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Peer Feature Story Edit

I edited Kylea's photos from her feature story on the St. George Animal Shelter. 

For this photo, I cropped it tighter on the dog's face and the hand. Then I increased the saturation to bring out the colors and make it more vibrant. I also increased the exposure and saved the shadows so that the right side of the dog's face wasn't too dark. 

 This photo was kind of overexposed, so I brought down the highlights and upped the black point. I also cropped it so that the frame was just wide enough to capture the dog and the ball being thrown. 

 This photo was a little overexposed too. I brought up the black point and took down the highlights to compensate. I increased definition too, since it was slightly out of focus. I cropped it so that the focus is more on the dog and his walker. 

 I cropped this photo so it was tighter on the action, but I still wanted to be able to see the chain-link fence. I left just enough to where I thought you'd be able to tell it was a fence and not just a smudge. I increased saturation to bring out the green in the grass and the red in the rocks. I also brought down highlights because it was a little too bright. 

 I made this photo landscape instead of portrait, so that I could keep it tighter on the cat's face. I brought down the white point and saved the shadows a little. I also increased contrast and definition.

 This was another one that was pretty overexposed. I lowered the exposure and brought up the black point to compensate. I also brought down the highlights and saved the shadows as well. I cropped it from portrait to landscape, bringing it tighter on the cats.

I cropped this photo and made it landscape as well. It was originally portrait but I wanted the shot to be closer to cats and their facilities. The original had more dead space on the bottom half of the photo. Then I increased saturation and lowered the white point. I also made the temperature warmer.

Feature Story

I met my friend Maysa at the very beginning of my freshman year at Dixie. She is the reason I joined the DSU Dance Company and one of my first friends. She's such a bright spirit, one of those people who instantly lights up a room when she walks in. I decided to do my feature story on her because I love her story of how she got to this point in her life. 

Maysa is such a beautiful dancer, you'd never guess that she didn't start dancing until she was 14. Her mom started a ballroom dancing group, and she decided she wanted to give it a try too. Now she's such a beautiful and talented ballroom dancer. Two years later, when she turned 16, she joined a hip hop group and started taking studio classes. As someone who has been dancing since the age of 4, I can't imagine starting so late and growing as she has. I'm so impressed by her talent and ability to row. Just since I've met her, I have already noticed changes and the way she improves. 

Since Dance Company is a primarily modern and ballet, along with technique classes, it was a big change for her. She's a beautiful dancer in all styles, but she still says she feel much mor comfortable doing hip hop. 

I included the raw versions of some of the best photos from my take. 

ISO 100, f/8, 1/500

I got a cool rembrandt effect on this one. 

I included some photos of Maysa when she broke out into a hip hop dance from our Dance Company Concert. You can even see from the photos how much fun she's having.
The sun went behind a cloud, so I raised the ISO.

ISO 125, f/8, 1/500

I also got some shots of Maysa just being her goofy self!

Hard News

About a week ago, there was a breach in security at Campus View Suites, the dorms on campus. It was reported that an individual was going around the dorms, trying to open doors in an effort to steal things from unlocked apartments. Apparently, many students were leaving their doors unlocked, either due to forgetfulness, laziness, or because they were under the impression that their possessions were safe. Nonetheless, several things were stolen from apartments before Campus Police apprehended the culprit.

I decided to report and illustrate this issue. While this individual was apprehended, there is absolutely no guarantee that someone else won't try the same thing. It is crucial that students remember how important it is to keep their doors locked, ensuring their safety, and the safety of their belongings. For this reason, I recreated some illustrative photos on the topic. I editorialized it by having a model in the photos, and by giving him dark clothing.

This is the original photo, which I cropped to bring the focus in tighter on the doorknob and how it is left open. I also adjusted the white point, just slightly increased the contrast and sharpness, and then took the temperature down to increase the blues, giving it a colder feel. I did this in hopes that it would give off a sense of unease. 

ISO 400, f/6.7, 1/125

For this one, I had Braiden put his hand on the handle as if he was opening the door. In darkroom I cropped it tighter on his hand and the doorknob, increased exposure, contrast, and sharpness. Then I brought down the highlights and saturation to compensate, and I increased the blues.

ISO 400, f/4.8, 1/90

I'm not sure how to rotate it back to portrait on Blogger, but this is the original photo. I cropped it to make it landscape and focused on the figure staring curiously at the door. For this one as well, I adjusted the white point, brought down the highlights, increased sharpness, and slightly increased blues. 

ISO 400, f/4, 1/60

This photo is of the automatic locking entries to the Campus View building. It locks at 6 every weekday, and 24/7 on weekends. However, in this photo, you can tell by the green light that it is unlocked, granting anyone access to the building. This one was portrait as well, but I cropped it again, bringing it tighter. I didn't do much to this one in comparison to the rest of the take, except increase contrast and blues. 

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125

The physical context of this photo essay was obviously the location of the incident, Campus View Suites. It had to take place in the same setting that the students live in and are familiar with. Although it seems like there are security measures in place such as the automatic locks and the key lock on the doorknob, the hands opening the doors clearly showed that those locks are worthless if you don't utilize them. 

The psychological context would have to rely on the viewer. When they see the figure lurking through the halls, peering curiously at the rooms, it should evoke fear in, "That could be my room." 

The bold primary colors and clean lines throughout the halls create the cultural context of a college setting. It's the fun community feel of a dorm, violated by a greedy thief making their halls unsafe. 

The social context lies in the fact that the model is of college age. This conveys that the intruder could be a peer, someone in the complex. It's not enough to just have the entries locked, students need to keep their doors locked too. 

Alaska Photos

On my trip to Juneau, Alaska over spring break, I got to see some amazing things and learn about the extensive history of the town. Apparently, bald eagles are a common sight in for the locals, while I was FREAKING OUT. I got to see about five eagles flying around the beach and perching on the old salt house. The salt house was one of many artifacts from the old mining town that was lost to a fire on Douglas Island. We took a lot of walks down Sandy Beach, which was full of remains from the mine.  

Juvenile bald eagle

Sandy Beach, Douglas

Remains of the dock and the salt house

The Treadwell cave-in where the gold mine flooded and collapsed in 1917. 

An old weathered down boat, now covered in clams and mollusks that appeared on a low-tide day.

Shooting to Illustrate

I struggled all week to come up with a topic that I could illustrate through my photography. I wanted it to be something that could be clearly conveyed, but at the same time, not too obviously. 

I decided to illustrate the topic of relationship abuse. So many people are trapped in abusive relationships and they feel like they can't speak out about it. I thought about exploring the physical side of the abuse, but instead I decided to focus more on the emotional aspect. I chose to use the Barbie doll to represent the abused person in the relationship. She lays immobile in the bed that she and her abuser share. The tape over her mouth conveys the idea that she is silenced, unable to cry out for help.  

ISO 800, f/8, 1/20

Context of the photo:

Physical- the bed she is "trapped" in, being the bed that she shares with her partner, her abuser.

Psychological- The brightness in Barbie's eyes would usually be complimented by a smile, however, her mouth is taped. Without her smile, to me, her eyes become wide and afraid. 

Cultural- We see Barbies as child's toys, which is what the abused woman has become to her partner-- a toy. 

Social- Barbies are usually depicted as "the perfect woman." She is the model of American beauty. 

Temporal- I felt that the image of her laying stiff and immobile in the bed conveyed that she has been in this relationship for a while and has gone into a numb state of acceptance. 

ISO 800, f/4.8, 1/20

I also included this close up landscape oriented photo, closing her in more, in comparison to the next photo, which has more negative space. I felt that the empty space around her portrayed that she feels very alone.  

ISO 800, f/4.8, 1/20

In-Class Natural Light Shoot

I didn't bring my camera to class today so I just shot on my iPhone. The photos actually came out pretty nice and clear, which was lent to by the great lighting outside the Holland.