Another part of my job was taking photos around campus. At first, I did not really understand why I was taking these photos. I then learned how important it was to have stock imagery of the campus on deck at all times. As a graphic designer you are constantly using photographs in your work. At the Naval War College we are constantly producing retirement ceremony programs, posters for specific events happening, framing photographs for awards and more. Using the same photographs over and over gets old and boring really quickly. Throughout the semester I was tasked on multiple occasions to go out and take photographs of the campus. This included pictures of the outside and the inside. Doing this also got me familiar with the campus and made it easier to get places when I needed to.
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At first, this was challenging because I wasn't sure what to take photos of and how creative I could get. After doing this for awhile, I slowly realized that the more creative angles you get, the better the photographs come out and how useful the photographs can be when creating graphic design projects. This became something fun for me to do when there wasn't anything else going on. I was constantly looking for something new to take pictures of and new ways to portray the college. Not only were these useful for my department, but they also became great portfolio pieces. I have learned a lot about taking stock imagery and was able to perfect new techniques such as HDR photos and use all different types of lenses to create different looks. An HDR photo that I took is displayed in the first image below.
