Magazine Front Cover Skills Development

Magazine Front Cover

This is the picture I have decided to use for my magazine front cover.

I like this picture and have deceided to use it as it gives an edgy feel to a quite, soft pose as a result of the brick wall behind the model. The model is posing quite softly and does not give a harsh look at the camera and this is emphasised by the slightly slanted position which positions the model to the side slightly so it is not face on. 

I ensured I was not too far away from the model to take the picture, however I was a good distance away to get a nice picture and ensure that I had the appropriate amount of space around the sides and top of the model to insert headlines and subheads when I process the magazine front cover later in photoshop.

I used a slight tilt up to create a powerful effect on the model as he is the main focus of the front cover as well as the article in the magazine; also because of the genre of music that the magazines focuses on, the tilt up creates attitude on the models part and suggests that he 'means business'.

It was quite easy to control my model as he listened to what I wanted him to and he also kind of knew what I wanted from the shot anyway and just improvised which made it really easy and most of the shots worked out well.

I wanted the model to have attitude and make this come across to the audience so I tried to make the model look through his hair, giving an edgy, 'What are you looking at' sort of result; also the side position made the pose look effortless and he looks like a rock star who knows what he wants and when he wants it.

Side Lighting Blog Write Up

Side Lighting

Front lighting is lighting that is full on and comes directly from the front of the object, therefore the object is completey lit up by the source of light.

Side lighting is where the source of light is coming from just one side of the object and therefore, one side is lit up and the other is in shadow.

Side lighting can have a very drastic or dramtaic effect on a picture and can often give a suggestion of innocence of the subject of the photo, or give a complete opposite connotation of evilness, sinister or unpredictable and mysterious object.

Side lighting is very often used to create depth of the subject and creating a deeper meaning or to provide more texture to the object.

Side lighting can be used to accentuate a male models features, such as a defined jawbone for example and give a more masculine effect; whereas it can also soften a female model's feautres, softening the jaw bone and giving them a feminine output often expressing softer cheekbones, jawbones and can give an almost 'floaty' effect on the subject, it can also enhance certain features such as the detail of an eye for example.

This is my front lighting picture. It shows how the source of lighting is coming from straight ahead of where the model is facing. I like this picture however I think there should be more focus on the model as he is the main subject and therefore I think I should have zoomed up or got a bit closer to accentuate this features and give a more personal outlook of the final image.

This is my side lighting picture. The light is coming from the right hand side. It shows how the source of lighting is coming from the side and this is causing shadows on the opposite side as a result. I think I cut off the image at an awkward point and should have either got closer to the subject or moved very slightly further away as he is cut off at the elbows which looks a bit strange.

Shutter Speed Blog Write Up

Shutter Speed

A shutter speed is what is used to determine the amount of time that the shutter is open on the camera and how much light is getting into the lens when the picture is taken.

A camera's shutter speed can be used to gain focus in fast moving object that is the focus of the photo, or it can be used in the opposite way for a dramatic effect in a picture. For example this could be used in media on a car advert, if the back end of the car is blurred it can give the audience a specifc view of the cars performance and reliability or even style.

 Slow shutter speeds can give a blurred effect within the photo that is taken and on the other hand, a faster shutter speed can give a more focused shot on a paricular object, giving an 'unnaturally frozen' effect.

This photo was taken at a rather slow shutter speed, in which a longer time was allowed to pass through the process of the shutter opening and closing, meaning that the model was able to be captured for a longer period of time, allowing the above 'blurred' effect to be created throughtout the image. This gives the impression that the model is running faster than he is in reality.

This is a similar effect, however the action is the only subject which is blurred, the rest of the setting is frozen, which is the result of  a fairly quicker shutter speed.

This shot has a faster shutter speed, and therefore the image is completely frozen and all the objects are static in the image. This is as a result of the shutter opening and closing very quickly, meaning the camera only captures a very short amount of time and therefore, only a very quick amount of the object in the frame, in this case a car being driven.

I wanted to create the effect in the first, top picture, however I only wanted the model to be blurred and not the background. This effect was created as a result of a very slow shutter speed in which there was lots of time for the camera to capture a ceratin amount of movement over a certain amount of time and therefore to solve the problem and only have the subject blurred I would probably have to set the camera to a slightly faster shutter speed to allow less movement to be captured but still enough for the model to be blurred, to give the effect that he was running extremly fast. The model was also quite far away from the shot and this takes the dramatic effect away a little, to solve this I could either re-take the picture at a closer distance or zoom in slightly to capture a closer shot.

I think my overall targets for this aspect of photography would to be concentrate on and experiment with different shutter speeds and to record them accurately to evaluate the different effects on each image and how they can be adjusted with each setting.