Freestyle Academy proudly presents

Development: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Ryan Young (2015)

I am exploring the feeling of excitement when taking a risk. In my photograph, I have two main objects. They are the flame of a candle and a baby photo of myself. The meaning lies in the photo almost being burnt, as it represents a risk in itself. The meaning that I conveyed through the photo was that taking risks makes us who we are. By the metaphor of burning a baby photo, I am changing who I was, and becoming who I am. The flame represents the excitement, and the baby photo represents the risk, and transformation. I chose that particular placement to imply that the photo was going to be burnt, conveying the message of change. Additionally, I chose the candle lit lighting to add a dramatic effect. I didn't want to distract the viewer from the foreground of the shot, so I chose to go with a blank background, to once again add emphasis onto the subject matter. I went for a straightforward angle, because I wanted there to be a feeling of stability within the photograph.Through the editing process in Photoshop, I learned a lot about the pen tool. I learned that it is important to zoom in. In addition I learned that Photoshop takes patience, it's a meticulous process. I had trouble choosing a filter to enhance my image. In the end I went with the chalk and charcoal filter. I chose that filter because it added a blurry effect to the baby picture portion of the photo, which gave it more of an erased and faded feeling. I wanted my final photo to have the right tone to it, and I think I accomplished that.

The flame and the baby photo convey a feeling of uncertainty, especially with the way the photo is being held. This is an important feeling to be conveyed because, when you take a risk you are uncertain about what is going to happen in the future. The photo accentuates the message because it emphasises the past, I may have been a child in that photo, but I'm a different person than I am now, and that is because of taking risks.
Visitors 882