Look who’s back

It is a new semester. I have decided to rejoin the social media sphere (at least on a professional level) again. I am teaching online media this semester. If you would like to view my syllabus, please do. I break the semester into three parts: social media, visual communication and site creation. Feedback is always welcomed.

Also, Dave Stanton shared his syllabus with me. It is definitely worth a visit.

Creating a Panorama is easy

I absolutely love how much easier it is to create cool online informational features. I want to share with you an easy way to create a Panorama in Photoshop.

1. Set your camera on a tripod or hold it very steady and at the same height. Take pictures slightly turning in one direction. You want the photos to overlap one another. You may even want to take two pictures per shot as back up. It is best to shoot in a location that is larger, rather than a smaller location such as an office because it will be difficult to capture the entire room when standing in one location because you cannot zoom or move to fit each shot in the frame. You also want to pick a location that is even in lighting, or you can fix the photos in Photoshop.
2. Place pictures that you want to keep in a newly created folder. Place them in the order that they will turn in the room.
3. In Photoshop, go to File > Automate > Photomerge
4. In dropdown menu, select Folder, rather than File > Select Browse > Find your folder > Okay
5. Then you will export your Panorama into a player: File > Export > Zoomify
6. Select a background color > Folder (create folder) > Select quality (8-10) > Select browser size option (650X400 for larger) > Okay
7. Find your file in the location you saved it. The .html file is your panorama, but you will want to keep all of the files to incorporate the panorama into your Web page.

I have incorporated this information in a handout on my teaching page. My student, who loves photography, also provided some additional advice. He said that it is best not to shoot zoomed all the way out, but instead shoot medium shots when shooting a panorama. Also, he said not to shoot scenes with a lot of detail such as fruit stands with lots of fruit because the pictures will have difficulty stitching together. This can be fixed in Photoshop, but it will take time. Also, Mindy McAdams included some links to panoramas in a blog post.

To what extent should we embrace multimedia?

More news organizations are buying digital video cameras for their reporters asking them to gather video for their stories. I am supportive of this practice, however it is important to understand how people process visual information.

Research conducted by Mendelson and Thorson featured in the Journal of Communication argues that there are two types of learners: visualizers and verbalizers. Visualizers process information more quickly by viewing images, while verbalizers prefer to learn by reading text. In the experiment, participants read two stories: one with a photo and the same story without a photo. Their results showed that the presence of a photo hindered high verbalizer’s recall of the story, while moderate to low verbalizers were aided by the presence of the photo.

This study is interesting because newspapers are a predominantly textual medium, and thus a potentially significant portion of newspaper readers may be high verbalizers. Could newspapers be losing their loyal readers if they provide a photo or video adjacent to every text story? It would be interesting to find out whether the “typical” newspaper reader is a vebalizer and if the move online may affect the liklihood that they continue reading the publication online. Or could online news organizations package information differently, meeting the needs of both verbalizers and visualizers? Perhaps, a site could provide two separate links to a story presented in two different ways: one textual and one visual.

Using digital photos for self-presentation

There is an interesting research article in the Visual Communication journal addressing how digital photos are now used more often for capturing moments, rather than capturing memories. In the past, the camera belonged to the family, however today it is used more by individuals, especially young people. The digital photograph is now more about visually communicating experiences with friends and family. The process of sharing photos is about confirming a bond or friendship, according to the article, “Digital photography: communication, identity, memory.” For example, on Facebook, users post a collection of photos showcasing their time at a football game or dinner with friends.

I began thinking about how news organizations can use this information to reach younger people:

1. News organizations could encourage the submission of a photo album, rather one photo. One photo does not always sum up one’s experience.
2. Information outlets could send breaking news photos to mobile phones.
3. A blogger could shoot a photo of themselves at an event and tell readers of his/her plan to share his/her perspective.
4. News organizations could ask for photos from users who experienced a tragedy or newsworthy event. This could be a sidebar to many different types of stories.
5. Ask for photo submissions about what it means to be (fill in the blank). Examples include Democrat, Republican, a resident, or a member of a group.
6. One of my students suggested allowing news users to comment on photos, not just text stories.

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