Creative Critical Reflection Draft #4

 4. How did you integrate technologies -- software, hardware, and online -- in this project?

For my project I integrated the technologies of using a digital camera and the online editing processor, Microsoft word. The digital camera I used for my project was the Canon EOS rebel T6. This camera was extremely beneficial for producing crisp photographs of the grounds at Ringling. When I captured the photos I kept the camera in automatic setting since most of the photos I took were long shots of the scenery. However, it was also bright outside and whenever the conditions are bright, the flash on the camera shuts off. So, all the photographs I took were either in automatic or the no flash setting. The colors in the photographs that I took were very vibrant, so it wasn't necessary for me to add a filter to them, although what I did on some, was I increased the brightness a tad. 

For my online editing software, I integrated the use of Microsoft Word. I chose this editing software, because it was one I was already familiar with and I had a little bit of background on how to use it already. I also decided to use Microsoft word instead of Adobe in design because I already had the program on my computer at home, and this way I would be able to work on my project outside of the classroom as well. I've used Word for completing other assignments or writing papers, but using it to produce a magazine layout was new to me. Another online technology I incorporated was the PDF to jpeg converter. When posting images onto my blog the site only allows you to upload jpeg, however my pages were documents. So first I had to convert the document to a PDF, then search a PDF to jpeg converter, upload the file, and download the new jpeg version of my magazine pages. Along the way, I would sometimes run into difficulties with these converters. They would disrupt the fonts, change the sizing, or even scatter them all over the page. So I had to continue to search for a website that converted them the same way the original version appeared.  

Another source of technology I utilized was the website blogger.com. I used blogger to document the process of my project. This was another form of technology that I was not experienced with, although it's quite simple. However, I did sometimes have trouble with inserting my photos and being able to lay them out how I wanted. While using this technology I was able to insert photos of the development of my magazine pages, and provide images of other magazines that I researched, giving the viewer a nice visual aid.