A Social World

As I continually apply for 100+ summer internships, I realized I found myself applying for Public Relations and Social Media summer internship positions due to my experience as Public Relations officer of my sorority. But then I realized, aren’t we pretty much all extensively experienced with social media at this point?

Now I’m questioning, when did we all start to focus our actions around what we are able to post on Facebook or Instagram? A couple weeks ago, I overheard my roommate say, “I’m not going go out with y’all, but I’m getting ready so I can take pictures with you and have something to ‘Insta’.”

I rolled my eyes, and went back to scrolling through the various social media platforms.

I feel as if people lead a different life on social media. They only showcase the most positive, most attractive times of their lives that happened to be captured on an iPhone. But then you see the pictures girls love to take, the ones where they pose but try to make it look like they are candidly laughing with their BFF. We all know what you did there.

I think this society is consumed by its phones, tablets, and computers. They would never showcase the low times, and I think social media has become more revolved around branding oneself. Companies use all social media to sell their brand. They hire young millennials to run their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and make sure they post the most aesthetically pleasing picture that will attract their target audience.

Don’t get me wrong though, I would take a PR internship in a heartbeat if they were willing to pay me.

Multimedia Project

This week, I began my project documenting “That Godzilla Guy.”

Sean McGuinness is visual design artist that creates art with Godzilla. He photographs one of his 400+ Godzilla figurines and then uploads and manipulates the image in Photoshop.

He has created art that spans the areas of propaganda and parodies of art classics like Starry Night.

He is very passionate about his work, and loves to share the story of Godzilla. He attends conventions and is constantly changing his projects. He does his art on the side of his job at Palmetto Health Printing Department, but he dedicates many, many hours to his art, as it gives him an outlet and some extra money on the side.

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Studio Portraits

Yesterday, I used the SJMC’s studio for the first time. It was an experience.

It was interesting to work with studio lighting for portraits. I felt very professional. It was nice to have multiple people in the studio with me, because I realized how convenient it is to have an assistant.

I realized that I really like the different moods you can get from just a few small lighting adjustments.

This following photo is use of broad light, which makes the photo look more commercial.

This is the use of short light. As you can see, it adds a much more dramatic feel to the mood of the photo.

I like how to photos with short light came out more, but I do know that certain lighting would be better for certain feels and aims that you go for, depending on the project.

Inspiration

Recently, I have felt a lack of creative inspiration.

Usually I think of an idea once I am presented with a new task, I try it out, then I make revisions based on what doesn’t work. Lately, I haven’t even been able to start the process without a push from the deadline.

I typically look through Pinterest, but I stumbled upon an article by a blogger, listing places she gets her inspiration from. She listed Yale- Graphic Design Tumblr.

I was scrolling through and found some really cool, retro looking graphics, which I tend to be drawn to.

I really like the look of vintage graphics. It makes it look like old techniques were used, but I can see how much more work it is to get that vintage look.

I will definitely be using this website more often for inspiration.

Capturing Kappas

As the Public Relations chairman of Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity, I have to maintain a good digital presence of the entire sorority, made up by over 300 girls.

I try to do this by endorsing positive social media posts. I tend to screenshot a lot of pictures that the girls post and then I will repost them, but recently, I use my camera to capture the moments during an event or particular day.

The other night, we had a philanthropy event, which was a spin off of Lip Sync Battle. We called in Kappa’s Lip Sync Battle. The proceeds went to our national philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental.

I wanted to make sure that the night was documented, and the participants could see that their time and effort was appreciated. I knew it wouldn’t be a great idea to record the entire event, since it was two hours long, and nobody would want to rematch the whole thing. So I decided to record the individual acts and compile them into a quick Instagram video post. The only problem was fitting 2 hours of an event into 12 seconds.

I was able to tag the Instagram accounts of the participating groups, and the Instagram post has almost 500 views right now! Watch the video below!

Marco Rubio Rally

On Monday night, I went to the Marco Rubio rally in Gilbert, South Carolina at Harmon’s Tree Farm. It was a very new experience for me, as I’ve never attended a political rally.

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I ran into a few obstacles while photographing the event. The event was extremely crowded and nobody could move very much. This made it very hard to get names of the subjects of the photos. Once the event ended, everyone pushed out the doors, and I could only get a few names. On top of that, because of the crowd, I only had a short range of view. And considering my height, I was even more of a bind.

The lighting was also a little bit tricky. I used on camera strobe almost the entire event, but sometimes, the photo was over lit. I had to take multiple exposures in order to have a wide variety of composition within the photos.

Overall, my experience was positive. It was my first time with a press pass, and that made me feel very official.

European Architectural Style

I think I’ve made a theme to my blog: my European experience.

Considering I could speak on the topic for hours, maybe I chose the right path. I miss my European travels and way of life. Almost everything there was easier, more fascinating, more historic, and all-together more aesthetically pleasing.

I noticed the old cobblestone streets the most, probably because I tended to trip over them on a daily basis. There was something about the enticing look that each street had. It looked as if each old cottage or building was simply dropped into place out of thin air with no practical decision. Obviously, there was planning that went into it, but the dissembled look constantly drew my attention.

The color scheme was dull. A lot of browns, as well as off-white complimented with a mohagany color or black. This was a beautiful sight against the changing foliage in the fall.

The Canterbury Cathedral is the first church of England, but it still baffles me how the architects and artists could feasibly create such a beautifully ornate building over 1,000 years ago. The attention to detail and ornate features definitely epitomizes the old English (and other parts of Europe) style.

All of these stylistic features have definitely shaped my style now. I not only dress in a more sophisticated and monochrome manner, all of my design works and photographs tends to follow a monochromatic theme. I have found myself switching my preference from modern, simplistic design to more ornate and repetitive, like the arcades of Canterbury Cathedral.

No Endings, Just New Beginnings

I spent my last semester studying abroad in Canterbury, England.

Canterbury can, in my opinion, be referred to as the epitome of a quaint English town. Drunken pubs line the cobblestone streets, vendors of all sorts gather every Saturday to sell their mulled wine and hand-carved, wooden Christmas trinkets, and tourists crowd the doors of the oldest cathedral in England. Given the sights, I tried to capture some of the quintessential marvels that this town produced. As tough as it was to say good-bye to such a spectacular town, I can be reminded of the fun times through the photos I took:

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A Memorable Photo

Photos are great for a feeling of nostalgia. They are great for putting you right back in a time and place, that you may have slightly forgotten.

I took this photo in November 2015 at the Louvre in Paris, France. I was studying abroad and took a solo trip to Paris. I had just rode an 8-hour bus and ferry ride from England to Paris through the night. I was delirious and tired, the gloomy rain did not help my predicament. But when I walked up to the Louvre at seven in the morning, before the lines began to form, it was essentially picture-worthy.

I really like the overcast clouds that were almost pink and purple that day. I gravitate towards the juxtaposition that the old architecture creates against the new, modern architecture. Even in the still frame, you can almost tell that the people are moving at a slow pace, probably due to the early hour paired with the weather.

The overall aesthetic creates a somber yet mysterious mood. I think the earthy colors work well together and the contrast of exposure play off of each other well.

I mostly chose this image because it puts me back to the time I took this — just five days before the terrorist attacks in Paris. It’s definitely emotional to see the somberness that overtakes the photo, almost as a foreshadowing. It very much resonates with me.

Hello, it’s me…

My name is Taylor Kane! I am a junior visual communications major, minoring in art history. I like to stay busy outside of the classroom, so I am currently the public relations chairperson of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity and an editorial writer for Garnet & Black magazine. This summer, I was the editorial art intern at Mood of Living online magazine in New York City, where I not only learned a lot about the industry, but about myself, as well. Taking photos of new product lines for the website, I was able to use my photography skills at this internship. I use a Canon EOS Rebel T5 DSLR, and I have used Photoshop for photos along with iMovie for videography. I have created some videos for my sorority, but nothing extremely in depth. I have a lot to learn about photography and videography though, and I’m hoping to further my skills this semester.

See some of my work here

 

“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live…”

-Auguste Rodin