Assignment I am Most Proud of

The assignment I am most proud of is my free choice image. I really like the composition of this photo as well as the vibrant colors.  The red and green are complementary which is an effective color scheme to catch a viewer's eye. I also like the simplicity of this image. The peeling red fire hydrant among a messy patch of grass with the ocean in the distance captures the essence of summer in Maine. While having total freedom in terms of subject matter can be a great thing, it can also be somewhat daunting. It can be hard to choose what subject will make a good photo. My first subjects were flowers and other plants, as I think that a lot of people gravitate towards these things because they have so much natural beauty. This assignment helped me realize that it isn't always the subject matter that has to be interesting in itself, but the way in which you photograph that subject to compose a unique image. Photographing a fire hydrant wouldn't have been my first thought, but the bright red among the green grass captured my attention as I passed by. When I got eye level to it and captured the photo from a different perspective, I realized how interesting I could make the scene. I also touched up the contrast a bit in photoshop to make this image more appealing before printing it. While the colors were bright to begin, I think this small improvement made a big difference, and I am proud of the fact that I had the incentive to do this small touch up on my own to enhance my photograph.

Memorable Experience

The most memorable experience from this semester was creating the Who am I video. I really enjoyed crafting a film which showcased photographs that I've taken in a creative way.  While creating the Who am I film helped to develop my skills working with the iMovie program, I learned about video making in general. Rather than putting together a slideshow of various pictures, I needed to incorporate creative techniques such as interesting transitions, audio affects, and short video to captivate an audience. I did not actually have to take any new photographs in the process of putting the film together, but I had to evaluate my previous photographs and decide which ones I wanted to show in order to communicate a message. While looking at photos I further explored what makes an image captivating to an audience; instead of showing a straight-on shot of the duomo in Florence, I decided to show the spectacular panorama view from above. This helped to communicate the beauty of travel and discovery more so than just pictures of various buildings would. Photos that are well composed make a viewer want to watch the video more than blurry or simple snap shots would. In order to create a strong film I had to decide which compositions were the best. I scrapped the traditional shots and used the photos which utilized techniques such as the rule of thirds, different perspective, and repeating patterns.  By assessing my previous work in such a way, I am more informed to take effective photographs in the future which utilize these creative techniques.

Who Am I

Here is a link to my Who am I video.

Culture Clash

Purpose:

To create a Clash of Cultures by creating your own Photo montage, combining images from Beijing, China and Yarmouth, Maine, USA;

To further develop your Photoshop knowledge and skills;

To create a “surreal” landscape by montaging a variety of photographs;

To know, use, and understand the Four Collage Techniques to in your Photo Montage: Juxtaposition/fragmentation, Point of View, Scale Change, Overlapping

This project was very beneficial to my understanding of photoshop techniques. I have previous experience with photoshop, but this project helped to refresh my memory with the program and also introduce me to some new skills. I was able to incorporate interesting images representing both American and Chinese culture to demonstrate these skills. I also had to think about composition; the placement of objects on the page was very important in order to create a visually appealing project. It was difficult to incorporate all fifteen pictures while still making a coherent scene. I had to push myself to think creatively in order to avoid a collage and design a surreal landscape. Instead of pasting in random images I laid a background, and then built off of the background, layering in different aspects of each culture.

Free-choice Maddie

Originally I had my eye on a jar of colorful bottle caps. I wanted to capture the vibrant colors and interesting composition of the circular objects within the old jar. As I tried to shoot the jar from different angles, I caught this flower in the background. When I took a look back at my photos after a couple of shots, I noticed the flower and decided to try and capture this as the main object while still incorporating the jar. I really like the way the jar can be seen in the foreground while the flower is the focal point. This photo has some very rich colors. The bright red of one of the bottle caps in the jar compliments the red in the flower which gives the photo a certain harmony.

Inspiring Digital Artist

Purpose: 

To become familiar with 5 accomplished digital artists;

To see what is possible in the world of digital art.

Culture Clash

Juxtaposition: Two things being placed close to each other with contrasting effect
Fragmentation: Breaking an image into smaller pieces
Point of View: Point at which you an image is shot
Scale Change: Difference in how something has changed
Overlapping: Placing one image partially on top of another image