Ideal Front cover

My front cover is going to challenge the normal stereotypes of a popular music magazine. The image will mainly dominate the page and I will include a close up or a mid shot of the model. I am going to do mainly studio shots using a white back drop. I will also make use of different costumes and props too. Using a plain backdrop will allow my model to be the main focus of the image which will allow it to stand out to potential readers. I also aim to make use of different camera angles and shot types to get unique images. I would like my model to have eye contact with the camera as it makes the image stand out more to readers but the model is going to do a range of poses making use of facial expression and body language.

Photoshoot photos & Behind the scenes

Photo Shoot Plan

This is my first plan for a photo shoot. The model I am using is a female so made sure i planned around that. When creating my plan I considered the location of the shot, mise en scene, hair and make up, camera angles and shot type as well  as any types of editing.

The costume for the majority of the shots will be very simplistic e.g. jeans and a jersey this is so the main focus is on the model. Also the look will be from highstreet stores such as Topshop, Zara and Urban Outfitters so the readers can relate the the model.
I also plan to use a back drop that contrasts with the models costume which will help to make it look more professional and also will help the model to stand out more

Rule of thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a guideline for photo composition.

How does the Rule of thirds work?

Picture your frame sliced into thirds. 2 vertical lines and 2 horizontal lines. This is an example of how it should look. 

The lines are the important parts in the rule of thirds. Ideally key elements of a photograph should fall along those lines or even better where 2 lines touch. The 4 spots where the lines intersect are called power points. Visually speaking if an subject is placed on these power points, the image will look very nice

How is the rule of thirds used?

There are a few ways to use the rule of thirds. Below are some examples

Place key elements in power point positions.

Examples:

Place key elements along horizontal lines. This is most often used with landscape photography. 

Examples:

Place key elements on vertical lines this is often very useful with photographing people. 

Examples:

Target audience interview

I set up an interview with my target audience to pitch to them my magazine. From the interview I got a lot of feedback. All 3 of them said it was a great idea but a pop/ chart music magazine had very developed conventions such as cluttered and very loud colour scheme. My target audience said they would like to see a magazine that challenged the stereotypes of a normal pop magazine. Another topic that came up lots was the idea of photography and how it should influence my magazine heavily, and my magazine should include images that are very fresh, modern and arty.

Also another thing that came up was the front cover conventions that should be used for my magazine. They said they would like my front cover to be very minimalistic which is the same response I got in my questionnaire. When I asked them what they didn't like about 'loud and busy' magazines they said it looks cheap and makes it seem like it's appealing to a younger market due to the  wide range of colours.

Moodboard

Music is the main focus in my mood board as I'm creating a music magazine. I have included popular artists and albums as that's what my target audience is interested. My mood board also shows the type of content that my music magazine is going include. I have included things that my target audience likes or finds themselves doing in spare time e.g. Shopping or watching TV. I have included Reading festival as a lot of my target audience goes their. I have also included popular concerts within my target audience such as Capitals Jingle Bell Ball.

Photo Shoot Planning

I plan to do I studio shot. In the example above you can see there is many variations. Some use props, some have different background colours. Also the camera angle gives different moods and feelings. to achieve the different lighting and shadows i could use lamps and the basic flash on the camera. To create different shadows i will move the model closer to the camera and also move around the lighting it may also be a good idea to create blocking of shadows by using objects.

When taking photos the things I am going to take into consideration are;

• what the shot is to include
• what type of shot it is
• angle of the shot 
• Props
• aims of the photo

Things to consider when taking a photo

This is a list of things I think is very important when taking photographs. When taking my photographs for my front cover, contents page, double page spread and full page advertisement I plan to take all the things above into consideration as well as the rule of thirds to allow me to take great photographs.