Saturday, 26 January 2013

Update - new camera settings trial for pictures in Darrien's Studio
















































Because my first pictures that I took in Darrien's studio were unsuccessful because the setting was dark and the automatic camera settings didn't complement my pictures I decided to visit during the day to try again. The daylight made the pictures I took look much better, and this was particularly beneficial when I moved down to the end of the studio where the shutters were up and more light was being let it. (All shutters can be opened for the actual pictures to let in even more light if necessary) I took these to test the daylight and new camera settings (following) even though Darrien wasn't available at the time.

Also I researched some photography techniques in my spare time to try and find ways to improve my pictures and make them look more professional, and I found a guide to photographing dance. One of the recommendations that was aimed at tackling photographing under the florescent lights of dance studios, was to never use the pop-up flash on the camera. Instead it recommended to decrease the shutter speed to let in more light. Although this may pose issues on capturing and freeze framing movement, it just means that I have to ask Darrien and the student to hold still so that the picture isn't blurry. The first picture was taken with a higher shutter speed of *** which is why it is quite dark, however the second is take with a low shutter speed of 65 and so the camera has let in much more light. However the shutter speed must not be much lower than this, as even if the dancers are still, even with a steady hand the pictures tend to come out blurry without using a tripod.

Furthermore I edited the picture on photoshop by desaturating it and changing the levels to make the picture look even more dramatic. I think that this final picture looks good, especially with the reflection fo the lights on the shiny studio floor, and I think it makes the studio and therefore the idea of working as a teacher appealing.


Friday, 25 January 2013

Monitoring End of week 3 - ups and downs

Everything that I had planned to have finished for the end of this week is more or less completed. The pictures that I took during my photo shoot on wednesday for my first and third article are all very successful, especially with the photoshop editing that I have applied to them.

I began creating InDesign pages, and although I had planned to set the margin and column guides and set up text boxes, places for the image to go, and just in general the structure of the page, I found it easier to actually create the mastheads and subheads and import even the first drafts of the articles because it gave me a better idea of size and layout. Although doing all this took more time, in the long run I believe it will save more time than setting up the InDesign pages and simply predicting where everything's going to go and how much space it will take up, only for the settings to be changed later on.

Unfortunately the photo shoot that I did of Darrien teaching was not as successful because of the dark setting, and the set up of the camera, and so has to be re-booked. I have been looking at different ways I can ensure I get better pictures and will try these out when I visit the studio on Saturday just using the empty studio first of all. If these settings are still not successful, and I don't find a way around the problems, I will instead use a simple picture of Darrien, perhaps in a relaxed sitting down pose, to accompany the article, which I will be taking in the photo shoot next Wednesday (in the QE studio) I had not planned to have Darrien come into the studio to take pictures but I came to the conclusion that it was necessary if I want to feature him on the cover, as cover pictures tend to have white backdrops to look the most successful. I had not planned this when I created my schedule, but it won't be during my media lesson so hopefully it should affect the work I had planned to do. If this shoot also falls through I plan to use one of the other pictures from my third article to go on the cover, especially as they were so successful.

Luckily this does not pose any serious problems for me because I have allowed quite a lot of contingency time in my schedule for things like this so I have time to recover, also in addition to this I am way ahead of schedule in terms of article writing. Although I hadn't planned to finish my first drafts till the middle of next week, during last weekend I finished all 3 first drafts and on tuesday had them marked, and because I had very few amendments to make other than the odd word or sentence, I had my second drafts finished during the same day, a long time before the deadline I had set myself for final  drafts. I also handed in a copy of my first article which I began in the mock-up process and amended last week, and my teacher gave me no improvements to make.

Because of this it means I have much more time to be getting on with the practical, creative side of the production in photoshopping pictures and developing InDesign pages, which I think will prove much more time consuming than the writing of the articles, and also is more probable of going wrong and needing significant time to fix.

Thursday, 24 January 2013

Photo shoot at Darrien's Studio (unsuccessful)











































































I sat in on a private lesson of Darrien's in hope of geting some pictures of him teaching. The studio was fairly dark so I set my camera to automatic in hope of getting the most out of my pictures given the setting. However I don't think that this worked to my advantage because the automatic settings made the pop-up flash come on. The flash made the background of the studio look much darker than it was and in general wasn't very complimentary to my pictures, and I want them to look as appealing as possible so that more people want to take up teaching dance. I tried adjusting them and brightening them on photoshop and turning them into black and white to add some drama to my pictures and make them look a bit more professional. Although it helped I still feel that the pictures aren't up to standards, the background setting still seems quite dark and they look fairly dull, not like pictures you would see in a magazine.

On the other hand I think that the poses and the arrangement of the pictures is effective, and I wouldn't want to change this.

As a result of this I am going to revisit during the daytime in the hope that some daylight will improve the pictures.

Photo shoot pictures - articles 1 & 3


For the second picture I decided to attempt to use the transform, stretch and warp tool to change the position of the model so that her foot was actually closer to her head. I found this quite difficult to do without distorting her leg or foot or her head and shoulders which I also stretched. But I think that the end result was successful and looked realistic.

I conducted the photo shoot for pictures for my first and third article in the QE photo shoot studio and I think it went fairly well. I organized all props and costumes well so nothing was missing, my models turned up and were very flexible in knowing how to pose and using the prompts I had planned, and I managed to get quite a variety of pictures to chose from. For some of the styles of dance that the pictures represented, I found that more than one pose was almost equally as successful, and so I have edited more than one in preparation for putting into the article, and at a later date I will choose which one depending on how it looks with the other pictures and the arrangement of the article. It is also useful to have more than one alternative because one of these may be used in the contents page to represent the content of the magazine.

Article 1 - Energy Drink picture





These are my top two pictures for my first article to accompany the section on the dangers of energy drinks. For the first picture I have adjusted the colour and I have also airbrushed the grey area surrounding it, as the paper on the floor in the studio was a little dirty and marked, so I perfected this using the clone tool and the brush tool. Although I am fairly confident using these tools it was a little difficult because of the shadows in the picture and it was difficult to airbrush out the imperfections without affecting the shadow and causing weird shapes and streaks so this took a little longer than usual.



For the second picture I have only needed to adjust the colour and the exposure of the picture because it was slightly to bright and had a bit of a yellowish hue. 
Both are good pictures, the first looks quite dramatic and shows the bottle of lucozade in a negative light because of the way it is lit with narrow lighting, which is appropriate for this section of the article, and the way it portrays energy drinks. On the other hand the shadows and greyness of the picture may clash with the bright colours in the article, or people may prefer to have a person in the picture. The second is another well taken picture in the clarity and the way it is composed. Although it isn't as dramatic and connatational as the first, this may be what is need to fit in with the appearance of the article, and it has a person in too which may be favourable.
I will have to try out both in my InDesign page, and I may need to ask my audience also for their opinion.
Article 2 - Bollywood





This is probably my favourite picture of the shoot. I like the way it is composed and I think it will look good in my article, perhaps with text wrapped down the right side of the model. I think the colours look vibrant and appealing, therefore making the style of dance appealing, and I think that the way that the model looks directly into the camera it captivating to the reader.
To edit the picture I have adjusted the exposure to make the dark parts of the picture darker and generally improve the picture's appearance. I also airbrushed the skin on the forehead, under the eyes and neck using the clone tool and brush tool. I also fixed the roots of the hair a little, and removed the hair frizz on the ponytail. and resting on the shoulder, using the same tools. I found this process fairly easy and took it in my stride. Finally the bindee on the model's forehead was slightly uneven in the original picture, and using the transform tools, rotating and warping tools I managed to move it to the centre of her forehead as it should be. Overall I was quite quick to complete the photo editing for this picture because I am confident with using the tools and it's a good original picture.

Yoga/Pilates





These are the two pictures I have to choose from which represent dance in the styles of yoga and pilates. The first picture I first adjusted the exposure and colours to make it a bit darker and to fix the yellowish tone. I also did a little airbrushing on the model's forehead using the clone and brush tool. I also used the clone and brush tool to edit away the bracelets that she was wearing that she wasn't able to remove for the shoot. This picture was fairly easy to work on.






 Cheerleading
These are the two alternatives that I have for pictures to represent cheerleading. The first is just of the pom poms and the second is with a model.  For the first I had to adjust the exposure and again I had to airbrush out the imperfections on the sheet of paper that they were laid on. I also had to airbrush out the long strands of the pom poms to make them appear tidier. I found this a little difficult again because of the shadows in the picture which were initially affected by the airbrushing and so it took a bit of time but I think that the end results are successful.

For the second I had to again airbrush out the long strands of the poms poms, and I also had to airbrush the face of the model slightly. Also I adjusted the colour a little. This was an easier picture to work on.










Ballroom/Latin












These are the 3 alternative pictures that represent both ballroom and latin.

The first again is just of the shoes by themselves. I had to edit the exposure and other levels and I also had to airbrush out the words, logo and size on the sole using the clone and brush tool because I felt it was distracting attention. Although normally I find this easy to shadows in the picture again caused a little difficulty which meant it took a bit longer to get right.

Secondly for the pictures of the model wearing the latin shoes I had to again adjust the levels, but also because the model was wearing black toe nail varnish that you could see through her tights I had to edit that out too and replace with natural looking toenails, using the brush tool carefully. I felt that this was successful but again a little time consuming because it was difficult to make look natural.

Gymnastics 



For this picture that accompanies the section on gymnastics there was very little editing to do, other than adjusting the colour to get rid of the slight yellow tone.

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Call sheet for Darrien for his photoshoot


Production Schedule: Call Sheet

Title: Dynamic

Client: Northern Echo

Staff: Model 2 – Darrien Wright

Location/Venue: Dance Wright Studio

CALL DATE: 30/01/13

CALL TIME: 10.50am


Transport: N/A


INSTRUCTIONS: Please wear normal teaching clothes but preferably a vest and joggers without any visible brands, pictures or designs on them. If possible please bring any costume that you have, if not just wear teaching clothes. Please be warmed up and able to perform tricks or dance moves if necessary. If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me on 01325352063.

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Risk Assessment - Dance Wright dance studio


Project Title: Dynamic Magazine                                                                                      
Date of shoot: 23/01/13
Location (one form per location): Dance Wright dance studio
Producer: Elizabeth Davis                                                                                                      
Course: Media Communication and Production                                                                                                           Level:

Tick all hazards that apply at this location.
o   Access
o   Animals / Insects
o   Audience / Public
o   Cables
o   Communication Failure
o   Confined Spaces +
o   Costume / Make-up
o   Derelict buildings / Dangerous structures
o   Electricity
o   Fire / Flammable material
o   First Aid
o   Food Hygiene
o   Glass +
o   Heights
o   Hostile / Remote environment
o   Machinery
o   Lighting
o   Lone working
o   Manual handling
o   Mines / excavations / quarries
o   Night operation
o   Noise
o   Radiation (phone towers, transmitters)
o   Person with special needs
o   Roads
o   Set construction
o   Slipping, tripping, falling +
o   Smoking on set
o   Stunts +
o   Vehicles
o   Weather
o   Weapons
o   Other:

Hazard Evaluation
Evaluate all the hazards ticked.

Hazard: Confined Spaces

What could cause harm?
If either of the models aren’t aware of their surroundings they could collide with the walls/mirrors. Also if they jump too high they could hit the ceiling.

What is the likelihood of this happening?
Fairly unlikely but could happen

How much harm?
Probably very minor injuries

Apply the following priorities, how will this risk be managed (provide detail)?
(1) Eliminate.            (2) Reduce or substitute         (3) Isolate.                 (4) Control.               (5) Personal protective equipment
Ensure models are aware of their surroundings; tell them to dance close to the middle away from walls and mirrors etc. Make sure they don’t jump too high to avoid coming into contact with the ceiling.

Hazard: Glass

What could cause harm?
If either of the models collided with one of the mirrors or windows they could be seriously injured

What is the likelihood of this happening?
Very unlikely

How much harm?
Potentially serious

Apply the following priorities, how will this risk be managed (provide detail)?
(1)Eliminate.             (2) Reduce or substitute         (3) Isolate.                 (4) Control.               (5) Personal protective equipment
Ensure models are aware of their surroundings; tell them to dance close to the middle away from windows and mirrors.

Hazard: Slipping, tripping, falling

What could cause harm?
Slipping, tripping or falling could harm either of the models.

What is the likelihood of this happening?
Not likely but could happen.

How much harm?
Varies from minor to major injuries, major injuries not that likely.

Apply the following priorities, how will this risk be managed (provide detail)?
(1)    Eliminate.          (2) Reduce or substitute         (3) Isolate.                 (4) Control.               (5) Personal protective equipment

Make sure that there is a first aid kit and a first aider on hand in case.

Hazard: Stunts

What could cause harm?
Not performing stunts correctly could harm either of the models.

What is the likelihood of this happening?
Not likely but could happen.

How much harm?
Varies from minor to major injuries.

Apply the following priorities, how will this risk be managed (provide detail)?
(1)    Eliminate.          (2) Reduce or substitute         (3) Isolate.                 (4) Control.               (5) Personal protective equipment

Limit the tricks performed so they’re not too dangerous, again make sure that there is a first aid kit and a first aider on hand in case.