States Visited:
Method of Travel
Reason for travel
TITLE: A Whale of a Night
PROJECT STATEMENT: My project conveys a very realistic montage of photos. There were three categories of photos in my project, sky, water, and whales. The content of my images were simple, nothing had any abstract meanings (whales=whales, sky=sky).
RESEARCH PROCESS: I used Google images to find my images best suited for my project. However when I forget started looking for images my project had a completely different focus from what the final product was. My biggest obstacle was the initial work on Photoshop because I had to teach myself as I went, eventually I found what worked best for my vision.
PRODUCTION PROCESS: At first I only had the whales, and I did not quite know where my project was going. When I realized that I could make them all face the same way I got the inspiration for the sunset, and all the whales swimming that direction. The main three tools I used were the lasso, eraser, and warp. My biggest obstacle was aligning the four images of water, and the two images of sky. I wanted it to be as fluid as possible. If I was to do my project differently I would take advantage of more tools. The aspect of my project that excites me the most is my final product. When I first started, I had very low confidence in my Photoshop ability and I thought it was going to be a disaster, but now that its over I am very proud of my work. My inspiration for the project was love for my favorite animal, and an Alaskan cruise that I went on over the summer. While on the cruise I saw so many beautiful mountains and sunsets, but I never saw what I wanted to see more then anything; killer whales. Thus, I created my vision.
Maps Work by serving Interests was a reading that helped me to better understand the mapping project. Maps are a reality beyond our reach. They are seen in so many forms, and are often about unattainable object of our imagination. Maps make up the past and future. This is an idea that I had never thought about however I find it so interesting. Over the year, so many maps will be created for the same geographic area, however it is constantly changing as we progress into the future. Maps enable our living, which is also an idea that I have not thought about much. There are so many forms of maps, and many of them help our daily lives. The example in the book is maps that point out school districts and crime rates. Every map has an author a subject and a theme. This section was very helpful when thinking about my mapping project. I created a map that was very personal to me, and that is ok because I am the author, therefor I can create my subject and theme accordingly. This reading offered insights about many aspects of maps which I has never thought about
1) I plan to walk my daily route around campus one day while wearing my Fitbit. From there I will make a map of my route and how many steps it takes me to get from one location to the next.
2) I plan to make a map of all the states which I have visited. I will make a key which will indicate how I traveled there and/or what my memory in the state was.
3) I plan to make a map of my moods in a 24 hour period.