Retouching

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Photoshop Intro

Photo 1

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Photo 2

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Photo Story Proposal

In this day and age, technology is an essential part of our everyday lives. However, the current and ever-changing technology that has helped to make our lives easier has also made us unable to communicate face to face. For my photo story, I want to convey this change in communication. I want to title it something along the lines of "Addicted and Alone" and showcase how we are not only drawn away from each other because of technology, but we also are becoming increasingly reliant on it. I am planning to shoot in my dorm, Slane Student Center, and the library over the next week. Hopefully, my lead image would include 2 (or more) students, sitting together, but looking at their computers, iPods, or phones instead of each other.

Editing Photos

Photo 1: Realistic

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For this photo, I changed the contrast and vibrance, and I also added vibrancy to make it more interesting. However, the colors are still pretty natural, and thus look realistic, just a bit brighter than what a camera can capture. 

Photo 2: Stylized

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For this photo, I used a lot more saturation, and changed the vibrance and contrast levels to improve the look of the photo. In addition to that, I used the Hue/ Saturation layer to make the colors unrealistic, yet highly stylized. I also adjusted the black and white levels slightly so that you could see a few more of the statue's features. 

Composition of Photos

For this blog post, I decided to make the bronze sculpture of Atlas in front of Wrenn Hall my subject. I took a bunch of photos, and I think that I have captured the different composition techniques that were described in the Kodak article.

1: Framing.

I think that this photo demonstrates the concept of framing very well. The main subject, Atlas, is in the center, and he is framed by the leafy tree on the left, the bare tree on the right, and the lines of the globe above him. They are all pointing to him and drawing the viewer's eyes to him.

2.  Rule of Thirds

In this photo, Atlas is placed off to the side, as the rule indicates. He is not in the center, and he is not facing the viewer, thus giving the photo a sense of movement. It looks as if he is in the process of stepping of the pedestal and walking over towards Roberts Hall.

3.  Simplicity

This photo demonstrates simplicity because it is a close-up view of Atlas' face and the very bottom of the globe. The background (the blue sky) is not distracting at all, and the subject is the main focus.

4. Lines

This photo utilizes the lines found on the globe part of the sculpture to create interest in the photo. The blue sky fades into a faint blue gradually as the viewer's eyes travel down the photo. The lines are broken up by the solid continents  on the other side of the globe, which again helps to create more interest in the picture.

Statue Photos

So, here is a picture that I took of the statue behind Norton Hall. My angle is head-on, with the statue standing dead center. Because the statue is in the middle, the photo is not very interesting. There is a lot going on in the background, which also takes away from the effect that the photo has on the viewer. Though it is nice that you can see "Norton Hall" written in the background, showing the viewer who the subject is, I think that the building in the background is mostly distracting.

I think that this photo is much better than my first one. There is much less going on in the background, so immediately the viewer's eye is drawn to the statue. The sun coming in from the bottom left corner casts a shadow on the statue, making it contrast with the light blue sky and white clouds. I think that it is much more interesting than my original picture, because it (in my opinion) brings the statue to life. The viewer wants to know what he is looking at. In fact, you can barely tell it is a statue and not a live human being, thanks to the shadow and the fact that the picture was taken from behind. 

Welcome to My Blog!

Hi!

My name is Olivia, and this is the blog I'll be using for my Honors Mediated Communications Systems class this semester. I'm a Communications-Journalism major with an English minor at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, and hopefully this class will help me to learn how to use programs like Photoshop, because the only editing software I've really used up to this point is iMovie.

That's all for now!
Olivia