Texture

I chose to take a photo of the mural at the back of the school not only because I had admired it for a while, but also because it reminds me of LGBT pride. Especially on a sunny day like when this was taken, it reminds me of June, pride month, and the pride parade itself, which is always humid and bright. For this image, I tried to make the word ‘Pride’ itself take up the whole frame and took it at an angle that included a bit of the sun behind the building to add a natural filter to the photo. The purpose of this assignment was to take photos that held texture, and I felt that this mural in particular exemplified that well. The mural itself has beautiful lines and color to it, but the canvas of the brick wall underneath the paint makes for a deeper level of texture overall. The key composition rule in this photo is the formal balance of the word, which is centered in the image, along with the sharp focus of the whole frame. The original unedited photo was accidentally taken at an angle, so that had to be fixed along with the crop in preview. I also used the clarifying tool to emphasize the brick pattern under the mural. I like to look at the picture as a cheerful advertisement for being proud of who you are in the LGBT community. The popping colors and bold letters is loud and unapologetic, just as you should be able to be about your sexuality. I am part of the LGBT community and am also the co-president of the school GSTA (Gay Straight Trans Alliance) and feel it is important to instill confidence in young members of the community so that they don’t feel as though they need to hide who they are. As a final product, I really like this photo. The lens flare is very cool and adds a natural ‘outdoors’ feel to the image. In the future, I would try to keep a level hand while taking photos or consider using a tripod to take pictures without the ‘tilt’.