BigStockPhoto.com - Assessment One

For the first assessment I have been asked to capture a number of images and submit 4 of them to BigStockPhoto.com. We were asked to get into small groups of 3 or 4 and choose a theme to work with. After much deliberation, the other members of the group and myself decided on the theme of technology. We chose this theme because it meant that we didn't necessarily have to rely on good weather to be able to take some good photos as they could easily be taken within a household.

I took a total of 71 photographs which I could play with and make look as good as possible. I finally chose 4 photos which I altered so that they would possibly be published onto BigStockPhoto.com.

The first photograph that I chose to edit and consequently publish is shown below:

This was the original photograph that I took. I chose this photgraph because I thought that it covered a lot of the area that was possible. I also knew that I would be able to improve the quality. I was trying to get a range of different circuit boards and electrical components into one image.

To improve the quality of the image so that it might get published, I first changed the colour levels very slightly so that the colours of the image were more vibrant. I then changed the brightness and contrast. I then cropped the image so that the circuit board covered the whole visible area of the image. The disadvantage of this was that I had to remove some of the components from the original photograph. The final product is shown below:











I felt that this image was worth publishing because it definately fits the criteria of being aesthetically and technically good. The image fills the whole area which means that it could be used for many things.

When I published this to the BigStockPhoto website, I was asked to include catagories and keywords that best describe the image. The catagories I chose were - Objects -> Electronics, Computers -> Miscellaneous, Business -> Objects. The keywords that I chose were - component, components, electronics, computers, computer, electricity, motherboard, chip, computer chip, wires, wire, RAM, random access memory, circuit, circuit boards.

With the next image, I was trying to take a photograph of some of the main components, close up. I feel that this photogrph shows my success. The next photograph that I decided to edit and publish was:

As you can see from the two images, I didn't change the photograph too much. I cropped the image slightly to enhance the focus of the image and remove any unnecessary parts. I boosted the brightness and contrast to make the image more clear.

For this photo, I chose the following catagories - Objects -> Electronics, Computers -> Miscellaneous, Business -> Objects. the keywords that I chose are - component, components, electronics, computers, computer, electricity, motherboard, chip, computer chip, wires, wire, capacitor, circuit, circuit boards.
The third photograph that I chose is shown below:
















I liked this photograph because I was able to get really close to the circuit board and I was able to get most of the photograph into focus. I was aiming to make the viewer feel like they are part of the circuit board. I didn't fully achieve this as the camera had to be raised so that the circuit board covered most of the frame. To alter it, I cropped the image so that the main focus was on the main components of the board. I also needed to remove the unnecessary background of my desk. The final image is shown on the below:

For this photo, I chose the following catagories - Objects -> Electronics, Computers -> Miscellaneous, Business -> Objects. the keywords that I chose are - component, components, electronics, computers, computer, electricity, motherboard, chip, computer chip, wires, wire, circuit, circuit boards.

The fouth and final photograph that I chose is my favorite:

The original is admittidly, not very good as the image is quite dark and there is a very busy background, but I only wanted to capture a different angle of a very ordinary object such as a light bulb, and I think that I have achieved this quite well. I started to play with this image and the outcome is shown below:

I first cropped most of the original image out because it had no need to be there. I then removed the remaining background so that the image was over white. I then played with the brightness and contrast so the the lightbulb was clear and bright. I really like this photograph because it fills the whole frame, has no shadow, which makes it look like it is floating, and for these reasons it makes a very good image.

The catagories that I chose were - Objects -> Electronics, Business -> Objects, Industry -> Electronics. The keywords that I chose were - bulb, light, light bulb, screw, volts, amps, watts, electricity, electronics, idea, ideas.

All four of these photgraphs have been uploaded and accepted on BigStockPhoto.com.