Unsharp Mask - Desaturation - Vignetting

The unsharp mask tool allows the image to become a lot more detailed, thus making it sharper for the eye. It also makes outlines of a subject more obvious and can give the image a more cartoon-like feel. However, I did have to be careful with this tool because it's easy to over-sharpen, and if this does happen, it is obvious and can easily ruin an image.

The desaturation of an image takes the colour out of an image. Hue/saturation is generally known as a "master" channel because when adjusted, reduces the presence of all colours including green, blue and red. Without this tool, it would be very easy to have too much on a certain colour in an image which can be off-putting. By simply using the hue/saturation slider, the image will either become more colourful, or less colourful which is more or less the actual function of the tool. The effect can basically make the image more aesthetically pleasing. 

With vignetting, the border of a subject is darkened, but the strength of the darkness can depend on the user.
By darkening the edges, our eyes can be easily drawn to the main subject in the image and can create connotations such as walls closing in on the subject, or the subject feeling trapped in something. The user needs to be discreet with the tool, otherwise the dark edges can become discrete from the rest of the image. 

Heal Brush Tool

Heal brush tool

First, and image that is need of work (particualry facial work) must be opened in photoshop. After I did this I selected the heal brush tool right after a new layer was created. In order to make sure the effect creates flawless results, I ensured that my sample box had all layers selected and I had the appropriate brush selected. I then had to find a clear space on the skin and the heal brush tool copys that space which enables me to paste over other spaces on my subject. This means that imperfections on my subject can healed with the copy of the surrounding area and so once an imperfection has been brushed over with the heal tool, the imperfections can be blended with the rest of the image.

Shutter Speed Photos

Shutter speed photos

To begin, I started with fast shutter speed. A fast shutter speed allows the photographer to take multiple images of the same event that is taking place at the time, meaning that the images they take capture everything in the frame of the viewfinder, and ultimately, create an amazing picture by capturing everything in a frozen frame. However, setting the shutter speed too fast can at times can decrease the amount of light that flows through the lens (aperture), therefore making the picture darker, and less attractive. By setting my shutter speed to a 250^th of a second, I was able to capture jumping movements, and running too, without the loss of any light in my image.
The effect that a slow shutter speed can have may vary. An image taken quickly with a very fast shutter speed can mean that an inadvertently messy image might be taken by closing the shutter at the wrong time. If an image is carefully planned, then the photographer can catch every movement and every action, by again, taking into consideration the setting in which the image is being taken, how poor the lighting is, and what is being captured. With a fast shutter speed, every last detail of movement can be captured making motion blur no longer a problem. Another good use of a fast shutter speed would be to capture facial expressions which can tell the audience about what is going on and what the subject/model is feeling emotionally. A fast shutter speed means that the subject doesn’t have time to change their facial expression for the camera.

A slow shutter speed allows us to capture many frames at one time and it almost seems like the images that are taken all come together to form one. With the slower shutter speed, not everything can be captured, and motion blur can be a serious issue with this. In my images, for a moving subject, I used a fast shutter speed in order to capture everything, but for the torchlight drawings, I had a shutter speed of around 5-7 seconds which allowed me to captured a lot of the light, creating an attractive image.
For this to work, the lights have to be shut out (as seen) and the torch needs to be moved slowly which allows the camera to capture a drawing - moving the torch quickly can stop the camera from capturing the entire process.
A con of slow shutter speed can be the fact that the image needs planning before it can be taken in order to capture an effective image. On the other hand, a pro would be that so long as the images have been planned accordingly, decent effects can be shown in the image, making it look as though the image has been edited to look in certain way.

Intial Skils Audit

AS Media Production: Technical 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		N
Shutter Speed	Y		I often take pictures as hobby whenever a photo opportunity presents itself and so I have played around with the shutter speed in order to capture a picture of greater aesthetic quality.
Aperture control	Y		When doing photography, I would often choose to have only the subject of my image in focus, and so I have had to play with the aperture.
A tripod	N
External flash		N
Self timer facility	Y		When I wanted to be in a picture and nobody else available to take it, I have had to use the self timer.
Light meter		N
Composition grids		N

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
Have you ever used Photoshop ever before?	Y		I occasionally use Photoshop when editing my images.
Text control	Y
Filters	Y
Brushes		N
Layers	Y
Opacity control	Y
Shape creation		N
Brightness and contrast control	Y
Dodge/Burn		N
Clone stamp tool		N
Colour curves adjustment		N
Resolution setting control		N
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool	Y
Cropping tool	Y
Retouch tool		N

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?		N
Margin and column guide creation		N
Inserting text in ID		N
Inserting images in ID		N
Resizing images in ID		N
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation		N
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading		N
Text flow creation		N
Text effects – drop shadow		N
Drop cap insert		N
Using transparent imagery in ID		N
Shape creation In design		N
Text wrapping		N
Exporting to PDF from In-design		N