Final Skill Audit

AS Media Production: Final Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Robson Jones                                              Date:25/04/2014

Photographic Skills

Which of the following photographic features/equipment have you used on a camera before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Manual Focus features	X		I used this skill in my photoshoots, allowing me to find the focus myself rather than using an automatic focus
Shutter Speed	X		I adjusted the shutter speed, this can be seen on my blog from 01/04/14
Aperture control	X		Yes as seen on my blog
ISO Control	X		As seen on my blog
A tripod	X		Using family camera
External flash	X		I used this on my photoshoot, we used softboxes to create the external flash and allowed for better lighting on my photo.
Self timer facility		X
Light meter		X
Composition grids	X		Used for most images as a way to line up images

Photoshop Skills

Which of the following features of Photoshop have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Text control	X		Used on my front cover to add in text
Filters	X		As seen on my blog
Brushes		X
Layers	X		Used layers to put in different parts of the front cover
Opacity control		X
Shape creation	X		Created shapes to try and fill different parts of my front cover as different colours
Brightness and contrast control	X		Changed the brightness and contrast as a way to
Gradients	X
Load selection features		X
Feathering	X
Colour curves adjustment		X
Resolution setting control	X		Used when exporting front cover onto InDesign
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool	X		Used to cut out part of the image
Cropping tool	X		Used this a number of times
Clone tool		X
Retouch tool		X
Other skills	X		Burn and Dodge were used on my blog as well as on my final product for my DPS image and front cover, to make the edges more dark to allow for the rest of the pages to stand out more.

In Design Skills

Which of the following features of In Design have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Have you ever used In design ever before?	X		Can use this now at quite a high level for the creation of my DPS
Margin and column guide creation	X		Final product creation, to make sure that I ad an even space between each of my columns
Inserting an image ID	X		Can be seen on my final product, with the insertion of my main image
Resizing images in ID	X		Used in my final product when inserting my main image
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation	X		Used in the DPS of my final product
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading	X		Used for my subheader to make the text pop out of the page more
Text flow creation	X		I used this to allow my article to flow from column to column
Using transparent imagery in ID		X
Shape/line creation In design	X		I created shapes as a way to keep my article organised
Exporting to PDF from In-design	X		I used this on my final product to upload my product for the final hand in
Text Wrap	X		Wrapped the text around my quote insert
Other Skills	X		Use of Drop Caps in my final product

Number of new skills achieved: 24 from my original skills assessment I have gained 24 new skills.

Brushes

I experimented with brushes to see what i could create and this is what i came up with. I used this brush to see what i could create.

Composition Photos

we experimented with different ways of taking photos, we used an up and down tilt to try and create a different angle to take the images. These two are tilt photos, up and down, these also experiment with the eye line of the model as a way to try and change the focus of the image.

Final Product Development

This is my finished product as you can see i have used a range of skills that i have developed for example the techniques of dodge and burn which have been used around the edge of the image and then on the face of my model to try and make him really pop from the page and to try and make the reader really want to see what the magazine's about.

This is my DPS as you can see i have used techniques that i have gained in, InDesign to try and create an entertaining page that will keep the reader thoroughly interested in the story as well as the images that i have used. 

Heal Brush

i also experimented with the heal brush to see the effects that it could have on an image, taking away any imperfections in the image to try and create a more professional looking image. Some of the blemishes that were originally on the photo have now been removed so that the image looks more professional.

Blog Entry for the 25th of March

Blog Entry 2 – 25^th March 2014

Since my last entry I have gained a few more skills, these are mainly in Photoshop, I have gained the ability to be able to use Photoshop and the shapes that are provided as a basic function in it, to create boxes that are more effective than the usual just straight edged box.

I also had a change of the font that I was using on the front cover; I felt that the last font wasn’t affective at all. This font stands out a bit more and is a bit more affective as it holds color better than the previous. 

Blog Entry for the 18th of March

Blog Entry – 18^th March 2014

From this project I have gained a few skills in a range of different things. One of the things that I have gained is the ability to research information and to select the correct parts to insert into the article or to insert as sell-lines etc. I have also gained some skills in photoshop for example the creation of baseline on the front cover; I downloaded new fonts and added in images to be able to create this.

I found the use of in-design and photoshop quite difficult and made a lot of mistakes, I found myself deleting and re-doing a lot of my sections and layers to try and improve them. I found it very difficult to find a powerful enough font to use for my headline on the front cover, I had to change a lot of the fonts and download a large range to be able to pick the correct one.

I think that the title and the sub-headlines across the top look effective with the contrasting colors, it creates an aesthetically pleasing view and draws the readers eye to the title.

However I think that the full affect of the front cover will be seen when I can finally insert my images from my photo-shoot, the lighting that I will use should help even further to draw attention to the title even more.

I also need to insert more sell lines into the product, to help with drawing the eye in and creating more of a sense of intrigue into.

I attempted to carry out a photoshoot, however my model didn’t show up, which lead to the photo shoot being rescheduled to a later date to allow me to make sure that the model is available and that I can collect all of the correct props.