Selection process for school magazine photos

In this picture I tried to capture an average lesson on the computer. When choosing where to take this photo I chose not to go for a clean background and instead go for a normal classroom. The reason for this background was that I didn’t like how every picture was trying to focus on the main person in other magazines, I thought I could try and make it as average as possible and show that this was a working school.

I wanted to try and have more than one person in the photo because I felt a lot of photos in the magazines I analysed only had one element in their photos, either one single person or a very simple drawing. As I hvent used a camera for quite a while, i chose to experiment with effects and techniques. I chose to not use this photo and instead try different angles and arrangements.

 

Like the photo above I tried to show an average day at school with a display board in the background.  I ended up choosing this photo for my contents page. The reason I chose this picture out of all the others taken for the magazine, was due to the content of the picture. The background was of an average school display board yet a student was hard at work on the computer. This made it slightly different to any other pictures I’ve seen in a magazine.  I tried to make it as normal as possible and not have any white background. I feel that when a white background is used it destroys the idea of the moment being created. So instead I went for a natural picture of an average student with no editing or special background.

Here is the first picture I took. Although it’s very bad quality I wanted to see what the picture would look like when in the context of my magazine. When I put it in my magazine I found it very off putting having the idea of so much going on in this particular photograph. I decided to not even try and get a good photo because the idea didn’t work at all in my magazine. The actual idea of the photo was to show an average 6^th form class as it is without any editing or clean floors (unnatural for a classroom). When taking this photo I planned to use this for my front cover. I was trying to show that our school was busy even when we’re working. I showed this by focusing on one corner of the room where there were loads of empty seats yet so many people were working at the same time. I chose not to use this idea or this photo at all due to the terrible quality of picture and the idea itself did not work for my magazine.

Here is my final picture that i have chosen for my front cover. After trying different techniques and backgrounds for the image and theme i have chosen to use this photo for its topical reasons and background.  At the time of the picture the Poppy Appeal was in action and vast amounts of poppies were being worn and sold. With this in mind i spent time taking photos out side to have this as my main artictle in the magazine. The reason for this was to link the appeal to the plants outside where it is natural for them to grow. Having the background of shrubbery and trees also brings a change to the average photo shoot background or dull surroundings. Not only will having the photo taken outside show a link to the Poppy Appeal but it will also bring a welcoming image to the school itself. Having this picture on the front cover will improve the image of the school because it would show how the school feels about charities.