P10: Atmosphere

A Piece of Heaven

Tags: sun, clouds, rays
This is a picture I took while Sheila Blocher and I were watching her son at baseball practice. We both took very similar pictures. However after seeing how she edited her picture, I decided to use this picture for my submission for atmosphere. Bethany in my group also liked this picture much better than the one that I had settled on. This picture is very inspirational for me. I have always enjoyed watching the rays from the sun reach out from behind the clouds. I think it is one of the most amazing sights in the sky.
I took many pictures of different types of clouds and atmosphere. In fact, the one I had considered submitting separated the sky into a day and night impression of the sky. However, it did not look as amazing as this photo did to me. I cropped this picture and adjusted the saturation and contrast to achieve a majestic glow. I took this shot in several different modes. I tried landscape, auto, and the evening mode trying to see the differences it made in the pictures. The landscape mode took the brightest shot.
This picture could be used in a weather unit. We teach a cloud unit and we could take pictures similar to these to illustrate the clouds. It would be hard to plan to do based on the weather, but I could actually take my kindergarten students out to take pictures of different clouds. They could take pictures to show their understanding of the different types of clouds. We could then take the pictures and then discuss about what type of weather you see when these clouds are present. I think it would make the unit on clouds and weather more meaningful and interesting.

Article Summaries

We had to complete two article summaries. One had to deal with the privacy rights and rights of photographers and the other was about copyright issue and photography. both articles were very informative.


Article Summary of Privacy Rights and Rights of Photographers

Kantor, A. (2009). Legal rights of photographers. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://www.andrewkantor.com/useful/Legal-Rights-of-Photographers.pdf.

Andrew Kantor was a news reporter in 2005. He wrote this article based on the fact that he never knew what photographs were legal or not legal. He decided to set out on his own to discover the legal issues of taking pictures. First of all, he states, “if anyone can see it, you can shoot it” (Kantor, 2009). This means if it happens in public then it is okay to take a picture of it. This article taught me legal issues come into play in the publishing or selling the photos. Basically, you can not publish or sell photos that break privacy laws, tarnish someone’s character, or use for commercial purposes. These are all common sense type of laws to me.



Article Summary about Copyright Issue and Photography

Devon, M. (2009). Copyright infringement and web content. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://onlinepublishingresources.suite101.com/article.cfm/copyright_infringement_and_web_c ontent.

Michelle Devon (2009) stated that “once something has gone from imagination to fixed form (paper, computer, online, etc.) the law protects that work with a copyright. This is something that I was not aware of”. She talks a lot about how the social networking sites and hotlinking are changing the legal issues of copyright. As an avid Facebook member, I can see where these issues would cause concerns. There are several times that I tag people in my pictures and they tag them again for friends without my permission. From what I understand, just because it is posted in a public domain doesn’t mean that it is public domain. You have to gain permission from the author for any text or pictures used. Basically, Devon suggested playing it safe and always getting permission.

Digital Storytelling Project

We created a digital story to teach kindergarten students about community helpers. Please click on the link to view the movie.

http://stu.westga.edu/~kbowen1/7466_digitalstorytellingproject_klb

Collaborative Lesson Plan

Our collaborative lesson dealt with taking pictures to illustrate vocabulary words. The students then created a glog as a final project to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of these vocabulary words.

http://stu.westga.edu/~kbowen1/7466_clp_klb.docx

P9: Worm's Eye View

A Sunny Day

Tags: sunflower, leaves, sky, bugs
This is a picture of a sunflower that I took in a former student’s yard. He wanted me to come and take pictures of his flowers with my new camera. He thought it was funny that I was lying on the ground and chasing dragonflies and butterflies. He directed me to take many pictures and of all the pictures this was one of my favorites. It is more a bug’s eye view than a worm’s eye view.
I took many pictures of the sunflowers. I put my camera on the ground at the stalk. I took pictures from the ground at the bottom of the retaining wall and while I was lying on the ground. When the camera was on the ground next to the stalk, the only picture I could get was the leaves. So, this picture was taken while I was lying on the ground up under the plant. I sharpened the picture and increased the saturation of this picture. By making the colors brighter and the picture sharper, the sunflower seemed to be a little more interesting.
I could use this picture as part of a plant unit. In fact, I could have taken pictures of this plant in different stages of growth for a sequencing activity. My students would benefit by seeing the leaves, stalk, and flower of the plant. I could use this picture to show how plants need the sunshine and air to live. This picture would also make a great writing prompt or for a math lesson in height. The ideas seem to be endless for this picture.

P8: Creative Filter

Neon Daydreams

Tags: butterfly, neon, wings, colors
This is a picture of a butterfly that found while visiting Callaway Gardens. Sheila Blocher and I went to visit the gardens on our hunt for some interesting pictures. I took. many pictures of butterflies and almost passed out due to the humidity at the Butterfly Center. The original picture of this butterfly was not very colorful. So, I decided to play with the filters to try and find one that added more color
After spending many hours at Sheila’s house working on college work, I think we stumbled upon some very creative filters. Sheila first discovered this filter and I was very pleased how it made my butterfly look. I also enjoyed using the polarized filter. After applying this filter, I played with the saturation and contrast to achieve the colors for the butterfly.
My students would love this picture. We could use this picture in the discussion of life cycles of insects. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle takes the children through the metamorphosis of a butterfly. I could use this picture and have children try to create their own through paint or chalk. If I had the time I could take different butterfly pictures and work with children one on one to create their own picture in Photoshop. Just a few ideas that I could implement.

P7: Reflection

Over the Edge

Tags: feet, water, dock, reflection
This is a picture of my children and some of their friends. Their father is a member of a hunting club and he took us there to take pictures. This was a dock located on the lake. Our children were sitting on the very narrow walkway leading to the dock. They were actually lying down on the walkway to capture this picture.
This was a tough picture to capture. I tried this shot from many angles. My first impression was to take it from the bank. However, the reflection of the dock was more prevalent than the feet. So, I decided to go to the walkway. However, the walkway was so narrow that I had to take it at an angle. In fact the children needed to lie down so I captured only their feet. They also had several imperfections on their legs, so I had to use the replacement tool to touch up the picture. After posting my colored picture, my group members suggested that I turn this into a black and white photo and I agreed. Overall, I was very satisfied with the final product.
I could use this picture in the discussion of families and in a math lesson talking about pairs. I could call upon my students’ inference skills and ask them who, what, where, how, and why questions about the picture. They could them write stories based on the recorded responses to these questions. I could also this picture and picture like this one to teach about pairs. I could capture several pictures with pairs and the students could identify how many pairs that they see in the picture. It is amazing what I could do with this picture.