20 minutes to take 7 photos! Sounds easy right? Trust me, it’s a lot more chaotic than you think, but that’s all part of the fun. Photoblitz is a fun 20 minute activity where you are given 7 prompts and then you have to race to take all the photos in time. I will admit I easily got lost in the creative process and went over the time limit by a few minutes. Oops! But I had lots of fun and my pictures came out great even if my ideas were a little silly.
Prompt #1: A Toy in Action
For this prompt I needed to show toys doing something active so I wanted to make stuffed animals look like they were watching videos together like a human. So I put the gorilla and camel in front of a laptop with them staring at the screen. This was actually my favorite picture I took because the idea was so funny.
Prompt #2: Show Us Some Food
For the second prompt I needed to take a picture of food, and since my sister was already making hot chocolate I just took a picture of her cup. I tried to put it in sunlight so the purple and pink sugar on top of the whipped cream would stand out more.
Prompt #3: Camera at Floor Level
For the third prompt I had to take a picture from floor level, so I took a picture of my dog because I liked the idea of making him look really big from the floor angle. Getting him to stay still was the hardest part because seeing me on the floor automatically makes him assume I am down there to play with him.
Prompt #4: Glasses Bring the World into Focus
For the fourth prompt I was supposed to show how glasses help many people see, so I chose to take the picture through the lens of a pair of glasses. I made the picture focus be on a painting I made because glasses allow people see the beauty of the world.
Prompt 5#: Turn Food into a Face
For prompt I had to turn food into the shape of a face then take a picture. I used the cereal Fruit Loops to make my face on a wooden table. Originally I had another circle around the face, but it looked messy so I went back to keeping a simple design for it.
Prompt #6: Doors Can Have A Lot of Character
For this prompt I was supposed to show how doors can have character based on their style, so I took a picture of the basement door’s doorknob because it is one of the old traditional ones that has a giant keyhole. Personally these types of doorknobs remind me of faces because the two screws are like eyes, the knob is like a nose, and the keyhole is like a mouth so it was the perfect choice to photograph.
Prompt #7: Forced Perspective
For this prompt I needed to take a picture that made something look big, but I decided to do my own funny take on it by taking a picture of a miniature version of a big corgi stuffed animal, so it shows both perspectives of tiny and big side by side.
Times Up!
Took me 24 minutes to take all my picture prompts, so I went over the limit by 4 minutes but I think it was worth it. If you found this idea interesting then I highly recommend rushing over to Photoblitz and seeing if you can beat my record of 24 minutes for your 7 photos.
Mercenary in a cyberpunk world! Runa Starr is the perfect character for a RPG. Sheās got the swiftness of a viper with the venom to match. Along with her ability to easily outsmart foes makes every fight an easy win. So if Runa had her own game card I believe her top stats would be definitely be skill, stealth, charisma, and confidence!
Skill
Trained since the age of 12 for close combat, Runa can disarm a man with a blade in seconds. Even at a distance, sheās prepared for every bullet to strike her target. But her marksmanship isnāt what makes her dangerous. Runaās savvy mind strategizes and counters on the spot making her one of the most fearsome mercenaries of her generation.
Stealth
She isnāt called The Shadow for nothing. Spying from rooftops, creeping behind guarded doors, or hiding in plain sight, Runa can do it all without leaving a single trail . . . unless she wants to be found because sometimes playing the distraction is more fun.
Charisma
Runa has a certain alluring energy that catches the attention of the room right when she talks. Whether itās her attractive charm, her mesmerizing beauty, her smooth velvety voice, or- Well letās just say itās a combination of all that leaves people begging for a second of her time.
Confidence
Stats maxed out for a reason! Runa is bold and unapologetic so donāt get in her way, especially when it comes down to her strategic schemes. Sheās isnāt afraid to take risk even if it means gambling her life, but yet her intuition is always right. Or maybe her confidence just makes her luck come off that way. No one will ever know.
The Inspiration
This idea came from the assignment bank post called Personal Trading Card. The instructions were to create a card based on a character, so I chose to create one for Runa Starr using the website called Remixer. For the art I tried my best to find a futuristic mercenary themed picture from the website Pinterest. I wanted to keep the purple and black color scheme so I used it for the whole cardās design. Then when it came down to choosing Runaās stats I made sure to pick words that matched her character perfectly. Skill, stealth, and charisma were easy choices, but for the last one of confidence I wanted to make a little joke by exaggerating a bit to emphasize her personality so I put the stats as maxed out.
It’s character week! So I was excited to make my main focus Runa aka The Shadow who was introduced last week. She is the 22 year old mercenary who works for the rebellion called the Claws with the goal of taking down the corrupt government officials who killed her parents. With Runa being in a rebellion I felt like it would be obvious that she would definitely have a tattoo or two. We all know tattoos hold meaning, whether it’s for self expression, a reminder, or holding a hidden message like proof that you’re a member of a secret rebellion. So these are the three tattoos I think Runa would mostly likely have on her body.
Blooming Out of Darkness
For this tattoo idea I drew a picture of a flower. They are normally a symbol of growth and beauty which fits Runa’s character perfectly. Her past is dark due to her parents’ death but yet she still grew up to be strong and resilient. So a blooming flower holds a lot of meaning for her.
The Queen
For this tattoo idea I drew a picture of a crown. I feel like it was fitting considering Runa is deemed as one of the best mercenaries in the city. Also Runa’s goal is to take down the corrupt government which is similar to stealing their crown which represents their power.
A Secret Weapon
For this tattoo idea I drew swords, but the focus is on the middle one. In the rebellion they would need a way to prove who is a member so a tattoo is perfect. A symbol of a sword represents you’re a weapon on their side. And it is very simplistic so it could be small and hidden on their wrist or ankle.
The Inspiration
Partial credit goes to Fab from his post in the assignment bank called Tattoos that describe you. He gave the idea of creating a tattoo for yourself that has meaning behind it, but I chose to add a twist to mine by making the tattoos based on Runa’s perspective. Each tattoo I made is hand drawn and I kept a simple style because I feel like tattoo art usually isn’t too complicated. Also I avoided adding color because if Runa is working as a mercenary then I doubt she would have a tattoo with vibrant color that makes her stand out since she has to do a lot of sneaking and hiding.
Celeste is a city overflowing with crime. When given no choice people will do anything to survive, leading to bounties upon bounties appearing over people’s heads. So where is the best place to hide hundreds of rebels? Well obviously in a city amongst the wanted where no one would dare rat each other out to the corrupt government unless you want to be ousted as a secret snake.
Beware: Armed and Dangerous!
Have you seen this girl? The government is offering an award of 25k for whoever brings her in. Security footage caught her breaking into a well fortified administration building stealing over 5 years worth of top secret government files . . . and snacks from the coffee room. She took down 5 officers alone along her path before disappearing without a trace. Last seen escaping through the main lobby’s skylight and traveling from rooftop. Suspect is described as a 5’2 young black girl wearing an oversized hoodie. Authorities warn that she is highly dangerous and presumed to be affiliated with the rebellion called the Claws.
For character week this idea was inspired by Miranda Skinner’s post in the assignment bank called Missing Person where she said to create a missing person poster, but I was inspired by this idea to instead create a wanted poster for my character Runa Starr. Since Celeste City is based on a cyberpunk theme I tried to express that in the poster with lots of city and neon futuristic designs using Canva. I assumed Runa’s first wanted poster would’ve been created when she was still a teen so I used Pinterest to find a picture that matched her character’s description. The city in the background of the picture helped with telling the story of how security camera’s caught her, and the snack in her hand gave me the funny idea of including that she casually stole snacks during the break in to emphasize that she’s bold and fully confident in her skills not to get caught. Lastly, due to her age she would definitely taunt her pursuers by messing with them, so I added graffiti to her wanted poster with a silly face, heart, and an arrow pointing at the word “wanted.” I also made sure to make it look like she used graffiti to cross out any information about her on the wanted poster.
These were my photoblitz prompts. I took multiple photos but edited it down to one picture per prompt. I also included pictures of the time I started the assignment, and the time it ended.
The first photo, 6:03 pm.
Next, I had to find a manufactured item. This could technically be a lot of things, but I decided to use my flashlight. I was a little confused by the elements portion of the prompt, so I turned the flashlight on and also showed the keychain portion just in case.
Next, I knew exactly what to do for three items, because I have three empty spice jars waiting around. There used to be four, but that one has a peppery seasoning in it now.
The shadow was a little difficult to make, but I make a sort of rectangle shape by holding my coat above my head. I think the shadow would be hard to identify since it seems so boxy.
There aren’t many edges in my room, but I did land on the edge of my table, and I think I managed to make it a bit artistic.
Now for this one, why do you want to see my toes?
This image could’ve also qualified for the three items prompt, but I decided to use it for the plastic object instead.
This is a painting a previous roommate and I made. We followed a Bob Ross tutorial, and I like how it turned out. She used these trees to teach me how to paint them, what brush to use, and how colors can work together.
In the end, it was 6:23 and my photoblitz was over.
For this Daily Create I was supposed to compare technology I used as a kid to now as an adult. I’ve been a gamer since I was a kid so I instantly chose to show the game console that started it all, my ds lite, and the game console I currently use now which is my Nintendo switch. There’s definitely a big change in the technology because back in the early 2000s ds games had blocky graphics and played on that tiny screen. Now in current day Nintendo switch games are played on a bigger screen and in 1080p. So even though I love the nostalgia of playing my old games, I am still very appreciative for the newer high definition ones.
The New “Daily Create”
For this Daily Create the prompt was to create a new header image for the Daily Create. I chose to use Canva to make mine and was inspired by the idea of a canvas with paint on it. So for my design I made the background paint splashes with teared paper on the front like a label. On it I put the title of the Daily Create in a font that looked like it was painted on in purple. Since the theme of the Daily Create is all about creating, I think having an artsy design is fitting.
A Taste of Home
For this Daily Create we were supposed to evaluate the wokeness of our favorite sandwich. For mine I chose a turkey hero because I grew up in New York and eating it brings back childhood nostalgia. For the wokeness rating I gave my sandwich a 1/10 because there isn’t any social awareness used in the ingredients like cage-free turkeys for the meat or anything like that.
This is an edited version of a photo of me that was taken in 2023. I tried putting different filters over it in Krita and ended up on Increase Saturation HSV. Changing the color didn’t affect the picture, but changing the saturation (how vibrant or dull it was) did. When I saw this, it stood out to me how vibrant the background had become and how Zer0 looked pretty much the same whether the filter was on or not. I like the contrast between Zer0 and the environment, which used to be just as gray and dull as him. I think it makes him stand out more and ironically gives the picture more life. To me, it makes the background look more like a painting. This could be used as a metaphor for how Zer0 doesn’t belong or have a place in the world. Robots are not naturally occurring things and are ostracized in the story. Parking decks, concrete, and cars are things people are much more accustomed to and trusting of.
I found this week to be much more easy going than the last which was a very nice break. The assigned tasks were really fun and engaging! The Photoblitz was definetly my favorite. I put it off until the last minute because I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but it was really easy and I got a good walk in. My least favorite assignment of the week was the Dream House assignment that I chose from the assignment bank. I acknowledge that this was my responsibility and I probaly should have just quit and chose something else, but I’m stubborn so I stuck with it. The thing that I didn’t like about this assignment was having to justify my why this was my character’s house. I don’t know if I had writers block or made a bad choice with the house, but that blog was really hard for me to write. I did push through, however, and the blog is up if you’re curious about Krissy’s house. Still this was a god week, and if all the weeks end up like this one, I think I’m in good shape.
Daily Creates
The Daily Creates were hard for me this week. I really enjoyed them last week but this time around, I just felt uninspired and I think you can see that in my work. I did Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday’s prompt. I looked at Monday’s prompt and thought it was really cool and I wanted to try it but the day slipped away from me before I got the chance.
Tuesday’s daily create was to make a header for the new create page. I used Canva to make the banner. I added some neon tech, which I know from watching the movie poster video that shows themes of action and cyberpunk. Then I added some text with fun fonts to convey what the page was about.
Wednesday’s Daily Create was the anti cloud. I thought the concept for this was really cool. I can’t even imagine how long it took for them to find every word that wasn’t in those books. There were quite a few books to choose from, so I’m thinking at least a year to compile what they had. For my DC I used the first six words to make art. It was hard because the words are so random but I did my best. Once again, I used canva to compile the images and the text.
The last one was rate how woke a sandwich is. This one was easy because all I had to do was google my favorite sandwich and then rate it’s wokeness. It did make me start craving this sandwich though which was really unfortunate for me since I had no means to get one.
Assignments
The assignments were easy this time around. I appreciate how much freedom there is in being able to choose the assignment. I really liked how my video game screen turned out. The image is good on its own but I think the video glitch effect I added really completed it, and made it look like a real videoo game screen.
****flashing lights****
I liked making my logo, it was one of the easier assignments, and I was excited to make it about me instead of my course character. Making content for Krissy is fun but the only hard part is you have to really think about what she likes and doesn’t like plus the decisions she would and wouldn’t make. I didn’t realize how relaxing it is to just know what I like.
My last assignment was finding a house for my character. This assignment wasn’t all bad, I had a hard time writing the blog but looking for a house was fun. I really like this house, I think it’s beautiful. There are pops of color while still maintaining a classic look. For those who read my Pinterest assignment, you know that I love old fashioned homes and colors, so I think it’s fitting that Krissy would have some of the same interests as me.
Finally, for Photoblitz, this project was really cool. I saw that Photoblitz originally came from a Daily Shoot, which is like a Daily Create but with photography. When I was doing the Photoblitz, I had some ideas for pictures but they weren’t possible given the time constraint so I wonder how these prompts would have turned out if I had the whole day.
Comments
I tried to leave one comment every day on a different blog. I think it’s funny to look back on my comments, because as my work load for the week got heavier, my comments became shorter. On Monday I left a really long comment on The Digital Canvas, to paraphrase, I explained how I agreed with their reflection on Graphic Design and I think it’s cool how a font can reflect the air of a show. Tuesday, I commented on Tigerflora’s game screen and I said “I love your “Game Over” metaphor. It’s a wonderful reminder that the game isn’t over until you quit. As long as you keep trying and failing, you’ll eventually complete your level and, one day, maybe even finish the game!” I thought the message was nice and could be applied to more than their character. Wednesday, I commented on Oh Noir You Didn’t’s Shakesperean cat. I said “Mango is adorable! I love to see a fellow Canva user. It has been so helpful for this class, and it has saved my butt for the Daily Creates. The prompts that don’t involve taking pictures or screenshots have me running to Canva. I whip something together with the mass amount of resources it has, and my Daily Create comes out looking so good! I can also completely relate to having hundreds of pictures of my cat on my phone. I liked the quote you used and how well it matched the picture. Do you know which play this line is from? I’m not the biggest Shakespeare fan, but he does have a couple of plays that I like.” I appreciated the thought that went into matching a Shakespeare quote to a picture of their cat. The picture focused on Mango’s eyes so they picked a quote that also focused on eyes. Thursday, I looked at Rebecca’s Radient Realm and I commented on their Tattoo art. I said āThese tattoos are crazy good. I’m obsessed! I think each color option is really cool, too. It’s so fun to see how the colors add a different vibe to the same tattoo! I like the acknowledgment that Evelyn is a classy gal. Do you think she has multiple tattoos, or is this her only one?ā I was really impressed with the artwork for Evelyn’s tattoo, the sketch was gorgeous and the each color pallete was a nice compliment. Finally, on Friday I commented on Sam’s Club’s GIF: āLOL, this made me giggle! I like the contrast of his quiet character with his loud actions. His eyes and mouth remind me of Sussie from The Amazing World of Gumball. Great job!ā The gif was really funny, and as I mentioned the difference between the sullen character and their extravagent face movements was very silly.
Closing Thoughts
I had been looking forward to this week because I was overwhelmed from the Digital Bootcamp, and I’m glad I stuck it out because this was a nice workload. I wasn’t overwhelmed with the amount and I enjoyed the assignments. I hope week four is even better!
The assignment takes you to a website that allows you to make your own trading card! I thought this would be a good assignment for something fun and simple. I knew I needed an assignment incorporating my character so it worked out really well.
I did the 20 minute Photoblitz last night, here were my prompts:
Find a grid pattern somewhere: I struggled to find something interesting, so here are the tiles on the ground of the common area in my dorm.
Make a photograph of a smile, either literal or symbolic: I hoped to get a photo of my cat that looked like she was smiling, but it didn’t work out. Make your reflection on the screen will show you the smile I was looking for?
Make an artistic photo that involves one of your toes: I like to call it “Reflecting on one’s atoenement” It doesn’t really mean anything, but the play on words was too good for me to not use.
Giraffes are brilliant. Show us what it would be like if they lived in human society: I didn’t have a good way to demonstrate this, so I drew it, it was probably the thing that took the most time, maybe 7-8 minutes.
No ocean, surely you can find some water around you to take a photo of: This is my cat’s water filter, she stays well hydrated thanks to it so I am very grateful for it.
How do ants see the world? Change your viewpoint: Cute, right?
Doors can have a lot of character, be it in the hinges, knob, or style: This is a door in my dorm building, it’s been painted over a few times and this building is long overdue for a renovation, but I like it better than my door to my dorm.
I can’t say that this was my favorite activity, but I did really enjoy the creative exercise, I felt like I gained from it!
Skill
Stealth
Charisma 
Confidence 
Beware: Armed and Dangerous!
