Digital Photo Story

For this assignment we were told to use simple photos to tell a story. I used the images to describe a typical morning for me. I opened all of the images into Photoshop and added a grey tint to them to make them all look similar. I then inserted them all into Powerpoint. I chose a simple grey background with a white circle in the center to draw emphasis towards the middle of the slide. I used Wordart to insert one word descriptions of each activity. Unfortunately the effects added to the slides is not shown on Blogger. However, I added effects that went along with the images. For example, I made the toothbrush move up and down to look like it was brushing teeth and I drew a path for the car to drive across the slide. I am very pleased with my final product, I just wish the effects were visible on the blog.

Hue and Saturation

Original

The purpose of this exercise was to experiment with Hue and Saturation to see how each affects an image. Above is my original image. This is a picture of my younger brother, Colby. As you can see he is wearing a red shirt and a red sweatshirt. The background appears to be a road. First, I opened the image in Photoshop. Then, I adjusted the hue to +81. This caused the road in the background to change to a greenish-blue, Colby's hair to a shade of green, and his jacket and lips to a neon green. This image is shown below.

Hue

After reverting back to the original image, I adjusted the saturation to +67. This caused the sun hitting the left side of Colby's face to become brighter and everything else in the image appears more vibrant. The image showing this is below.

Saturation

It is interesting to see how hue and saturation can affect an image. Krause defines hue as "another name for color" and saturation as "the purity of a hue" (p. 209). This idea is shown in my images. Adjusting the hue caused my image to turn green and adjusting the saturation caused the colors in my image to become more vibrant.

Color Echo

"One of the best ways to create a palettee that will complemenet the image is to borrow colors directly from the image itself."-Krause (p. 218)

This assignment was to find an image online and create a poster using colors from the image. First, I opened my image, a bowl of fruit, in Photoshop. I used the magnetic lasso tool to trace along the edge of the bowl. I then inversed the selection and deleted the background. Then, I used the eye dropper tool to select a color from one of the apples. I used the paintbucket tool to apply the chosen color to the background. I, once again, used the eyedropper tool to pick out a color from one of the pears. I used this color to create a rectangle across the bottom of the canvas. I also applied a outer glow effect to the image of the bowl of fruit and chose another color from the pears for this glow. Finally, I chose a darker shade from an apple and created a text box and wrote "Eat Fruit!". I added an inner shadow effect to the text to make it stand out. My completed image is featured below. I am pleased with the finished product. The glow of the bowl and the inner shadow applied to the text really adds something to the piece and places emphasis on these two components.

Finished Product

Legibility and Text Safe Areas

This concept focuses on combing text with images. Krause discusses the importance of making sure the text is readable. I chose an image of a field with the sun rising and flower petals floating. I then opened the image in Photoshop. First, I used the eye dropper tool to pick a green color from the grass in my image. Then, using the text tool I wrote "Happy Spring!", in the chosen color, across the image. I added a bevel and emboss effect to my text to make it stand out. My image is featured below.

Image 1

I then decided to add a thin rectangle behind my text to further help it pop. I chose a pink from the petals using the eye dropper tool and made my rectangle this color. Then, I made the rectangle transparent to soften the effect. I think this image is more appealing to the eye because it looks less busy. The emphasis is clearly on the text and the petals do not interfere with the letters as they so in the first.

Image 2

Second Life Prims

Second Life Image

In class we made Second Life accounts and experimented in the virtual world. One class we each created our own prims. I chose to create a cylinder. I adjusted the dimensions to my liking. I then chose to add a texture. In the fabrics folder I found a zebra print patter. I applied this to my cylinder and then added a purple overlay (JMU pride!). Then I duplicated the cylinder. I edited this new cylinder by adding a water texture to it. I thought this was a really cool effect because it is aesthetically pleasing and interesting because the cylinder is transparent like water.