The first step to creating my magazines final pieces was creating a shoot to which I will receive images that will help me create my magazine. Therefore, I decided how I wanted my shoot to be done; I wanted to create photos that fitted my magazines genre greatly. After doing so much research on magazines pages that are of the same genre as my magazine it allowed me to create images that i believed would fit in with my magazine and help me create meaning when it came to making the final drafts for my front cover, contents page and double page spread.
Once I had taken my images for my magazine I chose only a few to take further and edit in ways which I thought would make the images better for the magazine. I only chose a few as I had taken so many photos therefore I picked my top 3 for each page that I would be making in my magazine.
I decided to choose this as a 2nd possible image that I could use for my front cover that I would edit. I chose this image as I believed the pose and orientation of the photo would fit perfectly to if I was to create a front cover out of it. I believed the pose was fun and would fit well with my magazine as it could even possibly challenge certain stereotypes within the Hip-Hop genre however it could reinforce others. Therefore I again wanted to edit the photo simply therefore when opening it onto Photoshop I simply changed the brightness of the image as this then made the background purely white which then made the image more professional and the colouring much better and it not only affected the background but it too emphasised on the cover model making the image much more interesting and pop more too. Once I had finished making a few slight changes to the image I decided I really liked this photo and its outcome , however I a not sure if this photo would look best as a front cover image or a double page spread and maybe even a contents page image as I believe this photo would look great as either.
Overall when it came to my front cover I wanted my images to be a white background, I wanted to keep the images for my front cover simple therefore with this image I simply brightened the image, this then emphasised on the image and I knew if I was to use this image it would look much better being brighter when it came to adding all the conventions of a magazine onto the image. However even though I do like this image very much I believe it is not presenting the right image that a Hip-Hop/RnB magazine as the cover model stance and mode of address is not the stereotyped hostile way.
I decided to take this photo further and to edit it as I believed the cover models stance and vibe in the photo would fit the front cover perfectly. As in the photo he is giving a hostile mode of address which majority of Hip-Hop magazines do, he is also showing off his jewellery in the photos (which is what I had intended) which may then reinforce a certain lifestyle to the readers alike most Hip-Hop magazines. Therefore, to take this photo further I kept it simple, firstly I made the image brighter as this would make the background completely white, as the original photo did not look as professional with a grey background. Once I had changed the brightness I also changed the contrast of the image to make it brighter and more appealing as it emphasised on every aspect of the image it would then make the image look good once I decided to add the conventions and text that would need to be applied. Lastly I changed the exposure of the image as it again created a more professional vibe to the image. I liked the finished result of my image as I believe it would look great as the front cover image as it fits perfectly with the genre of my magazine and most definitely creates meaning.
ShanaeBrooks 