Photo Editing - The process and experimenting

 For the making of my magazine front cover I have found that the editing application called 'Afterlight' is one of the most effective software in order to achieve a finished look. I want my magazine front cover to look as authentic and absolute as possible and I feel that this software is brilliant because not only does it allow for various effects to be applied, but also enables me to adjust the image itself rather than place an effect on what is already there.
Some of the things that I was able to change were significant elements of the photos such as the contrast, brightness, clarity, saturation, exposure, highlights, shadows, fading, temperature, Vignette, grain and sharpening! In some cases I found that after doing all of this, there was little need for me to add an additional effect. However occasionally with the correct editing at the start and effect could make the image look complete as a template for my magazine.
Some effects that I liked were 'finn', 'russ', 'mulberry' and 'brook'.

1.) After choosing the correct image for my magazine front cover I used this photo editing software on my iPhone. I adjusted the brightness and the contrast as well as adding the Vignette effect to begin my editing process.















2.) Next I found a new and interesting effect that allows various outbursts of light and dust.

The image above portrays part of my editing process for the light addition. I learnt that the light outburst could be used anywhere on the photo and the intensity and colour of the light itself could be adjusted too, All of the different effects were numbered to make it easier to pick out the ones that I thought looked best. I liked the fact that more than one dust or light effect could be added at a time, which also made the editing process easier if I decided to use light on my image.

Here is one of the slightly edited photos that I took and edited for my magazine front cover. Here I have also increased the brightness and contrast as well as adding the Vignette effect onto the image. This image does not have an additional effect added to it. This is what the photo looked like right after I had completed the initial editing process.

Finally, here is one of my final images that made the cut for my magazine front cover. I have done not only the initial editing of the photo to make it magazine quality, but this image also has an effect placed over it. This effect is referred to as 'Eqinox'.