Lab 1

Jenna French

Compare your photo with the one from Unsplash. What are the differences? Why is one “better quality” than the other?

After examining the two photos, it is obvious that the Unsplash photo is of better quality than the photo I captured. The Unsplash photo of the volcano is a sharper image and is more clear, while my photo is grainy because the pixels are too pixelated.

Compare your photos with the scans. What are the differences? Why is one “better quality” than the other?

Unfortunately, the scanner I do have access to isn’t the best quality scanner, but I was still able to scan the photos and compare them. The photo of the coin was blurry and not as clear of an image when a closer look is taken. The scan of the coin changed the color but did make the image sharper in comparison to the original. In the magazine advertisement, the color in the original photo is more distinctive than the scan and the large pixels that are apparent in the original are blended together in the scan, and less visible. For the old photo, the scan is sharper even though the color is a little off because the image appears darker. During our lesson from class, it was made clear that the scans usually came out better because the images were sharper, and I think if I had access to a better scanner that the scan versions would have been of better quality than the originals. From the examples you provided the scans always appeared to be sharper images. Overall, the photos are of better quality in this case.

What could you do to improve the quality of the images acquired by each method?

To improve the quality of the photos that I took, it would be necessary to have a higher quality camera such as a DSLR camera. In some of the photos that I took of the original copies, the photos would have turned out better with proper lighting considering the reflective qualities of the printed photo and the glossy magazine page. To improve the quality of the scanned photos I would need to have access to a better scanner. Overall, it also would be helpful to have access to Photoshop to touch up the images and make them even more clear.