I never expected that, by the end of this semester, I would have an entire gallery full of images that I had taken. Even if I didn’t take the images for this class specifically, I was able to learn how to create stories out of these images into something cohesive with a narrative. These microcontent assignments started off as something I just did for a grade and turned into me wanting to learn how to create something unique.
The first image assignment tasked us with creating a story out of 5 images. I struggled with what I wanted to do, but the answer turned out to be relatively simple. The solution came to me while doing something as simple as sitting outside with my dog. This was the first instance of this class teaching me how to think outside the box, turning something mundane into something with a narrative.
Our second assignment pulled me back to high school. I had never been super into photography, but when I worked on the yearbook staff, it was vital that we learn how to take effective images. I remembered things like leading lines, space to move, aspect ratio, etc. This started as a refresher, and turned into practice with techniques that I had forgotten. I enjoyed looking out in nature and finding things that fit the criteria of a ‘good’ photo.
Our Sense of Place project had a lot of moving parts, but one of the biggest parts was the curated gallery. This aspect taught me that I have to choose carefully when creating content. During this project, I took nearly 200 photos as I explored Adamson Square, and I had to trim it down to 40-50 images. This forced me to think carefully about the story I was wanting to tell and choose images that worked accordingly to that vision. It helped me to realize that sometimes thinking inside the box is necessary to create a cohesive story.
The video story we created was a bit similar to our first assignment. However, this one was more in-depth, utilizing text and music rather than just images. I decided to show my journey throw Ruby Falls in this story, showcasing how things are very often hidden where we don’t expect it. This project was pretty fun, and I enjoyed putting the video together.
Our black and white project was probably my favorite of out microcontent assignments. It also forced me to really think. Not every picture is suited for black and white. Certain values within the image itself are required for a good black and white photo. I enjoyed getting to craft the different images for this project.
The final two microcontent assignments allowed us choose our own themes. I decided to do images from my trip to Chattanooga and my trip to Venice, Florida. While this assignment did give me creative liberty, I still had to carefully choose images that employed the techniques that we’d learned throughout the semester
Overall, this class taught me a lot about images and photography that I was not expecting to learn. Even though I’m certainly not a professional photography by any means, I learned how to utilize professional techniques. My photography is now more creative and pleasing to look at.
