Angel Larson Design

Tag: photography

  • Self Promo Video – Brainstorming

    -Angel Larson

    Instructions:

    As part of my portfolio for school, I am required to conceptualize, produce, edit & deliver a self-promotional video. The first stage is the pre-production. This includes research, brainstorming, storyboarding & script writing.

    Video Requirements:

    • 2-3 minutes in length
    • Must include composite video or kinetic type using After Effects as well as footage captured with a video camera.
    • Must have professional lighting & sound quality.
    • HD 1080p formatted for Vimeo/Youtube & mobile
    • Begin with rough sketches, then refine the storyboard using more detailed drawings or photos.

    Video Objectives

    1.  Promote my employable skills through video:
      • Photoshop
      • Illustrator
      • InDesign
      • Dreamweaver
      • After Effects
      • Premiere Pro
      • Bridge
      • Digital Photography
      • Photo Editing
      • Video Storyboarding, Filming, & Editing
      • Organization, Planning, & Coordinating
      • Teamwork
      • Management
    2.  Communicate my ideas visually through detailed sketches and planning.
    3.  Capture and edit a sequence of video clips to create a mood and message to the viewers.
    4.  Composite text, images & video in a visually appealing and professional way, using Adobe After Effects.

    Brainstorming Ideas

    • The main idea I have for my video is to do a timeline, showing my college/job experience from when I graduated college in 2020 to finishing the Media Design Technology Program in May 2025.
    • I will be using my transcript as a reference for the classes I have taken and which year and semester they where in.
    • I think that a timeline, “Progression Over-Time,” would be a good way to show the things I have learned over the years and how I have ended up in my current position.
    • This video will be very visual, with moving text and the backgrounds being the focus. I do want to get some royalty free background music as well to help with the feeling and mood of my video. I do not think there is a need for any talking in the video.
    • I will be using my transcript of my classes as a guide for the type that will be in my video. I will also be going through old pictures of me to get a feel for what I looked like during each year so I can try and re-create the feeling of going back in time.
    • I plan to film at Garretson High School, the USD Community College for Sioux Falls, Southeast Technical College, and North Central International to show the places I have gotten my education and experience so far.
    Storyboard Sketch Image 1
    Storyboard Sketch Image 2
    Storyboard Sketch Image 3
    Storyboard Sketch Image 4
    Storyboard Sketch Image 5

  • The Nature of Images – Appreciating Form Syntax

    -Angel Larson

    All Forms Carry Meaning

    • Prior experience and associations to the form creates meaning.
    • Shape, size, linearity, & mass tell us what a form is.
    • Pictorial images show recognizable subjects like objects, figures, and spaces

    A designer might choose to represent an idea pictorially by using photographs, illustrations, or a mix of both. Images must provide informational clarity in a way that resonates and delivers secondary and tertiary messages, associational, and branded messages.

    Empirical Pictorial Images


    Empirical pictorial images depict the characteristics of objects and scenes as they are observed in space. This type of image is usually used to help describe or explain subject matter better and to suggest that the message is grounded in real life. Photographs are the most empirical of any type of imagery.

    For example, in an ad for a photographer, you would want to use real photographs of their work. If they are a wedding photographer, showing a good photo of a wedding couple they have taken would let the viewers know that this is the type of work they do and that they know what they are doing.

    If you showed an illustrated version of a photo they have taken for a wedding, this would confuse the viewers and send mixed signals because the information of the ad and the photo doesn’t match up.

    Stylized Pictorial Images

    Recognizable to reality but add a conceptual or metaphorical overlay of meaning. For example, reality TV & animated shows. In reality TV, the scenes and imagery that are being shown are being stylized by the director to convey certain themes, context, and emotions in the viewer. The scenes are contrived and edited from real life to become a stylized version of reality.

    Animated shows take this to a whole new level by representing real life or fantasy in a completely stylized way. The characters of animated shows may look more or less realistic depending on the style of the show. This form of imagery is really good for envisioning things that are not naturally occurring. We can envision the world in a way that is very unnatural to us and would be impossible to do filming actual people.


    Reductive Pictorial Images

    Represent real-life places, people, or things in a very simplified way. This would be like graphic translations or icons where the form is very distinct and recognizable right away. For example, there is usually always a sign on bathrooms that is either a female icon, male icon, wheelchair-accessible icon, or family icon. These are very easy to identify right away because the symbols are just pictures of people, reduced to the simplest forms.

    https://www.afaqs.com/news/print/news-or-ad-colgate-palmolive-mimics-a-newspaper-for-its-visible-white-print-ad


    This ad has an image of a lady with white teeth smiling, as well as literall photos of the product and its package to help explain the message of the ad better. The image has been stylized and is no longer in its most natural form, but the toothpaste is depicted exactly as in reality and helps to bring credibilty to the ad. This also helps the viewer to know exactly what the product looks like so they can spot it better in stores. 

  • The Nature of Images – Modes of Pictorial Signification

    -Angel Larson

    Images Come in Different Modes

    The correct mode you should use depends on the kind of message you are creating and how you want the viewer to interpret it

    Icon

    Icons should be used when you want to literally represent the subject or idea in a way that will be descriptive and straightforward to the viewer. A photograph can be used as an icon if it exactly represents the subject matter.

    https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/outdoor-advertisement-service-10438338773.html

    This ad uses icons in the form of the cleaning bottles. Instead of using an actual image of cleaning products, a simplified graphic reduction is used. This helps to tell the viewer what that ad is about right away and backs up the headline, “Squeaky Clean Services.” I did think that the cleaning products do remind me the most of a laundry detergent bottle, so this might confuse the message a
    little bit.

    Indexical Sign (Index)

    Indexical signs (indexes) are visual signs that point to a signified object indirectly. For example, an image of a tree with the leaves falling might be pointing to autumn.

    Nike Marketing Strategy: Ads Tactics To Build A Timeless Brand


    This ad uses imagery of an open road as a background to help point to and signify the message about what kind of people use Nike shoes. If the image only had a runner without the background it has, the meaning and emotions of the ad wouldn’t be communicated the same. The open road background signifies that Nike is, “natural,” “rugged,” and, “adventurous.” 

    Symbol

    Symbols are used when you want the information or idea to be more open-ended for the viewer to interpret. Symbols are interpreted differently depending on the cultural, social, and historical context that the viewer may or may not be aware of. Therefore, symbols must be used carefully to achieve the desired effect on the viewer.

    https://medium.com/@eprovost7509/the-effectiveness-of-advertisement-f79203834aa6


    This ad uses a large, red, graphic swoosh to symbolize the lipstick on a social, historical, and cultural level. The large red swoosh goes with the icon photograph of the lipstick container as well as a lady wearing the lipstick to add deeper meaning and significance to the ad. To me, the large red swoosh physically represents the color and texture of the lipstick but also conveys feelings of lust, love, passion, romance, boldness, and rich velvety color. This meaning is interpreted differently by the viewer and their unique experiences and knowledge of colors, shapes, and forms.

    Supersign

    Supersigns combine icons, symbols, and/or indexes to create a more layered and complex meaning.

    https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/instant-milk-tea-poster-ads-paper-1336297562

    This ad uses a mix of icons, indexical signs, and symbols to create enhanced meaning. A photograph icon of the teacup is used to literally show what the product is. A symbol of the shape of steam is used that has an indexical image of fields with green leaves and a sunny sky in nature to connect the idea of where the tea came from with symbols of warmth, sunniness, and nature. These different forms of image representation combine into a supersign. The literal image of the teacup juxtaposed with the symbol of the feelings they want you to associate with their tea combines to create a more complex message for the viewer to decode and experience.

  • The Nature of Imagery – Overview

    -Angel Larson

    Designers can achieve their communication goals through different forms of imagery.

    • Images are symbolic and emotional in nature and can be representative of real places, people, or objects, or they can be artificially contrived and abstract.
      Images create a visceral connection to experiences described by written language, bringing more context and meaning to a composition.
    • Images can be powerful communicators on their own, but usually they are integrated with other visual elements to enhance their meaning. 
    • Pictorial images show recognizable subjects like objects, figures, and spaces.

    Empirical Pictorial Images

    -depict the characteristics of objects and scenes as they are observed in space.

    • This type of image is usually used to help describe or explain subject matter better and to suggest that the message is grounded in real life.
    • Photographs are the most empirical of any type of imagery.

    For example, in an ad for a photographer, you would want to use real photographs of their work. If they are a wedding photographer, showing a good photo of a wedding couple they have taken would let the viewers know that this is the type of work they do and that they know what they are doing. If you showed an illustrated version of a photo they have taken for a wedding, this would confuse the viewers and send mixed signals because the information of the ad and the photo doesn’t match up.

    Stylized Pictorial Images

    -recognizable to reality but add a conceptual or metaphorical overlay of meaning.

    • This form of imagery is really good for envisioning things that are not naturally occurring.
    • We can envision the world in a way that is very unnatural to us and would be impossible to do filming actual people.

    For example, reality TV & animated shows. In reality TV, the scenes and imagery that are being shown are being stylized by the director to convey certain themes, context, and emotions in the viewer. The scenes are contrived and edited from real life to become a stylized version of reality. Animated shows take this to a whole new level by representing real life or fantasy in a completely stylized way. The characters of animated shows may look more or less realistic depending on the style of the show.

    Reductive Pictorial Images

    -represent real-life places, people, or things in a very simplified way.

    • This would be like graphic translations or icons where the form is very distinct and recognizable right away.

    For example, there is usually always a sign on bathrooms that is either a female icon, male icon, wheelchair-accessible icon, or family icon. These are very easy to identify right away because the symbols are just pictures of people, reduced to the simplest forms.

    Semiology

    -the process of perception and cognition for visual understanding and describes the process of a visual signifier gathering meaning in our brains. This is also referred to as syntax to semantics and explains why different forms create and signify different visual meanings.

    • All forms carry meaning.
    • The shape, size, linearity, and mass of a perceived form tell us what the form is (syntax), while our experiences and prior understanding of these characteristics create the meaning (semantics).
    • Interplay of forms and images also creates additional meaning beyond the base syntax of the form.

    For example, round objects are usually associated with being natural because of our experience and knowledge of other round objects (sun, moon, earth, unity, cycles of nature). Square objects are usually associated with being unnatural or man-made because of our experience of other geometric shapes (architectural, artificial, intellectual, shelter, order, math).

    A designer might choose to represent an idea pictorially by using photographs, illustrations, or a mix of both.

    • Images must provide informational clarity in a way that resonates and delivers secondary and tertiary messages, associational, and branded messages.
    • Images come in different modes, and the correct mode you should use depends on the kind of message you are creating and how you want the viewer to interpret it.

    Icons

    -used when you want to literally represent the subject or idea in a way that will be descriptive and straightforward to the viewer.

    • A photograph can be used as an icon if it exactly represents the subject matter.

    Symbols

    -used when you want the information or idea to be more open-ended for the viewer to interpret.

    • Symbols are interpreted differently depending on the cultural, social, and historical context that the viewer may or may not be aware of.
    • Therefore, symbols must be used carefully to achieve the desired effect on the viewer.

    Indexical signs (indexes)

    -visual signs that point to a signified object indirectly.

    For example, an image of a tree with the leaves falling might be pointing to autumn.

  • Designing an App with Adobe XD-Part 7

    Now that you have created a style guide for your app or website, you can start to create the actual content that will be used in your app. This step combines the sketches and assets you have gained to start to bring your vision to life.

    An easy way to do this effectively is with photoshop. The layers in photoshop will show you each individual asset being used in your composition.

    1. Create a photoshop document in the size that the phone/tablet screen of your app or screen size for your website will be.
      • This will make sure that your elements are the exact size, color mode, and resolution they need to be to bring into Adobe XD for your prototype.
      • Make sure your document is in RGB mode and your elements are 72 pixels per inch.
    2. Recreate your sketches, using the elements from your style guide.
      • Recreate each page in your sketches, using text boxes, shapes, images, icons, textures, and colors to bring your ideas to life.
      • Make sure that you use guides to make sure that elements that are in the same place in more than one page are in the right spot. You can use the paste in place option to make sure that elements you copy from one page are in the same exact place in another page.
      • You will not be able to add your videos or sounds at this time but you can save those in a specific folder so that you know where they are. Make sure that all your images, videos, and sounds are made by you, royalty free from online, or properly credited to the person who made them. For things like a keyboard for mobile apps, you can just go online and find an image of the keyboard that will be used to simulate what it will look like when it pops up. There are certain icons that you will be able to get from Adobe XD UI kits, or you can make them yourself.
      • You may want to create separate documents for each page of your app or website, or create them on multiple art boards within the same document.
    3. Add all your elements to a new shared library, specifically made for your app or website.
      • This will help you access your assets easily.
      • Shared libraries in Adobe can be used across different apps.
      • Name all the elements in your library as you go so that you can easily find them later. Do not skip this step! it will help you stay more organized and save you time down the line.

    Once you have your content designed in Photoshop, you can easily import the files into Adobe XD.

  • Creating a Composition of Three Photos (Triptych)

    A triptych is a composition of three photos. The goal is too make a composition of photos that are stronger as a whole than on their own. There are guidelines to making sure that your triptych is a unified, pleasing composition.

    • Echo and rhythm between the subject and the background.
    • Make sure the side panels compliment their position.
    • Make sure the lighting is consistent between the three photos.
    • Changing the colors of the photos can help to highlight the subjects and unity of the pictures.
    • One very clear idea should connect all of the images.
    • Don’t let one image bring the rest down.
    • Keep the textures, details, and differences of the photos in mind.
    • Point the viewers’ eye back to the center.
    • Pay attention to the shapes, implied shapes, and lines.
    • Unify the colors (monochromatic, black and white, cool, or warm)
    • Use a black, white or grey background, that doesn’t distract from the photos.
    • Keep all of your images horizontal or vertical, so they will fit better in the composition.

    How to Create a Triptych in Photoshop

    1. Open a new file in Photoshop
      • Photo
      • Landscape or Portrait
      • 8″ x 10″ or 8″ x 12″
    2. Select the three images you want to use in Adobe Bridge
      • Tools
      • Photoshop
      • Load Photos into Photoshop Layers.
    3. Save under the desired name as a Photoshop file.
    4. Use the rectangle tool to make a frame where a photo will fit
      • Use a dark fill color
      • Command J (Mac) or Control J (Windows) to duplicate the square frame (do this twice)
      • Make sure the frames are equally spaced apart and within the image.
    5. Select the box where you want the first image to go
      • Use the move tool to drag the image from one document to the triptych document
      • Option click between the shape and image layer to make a clipping mask
      • Command T (Mac) or Control T (Windows) to free transform the image within the shape. This will let you edit and resize the image within the shape as well.
      • Select the shape
      • Add the layer style
      • bevel and emboss
      • bevel going down (this will make it look like the photo has been cut out)
      • Layer
      • Layer style
      • Copy
      • Paste to other shapes.
    6. Add any other effects to the images you would like (Monochromatic, Black & White, Cool Tone, Warm Tone, etc.)

    This is a triptych I created, with Jeeps being the inspiration. I went with a black background and black & white photos. If I where to redo this composition, I would have went with the photos in portrait orientation and have the background in landscape, so that the two jeeps on the sids would be pointing in towards the middle.

    These jeeps are all different colors, so thats why I made the choice to do black and white, to tie the colors together. The photos where all taken on the same day, so the lighting is similar. The colors and subjects give off a vintage feel, focusing on the appreciation for this type of vehicle. I used this as a gift for my dad because he loves jeeps.

    As you can see, the composition of the photos together is stronger than any one of the photos and could make a nice gift, advertisement, or a stronger layout to sell your photography prints.

  • High Key vs Low Key Images in Photography

    I will be explaining what high key and low key images are in photography and how to achieve the desired effect with your camera.

    In simple terms white on white is high key, while black on black is low key.

    High Key Image
    The high key image will have low contrast, a controlling white color and minimal shadows. The high key image conveys happiness, cleanness, purity, and positive emotions.

    Low Key Image
    The low key image will have high contrast, a controlling black color, very hard contour lines, and strong highlights. The low key image conveys drama, mystery, and tension.

    Capturing a High Key Image
    To create a high key or low key image on your camera, you will need to put your camera in manual mode. In manual mode, you will be able to increase or decrease your exposure so that the image is under exposed (low key) or over exposed (high key). The key is to look at your camera’s histogram (shows you the dynamic range of the photo) to make sure that the light in the photo is at the very high range of lightness or very low range of lightness, without being over exposed or under exposed.

    High Key Image with Histogram

    As you can see in the top right corner, the colors are all located on the 1/3 area closest to the right of the histogram. There is no warnings about the picture being over exposed. This image was captured outside in the daytime, with white paper for a background. I made sure to take the photo when the sun was hiding behind some clouds, so that the shadows wouldn’t be too harsh.

    Low Key Image with Histogram

    As you can see in the top right corner, the colors are all located on the 1/3 area closest to the left of the histogram. There is no warnings about the picture being under exposed. This photo was taken outside during the day, with black paper for a background. I made sure to take this photo when the sun was out, so their would be harsh shadows.

    I hope you where able to understand the differences of high key and low key photography after reading this post, and are able to shoot your own photos with these techniques!

  • Getting Into Photography

    In fall 2023, I took a digital photography class. I was not at all prepared for what this class would be like, or what I would be learning. Overall though, it was a very fun and challenging experience that I would recommend to anyone interested in photography or design.

    I am fortunate that my older sister is a professional photographer and has a backup camera that I can use. Before, she never trusted me with her camera. When I told her I was taking a digital photography class though, she was excited to let me borrow her equipment and camera. I have been using her Cannon T6i Rebel Camera, which includes a variety of lenses, multiple camera batteries, a large and small tripod, light reflectors, camera bag, sd cards, and a black & white backdrop. She did require me to get her some new lens covers and I bought a white card, along with some lens cleaners.

    Working with an expensive pieces of equipment, you must make sure to store your camera and lenses properly. The lens caps and camera cover also insure that minimal dust/debris will get into your equipment, making it last longer. It was very daunting working with this equipment at first, as you also have to make sure not to drop anything and keep it away from wetness. With the cannon, you can also turn the screen inwards when you are not using it.

    After my sister explained all the buttons on the camera to me and how to use it properly, I still had no idea how to take an ideal photo. The digital photography class was what taught me the basic skills and knowledge I needed to progress my photography skills. We first started by learning the basics about exposure, and how it is achieved through shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. It is critical to learn about these concepts as well as white balance in order to achieve different creative photo styles/effects and become a master of photography.

    Digital photography not only helps you to take beautiful and unique photos but also can help you in a manner of other design applications. These applications include, commercial photography, landscape photography, portrait photography, digital imaging, and creating unique content for videos, ads, layouts, or websites. On this blog I will be sharing the things I have learned in this digital photography class as well as other classes and context that this design and technical knowledge has become useful. Topics will include: depth of field, white balance, high key images, low key images, HDR composites, macro photography, motion blur, portrait lighting, underwater photography, sunset silhouettes, and civil twilight photography.

    Thank you to Sylvia Larson for letting me continue to use her camera and equipment. I have learned so much and photography can be so much fun! I fully intend to buy this equipment from her before I graduate, and continue to experiment more with photography for my own personal interest as well as creative projects. That you to my professor for being a great guide and influence on our learning journey as students, by providing knowledge and experiences in photography for us. At the start I really didn’t think I would be cut out for the digital photography class, but over time I have become a lot more confident in my skills and abilities.