards which is the version I placed on my magazine page.
As you can see from above I used the cropping tool and the black and white effect, below I will display my screenshots of my performing this technique on Photoshop.
Cropping My Image
Adding a Black & White Effect
InDesign
Just like Photoshop, initially to begin with I found it difficult to use as it was the first time I had use such a software. However once I learnt how to use it and the different features it contains I found that InDesign really help me improve the layout to be more organised and not clutter my page too much giving it a professional look.
InDesign provides the user with the ability to add columns and grids to layout your text, images and conventions in a very well presented way making the production look professional and easy to read.
When using InDesign to import and export work it is very easy to use, even when moving images and full documents from one software to another for example a Photoshop images into InDesign there is no real hassle and can be done really quickly which is a fantastic feature about both InDesign and Photoshop. Not only does InDesign allow you to do this quickly, when uploading my work onto my blog for feedback again it is so quick and easy with no time delay whatsoever.
Below you can see how I set my initial InDesign page up in terms of the columns, bleed and the number of pages I actually want.
Below you can see my example showing how I used the grids and guides on InDesign.
First of all you can see how I arranged my text boxes to go down with the columns to continue with a professional looking product. This follows professional magazine conventions and helps me arrange my layout of the page a lot easier.
When placing my title the grids also came in useful as it allowed me to place it somewhere that wouldn't clutter the page, the grids helped me do this.
Overall I think InDesign is fantastic for multi media work, it is very easy to export or import work from another software and it really fast at doing it to. InDesign software allows me to complete all my work from one computer and this type of software also saves money and the digital aspect of it is endless unlike other options that are limited
Internet & Blogger
First of all for this topic I would like to talk about the Internet first. The internet especially is modern times is so powerful and fast it allows me to work so easily and productivity. On the internet it also provides you with some great tools such as prezis or allowing me to post my videos onto Youtube.
It allows me to conduct all my research for producing my music magazine which enables me to produce to best work possible.
Below is just a few screenshot examples of my work using the internet
(Prezi & Youtube Presentation)
The work I can produce using the internet really helps me improve on every aspect of my work. Now the blog...with a blog all this work I do on the internet or even if I work straight from the blog or perhaps uploading work to my blog from word or PowerPoint for example.
It can all be uploading quickly and efficiently without wasting paper and money. I can then receive feedback so much easier for both me and the person who is giving me feedback.
Overall I think the new technologies I have learnt have really helped me produce a very strong professional looking magazine. The work I produced over various multi-media software and programs has allowed me to us a range of techniques which improved my overall work.
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