Student Posts

Restoring a Family Portrait

“A Very Serious Family Portrait, Needing Restoration”, 2021 by Jazmin Jimenez, licensed under CC BY 4.0

“A Very Serious Family Portrait, Restored”, 2026 by Jazmin Jimenez, licensed under CC BY 4.0

On the left, I have a caricature portrait of my parents and me that we had done at the South Florida Fair in January 2021. I recently discovered that my mom had stored the original, physical copy, and it is now ruined. Luckily, I had a photo of it, though it isn’t perfect. This assignment was the perfect moment for me to edit it into the photo on the right. I had to crop the photo, eliminating the excess around the art piece and making it look almost as great as the original. We might not have the physical copy, but now the art is, in a way, digitally preserved for my family to keep. I also auto-edited the image to make the colors pop out better, since the picture of the portrait was taken a few phones ago, and the quality wasn’t great either. There was no need to apply the golden rule, since the aim was to create a digital archive of a damaged portrait. This was achieved by cropping out the area outside the portrait and brightening the colors that were less vibrant than the original.

February 2, 2026 by Jazmin Jimenez Spring 2026 3

Focus

Focus by Savannah Whitby CC by 4.0 Focus 2.0 by Savannah Whitby CC by 4.0

This photo was taken while shopping at Marshalls. My daughter was so locked in on what she was watching on my friend’s cell phone that she couldn’t be bothered to notice we were ready to leave. I have always liked the reflection from the mirror in this photo but felt my friend and I didn’t really need to be in photo since we are distracting from her focus. I removed us and made her more of the focal point of the photo.

Bear Hunt

Where am I?? 2023 by Oi Kwan Lui, Licensed under CC By 4.0

Peek-a-boo!! 2026 by Oi Kwan Lui, Licensed under CC By 4.0

I snapped this photo while riding the lift up the mountaintop during my 2023 trip to Tennessee. The view below was already stunning, but spotting a bear wandering through the trees made the moment unforgettable.

After cropping the image to the golden ratio, the bear appears slightly larger. I chose not to adjust the colors because every edit made the picture darker, and the bear practically disappeared into the shadows. Keeping the original preserved the clarity and the atmosphere of the scene. The warm fall foliage—deep oranges, golds, and fading greens—creates a beautiful backdrop that captures the crisp, quiet feeling of autumn in the mountains.

February 2, 2026 by Oi Kwan Lui Spring 2026 Student Posts 4

Creating Focus

“The Rush of the Day” by Christina Mumpower, licensed under CC BY 4.0

“The Tower” by Christina Mumpower, licensed under CC BY 4.0

My teenager and I decided that the coldest day of the season, January 31st, 2026, would be a fantastic day to go to DisneyWorld. I took the picture on the left at Disney’s Hollywood Studios while walking toward The Tower of Terror. The original picture has no focal point, emotional impact, and no story is being told.

I wanted to focus on creating a focal point. The tower itself was an easy selection, but I wanted to make sure it was dynamic. Instead of centering the tower, I made sure to use the rule of thirds and put it in the upper right corner. This also accomplished cropping out unnecessary details, such as the signs and stalls off to the side.

February 2, 2026 by Christina Mumpower Spring 2026 Student Posts 3

The Story of the Mural

“The Ride” by Jonathan Pupo, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Last year, my brother moved to Denton, Texas and the original photo was taken while we were exploring the city and was taken in an area that is called Denton Square. The mural caught my eye because it was the first thing you saw when exiting the Recycled Books, Records, & CDs store which moved into the historic Wright Opera House which has been there since 1900.

When cropping the original image, I aimed to emphasize the focal point of the mural by narrowing the frame onto the man and woman displayed at the center of the mural, following the rule of thirds. With the cropped image, I was able to remove unnecessary details like the cars surrounding the mural and the empty sky above it. This helped simplify the background to draw more attention to the artwork itself which is the reason I took the picture.

February 2, 2026 by Jonathan Pupo Spring 2026 Student Posts 3

The Cat Crop

Olive at the Door. ©2023. Kenneth Jones. All Rights Reserved

Olive at the Door – Cropped. ©2026. Kenneth Jones. All Rights Reserved

I actually found this post quite difficult, as I usually account for cropping before taking the image. Because of that, it was pretty hard to find one of my own photos that really needed cropping or where the crop made the new image stronger than the original. For this post, I chose this photo of my cat that I took while experimenting with black and white mode on my digital mirrorless Fujifilm camera.

In the original, the image is at a slight slant, which in my opinion adds a more interesting dynamic, similar to Gary Winogrand, who often spoke about tilting the camera slightly. However, in this case, I think it looks more like a mistake than an intentional choice. For this reason, I decided to both straighten and crop the image in a way that stays true to the original while adding a few touchups. I darkened the backdrop, reduced the highlights, and added a slight blue tone to get it as accurate as possible.

Cropping the image also adds a slight mysteriousness, turning the door into a more abstract line that divides the composition between dark and light. The crop subtly shifts the focal point while simplifying both the background and foreground. I decided to keep the copyright under my name for both versions and not license the image under Creative Commons.

February 2, 2026 by Kenneth Jones Spring 2026 Student Posts 3

Wild and Free in the Badlands

*Grazing in the Badlands*, 2022, Christy Heiple, licensed under CC BY 4.0

*Secrets of the Badlands*, 2026, Christy Heiple, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Here in the badlands, where the land is rough and open, the spirit can run wild. Unlike the flowing prairies of North Dakota, the badlands are exposed. Carved into each layer of rock is the story of wind and erosion. It carries the harsh realities of life in the West. Beauty here isn’t lush and obvious, but vast and dangerous. The land endures; time etched into the earth. The horizon stretches, the sky engulfs you, and all is quiet. Tucked away in the folds of the Badlands, the wild horses move like secrets. This is their home. It’s as if the land itself breathed them to life. Here they are wild and free.

Our family enjoys visiting the Teddy Roosevelt National Park in the heart of Medora, North Dakota. We love walking the trails and finding the wildlife. The prairie dogs and bison are easy to spot along the winding road. We keep our eyes on the hills to catch a glimpse of the wild horses. No matter how many times we spot them, we are always captivated by their presence.

I honestly love both the original and the cropped photo. The original focuses on the full landscape, but the cropped photo narrows in on the wild horses. I used the rule of thirds with the horses spanning across the photo to create movement.

January 31, 2026 by Christy Heiple Spring 2026 Student Posts 3

Between the Lines

*Patron Browsing Collection, 2026,* by Troy Mosac, licensed under CC BY 4.0

I took this photo at the West Hernando Branch Library. Every year, we have a list of photos we are required to take, one of which is of a patron browsing the collection (this is actually a staff member). The original is fine; it covers that requirement, but it does not follow the rule of thirds. Cropping the image, I aligned the subject along one of the vertical guidelines. The lines of the shelving units guide the viewer to the subject but also extend out towards the viewer. The prominence of the poster on the end cap was unintentional, but it makes for a creative promo image for Libby

January 31, 2026 by Troy Mosac Spring 2026 4

The Illusion of a Climb

*Tellus Science Museum Rock Formations*, 2019, by Kristi Mosac, licensed under CC BY 4.0

A young woman sits smiling on a large rock, framed by green trees and a bright blue sky. — *In the Clouds*, by Kristi Mosac, licensed under CC BY 4.0

The original photo, on the left, was taken at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA, in 2019. My husband and I had taken our friend Samantha, pictured, there for her birthday. Outside the museum are large rock formations, as the area lies in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. These are often used for photo spots, and we took many pictures there that day. I chose this one because I wanted to edit the image to look as though she had climbed a mountain or a large hill. The original picture was fine, with Samantha in the top third of the frame, but the parking lot in the background distracted from the focus of the image. By cropping out the parking lot and light poles, the image is once again refocused on her and the beautiful spring day. In addition, this allows the trees and the sky to frame Samantha while using the rule of thirds — placing her and the tree on the right in one-third of the image, creating the illusion that she was at the top of a climb.

January 31, 2026 by Kristi Mosac Spring 2026 Student Posts 4

I spy with my little eye….something green.

Iggy, 2025 Kelly John-Strate CC BY S.A. 4.0

This unexpected photo was taken while on a lunchbreak. I was enjoying the weather, people watching, and finding my center before going back to that day’s Broward Children’s Literature conference. Lo and behold, I spied with my little eye…something green! Hidden among the green leaves of a brilliantly colored firebush, our four legged friend is just sun-bathing. As he looks back, and almost side smiles, nature hit’s me like a ton of bricks. Smiling, and sharing this picture with my husband and kids, I walked back into the conference with a pep in my step. The yellow tint around it’s eye, the bright green hue of its scaly body, and that powerful pose, made lunchtime anything but boring. Although he was trying to stay lost in the bush, he was more obvious than he would have liked. Yes, definitely a sight to see! Adding that final touch of off-centered cropping, incorporating the rule of thirds makes seeing and believing Iggy more prominent than the original. Though the original was just as entertaining, the cropped image made him much easier to see and appreciate.

January 31, 2026 by Kelly John-Strate Spring 2026 3