AS Media Production: Final Skills Audit Print Production

 

Name:                           Tutor group:               Date:

 

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	yes		I used it at the very beginning of the course, I took photos of my best friend outside, and there some of the first photos I uploaded on blogger. At first I was very unconfident in manual mode but now I’m much more confident.
Shutter Speed	yes		I used it when trying to capture moving objects like my friend running and also to capture light and to make images using light. These photos are also on my blog. At first I didn’t have a clue but then I managed to capture a few images of moving light however I’m not very confident using different shutter speeds I tend to stick with the automatic one or a medium/fast speed.
Aperture control	yes		I used this feature when taking aperture shots, creating both thick and thin depths of field to draw focus to the main image. An example of me carrying out this feature is the image of a candle on my blog it shows the candle slowest to the camera in focus and a out of focus candle/flame in the background drawing attention to the main one. I’m fairly confident with this.
Continuous shoot mood	yes		I used this feature when taking photos of a model blowing bubbles and blowing bubble gum these shots kind of tell a story. I am very confident with this because it gives the opportunity to get the shot you want much easier as it take multiple so you can choose the best ones.
A tripod	yes		We used this in our aperture shots and shutter speed images. To keep the camera still for the long shutter speeds and to prevent a blurry image. I’m ok with this but if I had to choose if to use it or not id probably opt not to unless it was absolutely necessary.
External flash	yes		I used this feature during my photo shoot. I didn’t really have to be confident when using it because I didn’t have to really do anything with it, it was just there to make my images look better and allow me to capture the images I needed.
Self timer facility	no
Light meter	no
Composition grids	yes		I used a composition grid in my composition shots in order to establish rule of 3s and on deciding where my model (if I was using ones) eye level would be. I’m averagely confident with this

 

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	yes		I used this when in Photoshop to centre my text also to change the spacing between letters and sentences, it also allowed to stretch my writing if I needed to and I did but in the end decided not to have the writing stretched for my final piece just spaced out much more
Filters	yes		I used this feature when editing some of my photos, for example giving my photo a black and white effect. I am fairly confident with this.
Brushes	yes		I used this feature when making a CD front cover it allowed me to put a kind of stencil outline of a flower on my CD. I would say I’m confident on using this however I am not confident in downloading and installing the brushes.
Layers	yes		I used layers when creating my front cover as each new object has a new layer it then allowed me to overlap things if I wanted. I also used it when editing a photo to make them into a zombie or vampire as you could then add an effect to the layers so for example you could put a red spot on their eyes then use an effect on the layer of the red spot such as darken and it places it faintly behind the eyes giving them a red tinge and you could then alter how dark, bright and prominent that colouring is.
Opacity control	yes		I also used this when editing my image to make the person in the image appear to be vampire like, altering the red colouring in their eyes making it more and less visible. An example of this is on my blog it’s the vampire photo). I also used this control when adding effects like drop shadow to alter and tweak how visible it appeared.
Shape creation	yes		I used this when creating the special price circle on my front cover. I am confident using this to the point in being able to fill the shape move it add drop shadow to it and make sure it’s perfectly circular.
Brightness and contrast control	yes		Again I used this image when editing my photos especially those I made in black and white to lighten then up. I am fairly confident with this feature too.
Gradients	no
Load selection features	yes		I used this feature when loading texts and images. I am fairly confident with this.
Feathering	yes		I used this when editing my photos when adding vignetting to a photo so it blended well. I am not very confident with this feature.
Colour curves adjustment	yes		I used this feature when editing a photo to make it appear old fashioned I had to alter the gradients of the colours to give it the exact colour/tinge I needed. I am not very confident with this however if I looked back on my notes I think I would be confident using it. An example of this is on y blog.
Resolution setting control	yes		We used this feature when setting up Photoshop as the resolution may vary depending on the size or type o product you’re trying to make for example a cd cover may differ to a magazine front cover. With notes I can set up and alter this easily.
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool	yes		We used the magnetic lasso tool when selecting the teeth on the model in the photo to extent them and make them, more vampire like (into fangs). An example of this work is the vampire photo I created in Photoshop on my blog.
Cropping tool	no
Clone tool	no
Retouch tool	yes		I used the re touch feature to remove any spots the person in the image may have. It made the skin appear more flawless and idealistic. Examples of this are on my front cover, the images used in my double page spread and many photos on my blog.
Other skills

 

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
Margin and column guide creation	yes		I used this when creating and working out my margins on my front cover, it allowed me to replicate that of another magazine to the exact spacing. I was fairly confident using this.
Inserting an image ID	yes		I used this feature quite a lot in both my single and double page spreads I created, when placing my images into photo strips id made. I am very confident using this feature
Resizing images in ID	yes		Again I used this feature a lot in my double page spread when making the images I wanted fit into the photo strips id created without stretching the image or making it disproportional. I was very confident using this by the end of creating my final assessment piece.
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation	yes		I used this feature to resize my main header on my double page spread. I was confident using it.
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading	no
Text flow creation	yes		I used this feature when inserting my article onto my double page spread and making each column flow into the next. I was very confident using this.
Using transparent imagery in ID	yes		I used this feature when making a header in my first double page spread ever. However I am not very confident using this but an example of it would be the disability discrimination double page spread on my blog.
Shape/line creation In design	yes		I used this tool when making text boxes and black boxes on my double page spread. I am very confident using these and an example of this is in my blog write up of my double page spread before it was changed where there are two black filled boxes in the two top corners of the page.  Also in my final assessment piece, for the text boxes under the photo strips and what I wrote my image captions in.
Exporting to PDF from In-design	yes		I used this feature when exporting my final assessment piece and uploading it to be marked. I was fairly confident using this as we only had to follow simple instructions to export it.
Text Wrap	yes		I used text wrap a lot on my final piece as I had photo strips which over lapped one of my columns so I had to text wrap it around. I became fairly confident using this.
Other Skills Advanced text wrapping			I used this lot, but it was slightly harder than just text wrapping as I needed to create and invisible box to put next to my images to make the text flow around it instead of going behind them. Example of this is my double page spread.

 

 

 

Number of new skills achieved: 29

(compare with your initial skills assessment)