#com240

My personal opinion of the website is that it is nice.  Components or widgets are separated or defined differently enough for you to not confused, or make it seem cluttered.  The completely white background is currently following a trend, where everything is white with the components are being layered with box-shadowing to add emphasis.  Also helps with the coloring they chose, as it stands out well against the white.

One of the major tips this site doesn’t follow the book mentions is that buttons should change color when your cursor, to identify that it’s a button.  Now even without it, I found no trouble distinguishing what was a button or not, or even link.  I am not totally sure I agree with this tip 100% of the time.

Another major tip this book gives is that you should we weary about drop-down menus.  I think at least more recently, this tip is not useful.  I am not sure of any major website that doesn’t utilize at least one, as it majorly helps with categorizing pages and or posts.  This website has them, and I find they work well, as well as it allows them to keep the main navigation clean and free of clutter.

The other tip I really don’t agree with is that you should always include your home page in your main navigation.  Reason I disagree with this is that it’s becoming a trend to remove the home button, and just using the logo to go back to the home page or to have breadcrumbs on the pages.  Not saying to have the home page is bad, and most of the time....this tip is right.  But sometimes its just as good to not have it as it is.  Depends on the design.  This design utilizes it.  

This is our extreme close up shot. The composition of this photo is great. The lighting is great too; you can tell that the light is coming from the top left giving the chip bag a shadow. The perspective is that the chip bag is in a high place and we are beneath it. It makes it seem like the chips have power. This chip bag also has a lot of visual elements. The shapes are curved and the colors are bright. With the design principles, it has movement. The eye movement follows the words going up, as you look down. I think the picture is fine, the only thing that could have been done was getting all four corners of the bag in the shot. 

This is our close up shot. The alignment of this photo is nice because it has straight lines. The lighting could be better, and it could be cropped. What's great about this picture is that you can fit it in any grid. It also has a form of eye movement, as you follow the chips from left to right. The perspective is from someone looking straight forward. With Gestalt’s Law, I believe this photo has Law of Continuity because the eyes follow the lines and you know that there are more snacks without you even seeing them.

The shot of this man is our medium shot. We could have gotten in a little closer and the lighting could have been a little better. I think it is a little wide because we tried to fit his shoe in. Overall it is a nice picture that fits in a grid. The colors make the setting seem calm. I believe this photo has the Law of Continuity also because your eyes start from his head and follows his body down to his shoes. You don't really see his whole shoe, but you know it’s there. This also follows the movement design principle.

Photo 1: Close Shot of Bicycle 

This image was taken in natural light at a close angle. I took the picture standing up looking down at the bicycle. To me, this conveys a sense of control over the bike.

Photo 2: Medium Shot of Fell Hall

This image was also taken in natural light, but at a medium angle. I took the picture from the right side looking up at the building. I think the fact that the building is above me conveys a sense of importance, which is great because Fell Hall is where I spend most of my time.

Photo 3: Wide Shot of Quad

This image was taken outside in natural light, but at a wide angle. I am level with the shot this time, which to me, conveys that the quad is an ordinary thing I encounter everyday. It doesn’t really have power over me nore do I have power over it.

Photo 4: Extreme Close Shot of flower

This image didn’t seem to end up as an extreme close shot. The more I zoomed in the more blurry the image got. It was cloudy outside, but the lighting was still good. The pop of yellow against a dull background conveyed the sense of life and the excitement that spring brings. 

Overall, I think my partner and I could have used the rule of thirds a little better. Sometimes it’s difficult to see where you want your focal point when there isn’t a grid to help you. Also, I feel that we could have played around with the exposure settings on our phones when taking the pictures. 

Since I was a amateur photographer for about 10 minutes after my COM 240 class.

I’m lucky to have a Galaxy S6 for pretty pristine photos at face value.

1.)

ISU Bell: this one, admittedly is not too exciting and is a little too immediate but I took it to satisfy the assignment requirements

Quad Panoramic: This one is probably my favorite (despite feeling like a stalker for taking it). This one captures the rule of thirds quite nicely and the couple are wearing bright clothes which makes them stand out. Fun fact: that’s about the same distance I like to keep when my friends are displaying their PDAs

Light Post: This one was obviously my medium shot. Composition-wise, everything works nicely here but its generally not too exciting. I think working with the lighting settings in Photoshop would make it more interesting.

Flowers: This was a close up shot. The flowers have a nice hue to them which makes it stand out amongst the dirt. Once again, rule of thirds is in effect.

2.)

I think the average person would take away that this is university of some sorts as everything is planned out in a way of luscious greenery and sophisticated looking buildings.

1. In the second photo (DeGarmo Hall sign) there is emphasis with the use of the color red that makes the sign stand out. The first photo (the quad) has movement. The path goes from very wide to narrow showing movement with students walking towards the more narrow part. The third photo (closeup of flowers) has a pattern to it. There are bright colors on the outside of the flower bed and then green all throughout the middle. The visual elements of the flowers are contrasting. The photo of the quad shows the law of continuity because your eyes follow the two lines that get closer together. The extreme closeup has to do with the law of proximity because the flowers are planted close together suggesting they belong from being grouped together. Overall, the lighting of each photo has the right amount of exposure making everyone see about the same perspective.

I think I captured good design principles in good lighting. I also believe the picture of the quad shows a good example of the rule of thirds. I think I showed everyone what ISU campus life is kind of like with the spring time photos. However, I think I could have captured better photos of the medium shot and closeup. I would have liked to try using selective focus to make the photos more interesting. I would have also tried to use a high or low camera angle to make a bigger impression.

Evaluate your photos from Friday’s photo shoot. Here’s the guide:

1. Critique your photos - specifically the composition of the image, the perspective, and the lighting - using the language of design principles (including gestalt). And be honest - identify what you (or your partner) did well and what can be improved.

2. What are some meanings, or themes, that a viewer might take away from these images if they saw them without any context? And if you were to use these images (one, or a few, or even all of them) for a story or promotion about ISU, what meanings or themes do you want to convey to the viewer?