What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?

I USED MANY DIFFERENT FORMS OF TECHNOLOGY TO COMPLETE MY COURSEWORK. IN THIS POWERPOINT I WILL DISCUSS THE SKILLS I HAVE LEARNT FROM USING DIFFERENT FORMS OF EQUIPMENT AS WELL AS ONLINE AND OFFLINE PROGRAMMES.

The Methods Of Technology I Used When Taking, Shooting And Uploading Images.

CAMERA S
I used a number of cameras to shoot images for my products. On the right are the two digital school cameras which I used; I also used my camera from home (a Nikon 5200) for some of the experimental shots.

Whilst in the experimentation stage of my product I trialled many of the different functions on each device. I already knew that the small flower icon was a macro setting, used when taking pictures of small objects and therefore this setting would be inappropriate for taking images of people.

Whilst shooting I found that when taking images of people, flash often caused redeye therefore better quality images were produced when using additional lighting. On the other hand I when I shot images at home I didnt have any additional lighting available and instead adjusted the ISO settings on my camera. This allowed for the camera to detect a higher quantity of light.

LIGHTING
Within different shots and areas I experimented/used many different light sources. This enabled me to gain a broader understanding of different types of lights, and the effects they can produce.

The strip, handheld lights on the bottom right are strong and provide a bright light source. However in some shots this was a disadvantage as there wasnt an option to adjust the strength. This was one of the positives with the handheld light on the top right as it was simple to turn the knob on the side of the light.
When using these handheld lights, it was quite easy to instruct an assistant to move the light quickly. This allowed me to experiment with different shadows and figure out the end effect and route I would take. All of the shots I took were taken during the day this allowed for a natural light source to be included within the pictures, however in none of the shots this impacted greatly and was never the main light source. I also edited the brightness of some of the pictures after uploading them. In doing so I developed even more skills. of the shots. To provide key lighting I used a large bright light known as a mini flood.

LIGHTING
The light sources on this page needed to be plugged in to a socket to function, therefore this saved battery power. The top right picture is of a typical battery charger which I used to recharge batteries, this saved the cost of buying several. The mini flood light was good when experimenting with different shots and for creating shadows. The ability to change its height and direction was also very useful. I learnt how to set this up and use it efficiently without causing a risk. I also learnt how to use the flaps on the side of the flood light efficiently to focus the light in a specific place on the models body.

Computers/PCs
Whilst in school I used a shared computer. From home I used my net book to work online through remote desktop to complete work. Remote desktop allowed me to use all of the school programmes as well as access my school documents which was useful as it kept all of my work in one place. I used a card reader to transfer pictures from my camera onto the computer which was simple to use. I learned some shortcuts whilst completing my work on a computer which made it quicker to complete writing such as ctrl B for bold text and ctrl U to underline text.

Offline Programmes

MICROSOFT WORD (2010)

I used Microsoft word to write some of my research, my double page spread copy and some of my evaluation points before uploading them to my blog. From using this device I found it easier to check my spelling than blogger due to the red underline tool available. One of the main things I learnt which I didnt already know from the programme was the readability tool. For example the Flesch reading ease of my original double page spread was 77.3. When looking online this related to a fairly easy to read/understand document. The scale which I found is also on the right.
90-100 : Very Easy 80-89 : Easy 70-79 : Fairly Easy 60-69 : Standard 50-59 : Fairly Difficult 30-49 : Difficult 0-29 : Very Confusing

Microsoft Publisher (2010)

I also used Microsoft Publisher to create the shot plans for my magazine. I found that this was simple to use as it had similar features to Microsoft Word. I used the clipboard tool often as it was suitable to add in different shapes.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP 7.0

Adobe Photoshop was the main programme I used when constructing my final products. It allowed me to overlap many different layers of images and text to fit with my needs. However it did take a long time to gain a grasp of the tools, but I had the opportunity to experiment with these in my preliminary task. All of the tools which I used in the programme were knew to me. I learned how to duplicate and edit layers, resize, rotate and edit images as well as using gridlines, slices and guides to arrange layers. Adobe Photoshop is quite an amateur software compared to other editing software's available, however it does have all of the necessary tools available. In comparison to others available Adobe Photoshop doesnt particularly include as wide of a variety of fonts as it could. The font drop down menu also doesn't give an example of what the font style will look like so I found the tool time consuming to choose a font.

Online Programmes

I ALSO USED A NUMBER OF ONLINE PROGRAMMES TO DEVELOP AND PRESENT MY WORK.

PREZI
Prezi was an alternative presentation method to a power-point presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint. This visual aid made one of my evaluation questions more lively rather than sticking to a more text-based method. To improve this Prezi and make it even more interactive I could of also included sounds. Whilst using Prezi I have learnt how to upload images onto the programme as well as use the frames and edit their order efficiently.

Flickr
Flickr is an online photo sharing site which I used for analysing other magazine pages and then my final ones. When using the site I used sets to group my work as well as adding notes. I also used the html grab feature to enter the pictures which I annotated on my blog. I learnt all of these features through the guidance of my teacher encouraging us to use the software.

iPiccy
I used iPiccy to edit some of my images as it was a simpler software than Adobe Photoshop as its sole purpose is for editing images. I used many of its features including specific face brightening techniques. The language and layout of the software was accessible allowing me to experiment easily to find a suitable effect.

Slideshare
Slideshare is an online PowerPoint presentation software which allows users to upload documents or power points to be transferred into an online slideshow. After logging in it allowed me to upload a PowerPoint to the programme and share it onto my blog. To do this I used the embedded feature.

Scribd
I am going to use Scribd to publish this PowerPoint online for another presentation method. It is very similar to Slideshare and will allow me to embed the slides onto my blog to create an easy accessible evaluation piece. Although it has a more flexible editing software rather than having to re-upload the PowerPoint.

Survey Monkey
Survey monkey was useful when trying to receive information and feedback from my target audience. It allowed me to ask a range of open and closed questions to receive the best possible feedback. When I used the online programme I learnt how to change the answer box options for each question and share the link.

Blogger
I used blogger the most out of all of the programmes and technologies that I did for my coursework, It was very useful as I could attach links to work on other online programmes, insert images, copy text onto the blog and organise my blog on different pages. I learnt how insert different medias o the compose and html views and experimented with different blog design layouts to ensure all of my work was easily accessible.