Perspective Crop

Using the Perspective Crop Tool

        This week, our task was to crop a photo of a building on campus by using the perspective crop tool in Photoshop. I took a picture of the front of the Phillips School of Business. Here is the original photo:

       Then, we were told to use the perspective crop tool in Photoshop to make the front of the building look perfectly rectangular in the frame. Here's the after picture:

Lead Photo

The Big Picture

This past weekend, I walked around campus for hours taking pictures for my "Hidden Treasures" photo story for my Mediated Communication Systems class. I tweaked my photo story idea a bit since I last posted, and to go with the changes, I think this photo would make a strong lead photo for my story:

In order to make my photo story more interesting, I've decided to make it a progression. When you first get here, you notice the big things that immediately stand out, and then you start to notice the little things. This photo of someone standing on a balcony looking out at main campus sums up what I'm going to portray in my story. She is stopping to take notice of the beautiful view and notice the big picture.

Aristotle

During class, we were told to go out and take pictures of a statue on campus in order to practice the compositional techniques that we learned. I chose to photograph the statue of Aristotle sitting on a bench, and of all the pictures I took, this one is my favorite:



 

 







Aristotle is seen as one of the greatest philosophers of all time, so I chose to shoot his face from a lower angle. As a result, this photo portrays Aristotle in a position of higher status. It showcases his wisdom. Also, the fact that the statue's dark color contrasts sharply with the white sky in the background gives the statue even more compositional weight and power than it already has. This tonal contrast also serves to balance the photo. Because the colors contrast so sharply, the lines of his profile are very defined and clear cut. This helps to clearly defined the subject and there are no distractions in the background that subtract from the impact of the statue in the photo.

Hidden Treasures

        As a freshman first starting college, there are a lot of different things to discover at my new home. These things can be grouped into two general categories: the obvious, bold things that stand out right away, and the subtle, hidden things that are just waiting to be found. My photo story will focus on these subtle hidden treasures of High Point University's extraordinarily beautiful campus. Personally, I have walked around this university many times for various reasons, whether I was trying to find my classes, hanging out with friends, or just enjoying the scenery and exploring. One thing that has particularly stood out to me during my short time here is that each time I walk across campus, I notice something to which I've never paid attention before or I see something in a new light. The way I plan to set up my story is through the eyes of a freshman walking around campus and unexpectedly noticing something beautiful about his or her new home for the first time. Eventually, these places or objects will become a source of beauty and significance for the remainder of this person's time at HPU. This story calls attention to the beauty of the unexpected moments and undiscovered places in everyday life.

       Since this is an idea that calls for a lot of anticipation of events and focuses on the unexpected, I'm going to carry my camera around with me for the next few days, and whenever I discover something new around campus, I'm going to shoot it. I'm also going to go back to the places that I've unexpectedly discovered and shoot these from new angles. For example, my first night on campus, I discovered a garden trail behind my residence hall that I hadn't previously noticed. A few nights ago by the ampitheatre, I just turned around and discovered a small trail leading to a secluded bench. These are the types of things that are just waiting to be discovered. You have to work a little harder to find them, which adds even more to their beauty.

       Because I'm portraying the beauty of the simple things that may sometimes go unnoticed on campus, I have decided to keep my working headline simple: "Hidden Treasures."

       For my lead photo, I was thinking about shooting the ampitheatre from an unexpected angle. I'm going to use the point of view of the secluded bench that I noticed a few nights ago. This way, the camera will capture the back of the ampitheatre from a location that I personally found to be a "hidden treasure" on campus that I didn't notice right away.

Intro

 

Hi! I'm Brittany and I'm excited to be in the Mediated Communication Systems class this semester. I'm particularly interested in learning how to edit film and audio in order to create final videos. I'm also looking forward to learning how to use all the different software.