9th May 2012

Today I completed my final montage. I found this an easy task I already had an idea of what I wanted to do from my visualisation diagram which I was able to follow, as I have done throughout my project. I did this using Photoshop, as this is where my edited image shad been saved. I found that this was easy to do on this programme as it was an editing programme which I could freely move the images into where I wanted. I chose a layout which was not too crowded so that all aspects of the images could be seen to keep it relevant. I think that this is appropriate as the blank are area in the skyline makes it easier for my title to stand out, however I was to improve I was use an image with a larger blank area to not over crowd the images on the side and make it look messy. I am pleased with my work and feel it had been completed to a high standard which fits the brief.

4th May 2012

This lesson I could not make much progress, due to a crash in Photoshop every time I attempted to place my montage together. When moving my title 'New York' to my background I was unable to click anything else, and had to keep restarting my computer. I lost a lot of vital time here and could not continue with my work. Next lesson I will have to keep up to speed with my work and make sure that I catch up with time lost. I am now up to placing my montage together, as all edits have been done in previous lessons.

2nd May 2012

These images where what I intended to place on the edge of my montage. I used Photoshop as it is a professional tool, which I had experience with. I decided not to use Fireworks as the quality of the final images did not seem to be as high as the use of Photoshop. I cropped all 3 of these images into a square shape of the same size to give of an original look which my montage was aiming for. I found this very easy as it is a basic tool; however the layout of Photoshop made it more difficult to find. On the school bus I increased the Hugh, saturation and lightness to enhance the dull background. I decided that as it was a bright colour I would make it stand out more. This was very easy to do as I had control over the properties with sliders, however if I had more time I would be more precise and remove the entire colour instead of just dulling it. For the statue of liberty I decided to do the opposite and increase the colour. As it was an image full of blues and greens, I decided to work on this making the colours more vibrant. By increasing the saturation I found that the colours looked less worn down and more new, giving off a positive effect. However I feel that I could have experimented playing with more than the colour green, however I did not want to lose the originality of this image. Finally after cropping the image of Times Square I decided to keep the colours as they were already bright and vibrant, and instead play on the blur. I thought that as this image was showing the busy side of New York I could blur the people, making it look busier, giving a more popular effect of the city. I found this difficult as I had to balance the blur with the quality, making sure the image was recognizable. If I was to do the blur on this image again I would chose a focus point which would still keep all quality. I added a border to all of the images using Fireworks as this was a simple tool on a simple programme, which will make the image stand out against the background image they will be placed on.

25th April 2012

Today I started editing my images for my montage. First I decided to start with my title which was going to be two images, one in the word NEW and the other in the word YORK. This would be the main focus of my montage so I made sure I not only edited the photos into the word but also the photos them self to make the best quality photo I possibly could. I found this very easy following the help given to me, and it was still a very effective technique. I think that this will work well with the rest of my montage, as it clearly is an introduction to what it is about. I think that the font I have used is simple, yet different catching the eye and will fit with the rest of my images. Next I need to make sure that these are the same size in height and fit well together to make one main title.

Airbrushing

In my opinion, I feel that airbrushing is not so bad, however people need to be aware of the fact these are not real people. Airbrushing is used to enhance peoples features, which for the magazines, increases sales, making them more appealing. Although it is a bad message that we should aim to be something we’re not, I feel that it is needed in the industry, but we need educating on it. Feeling that these images are real can give us body issues, wanting to look like an image that is impossible to achieve. People go to extreme measures such as anorexia and bulimia to be as thin as these images, and begin to hate the body they’re in. I think that school children should be educated on the reality of the images, and all airbrushed photos should be pointed out, so people know that it is not in fact real, and the magazines are not lying about their new ‘perfect’ models. I think with education it can be used professionally, and not in a way which harms others unaware of their manipulative ways.

18th April 2012

Today in CiDA my lesson was all about copyright. As my project is an image based project, I have to gather various images of my topic of New York, and source them, describing them and their properties, but also whom they belonged to and the copyright issues associated. I found the images I wanted to use on copyright free websites as well as friends of mine who have visited New York, saved them in the correct area and placed them into a table a long with all the appropriate information.

“Copyright applies to work that is recorded in some way; rights exist in items such as literary, artistic, musical and dramatic work as well as films, sound recordings and typographical arrangements. It gives the author specific rights in relation to the work, prohibits unauthorized actions, and allows the author to take legal action against instances of infringement or plagiarism. In many cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to distortions of his work.” (www.copyrightservice.co.uk)

Copyright is used to stop people taking advantage of others. Without the copyright law, other people could take work and claim it was their own, which is not fair on the creators. If someone else took work that was not their own, they could be praised and rewarded for. It can be classed as stealing, as you cannot take something that belongs to someone else, just like security codes on items in a shop; copyright stops people taking it from others. Also, if you were the one producing top quality work, and someone else took it a published it nationally, they would get the rewards, and your hard work would have gone to waste.
Therefore in my project I must make sure that I obey it as it is all based on images which I cannot collect myself. If I was not to do so it would be illegal, therefore I need to make sure I obey the law.