The right to unionize
Jane Barrager
Media Lab 04: Water Day Off
by Ian Burt is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Originally downloaded on 1/31/23 and edited with GIMP.
Motherhood & Childhood
Boat Ride in Tampa
The original photo is a picture I took during a boat ride in Tampa. The original picture is nice however I wanted to capture more of the ocean and sun than I did the sky. Cropping this picture changed the focal point and made me able to focus on the things that I wanted to see. I normally try not to crop images because I am always afraid I’ll accidentally get rid of something important in the background.
The Mirage
The After Photo
I found it challenging to find a suitable picture that could tell a different story when following the rule of thirds. This exercise really made me think outside of the box. I went through so many pictures but only very few that could give me what I was looking for. In the original photo seen below, the people are the focal point of the image…so is the water and the sun. Cropping the image the way I did makes the image look like there is no water for miles hence the name “Long Walk to Water.” The original could very well be two people walking on the bank of a lake. They look almost like they are from the west with the woman behind having a handbag on her shoulder. Whereas the derivative I made looks like they are in the desert.
Original Photo
Say Cheese!
Original Image
Cropped Image
The original image shows two deer being surprised by a photographer during mealtime. The expression of the deer on the left shows a pronounced expression of surprise, while the other deer looks calmer and less animated. I wanted to crop the image on the left to see if the emotion conveyed by the image changed.
The rule of thirds was applied to the second image. The image was cropped at eye level, and unnecessary details were removed to simplify the image and increase focus on the subject of the image. However, some surrounding area adjacent to the subject was still left to give more context to the image.
Interestingly, the new image tells a different story all together. Instead of the deer being surprised by the presence of the photographer or disrupted in their mealtime, the image feels more relaxed and casual. The deer appears to be enjoying some alone time, engaging in his usual activities, unfazed by the intruder.
Focus on these Mountains
During my visit to my grandmother’s house in Japan, I took a few photos of areas I missed and some of the scenery that was incredibly different from the ones I see daily in Tampa. This was the first day back home in 10 years, outside my grandmother’s house, and I was excited to see lush mountains. This was taken in a car on my way to visit shopping malls where I had hung out in my younger years. This photo was cropped to exclude the grass/moss on the ground and the large barricade separating the pavement from the river below.
Now the image looks light, happy, and clean, similar to how the mountains make us feel.
There I Fixed It
I saw this picture and I thought the focal point should be the bird. I know that the parent/guardian intended for it to be the girl holding the bird. It looks like this great wilderness picture where we all can coexist together. This little bird, maybe it’s a finch, out in the snow and cold, somehow attracted to the little girl’s hand, there’s a story there we don’t have time for. What about the bird? The bird has its own story, how did it even get there in the first place, was it by itself or with other birds, what happened after this photograph was taken? We don’t have to ask those questions if we just zoom in and assume the bird was there. The original picture was so far out so I cropped the picture, made the bird the focus, and focused the picture, I also brightened the image and centered the light more on the bird.
Into the Sunset
Did anyone else have a difficult time choosing an image for this assignment? I feel like that was the most difficult part! After much deliberation I decided on this photo. In the original the car is so far away it’s easy to overlook. The sky also shows more of a sunset or sunrise, with the blue around the edges implying a shift in time of day. The road is featured prominently in the center of the photo, with the sun off to the right.
In the crop, the car is larger and easier to take note of. The road is in line with the first vertical line of the rule of thirds grid. The sun is now almost centered in the image. All of the blue from the sky has been cropped out so the sky is a full fiery orange and yellow. This makes the image feel much warmer overall.
This derivative uncenters the main focus (the road), and it changes the mood of the photo.
Living in the moment.
There is a beauty to this world and some images can capture the magic moment to it.
While looking for a picture that resonated with me, I found “Latin Quarter” by Hernán Piñera. This picture reminded me of the magical aspects of the world such discovering or exploring a new place with someone you consider special.
When looking at “Latin Quarter” by Hernán Piñera, your eyes are pulled to the vibrant colors and lights, the reflections on the stone, and the people. I wanted to bring users to fixating on what I considered was a critical part of the image which was the couple in the bottom right which can be seen below this sentence.
The couple is what I envisioned the moment between two people were you are “the main characters”. The world revolves around you and you’re living in the moment with that special person. That’s where the magic is truly created and the moment a lot of people look forward to with their partner.
We should all strive to have that magic moment. It doesn’t matter if it’s with someone else or by yourself. You’ll know when you have it because it’ll become a memory of a moment in your life that you’ll be able to recall.
Seek the world and learn something new everyday. That’s how you’ll get those moments.