Magazine Cover #2

Happy New Year! Since working at my job in Riverside, I've written and edited a lot of articles. Unfortunately, I don't get to take many photos. A couple months ago, I covered an international cultural fair at my church. I later submitted an article and a couple photos in for the Pacific Union Recorder. What do you know, one of my photos landed on the cover of the January edition! I'm really excited and happy that 2017 has a good start in my career. 

Kaipo poses with me without wanting to. Poor guy!

Kaipo poses with me without wanting to. Poor guy!

2016 Student of the Year Award

In October 2016 I attended Society of Adventist Communicators in Denver, Colorado. There were workshops all weekend on how to communicate better through different ways, such as photography for news stories and writing for app content. The last evening there, they gave out awards. As they started reading their description for the student of the year award, I realized they were talking about me! The award says "For your unique combination of creative talent, warm welcoming personality, and genuine concern for undeserved people."

I couldn't believe it! Of course, the award should really go to my professors at Southern Adventist University. They taught me most of what I took into the field. As I stood there accepting my award, I realized that exactly one year before I attended SAC for the first time. It was during then I met my boss and applied for the job I ended up getting, and where I work now. My oh my have things gone a long way in one year. 

Society of Adventist Communicators on October 2016 in Denver, CO.

Society of Adventist Communicators on October 2016 in Denver, CO.

#WorkLife

A lot has happened since starting my first official job started back in March. I write for the Pacific Union Recorder, edit articles, manage social media, photograph events and even go to meetings! A few very exciting things happened, one of them being an award I received in the mail from Southern Adventist University:

The SJ&C Award of Excellence for 2015-2016. Receiving this in the mail was a great way to start off my work day!

The other exciting thing that happened was a small event called...GRADUATION! I flew from LAX to Tennessee to walk down the stage and receive my diploma. I am now officially a graduate from Southern Adventist University with a B.S. in Public Relations. Pic or it didn't happen? Fine:

It was President Gordon Bietz's last year at SAU before retiring. I'm glad I got a picture with him!

One last exciting thing that happened since I moved back to California: I got a DOG! I adopted him from Redlands Animal Control back in April. He is absolutely adorable and now my son. He is half Corgi, half terrier and Chihuahua. He is 1 yr 4 mo. old. Here's Kaipo:

Kaipo is chillin' during Memorial weekend. 

As always, life is an adventure if you make it one. Even though I work all the time now, I enjoy my time here. There's only one sad thing...loans start this Friday. UGH!

Joshua Tree National Park

I went to Joshua Tree for the first time this month! We searched for wild desert tortoises and observed the beautiful nature. The desert came to life as a result of the rain. We found a total of six wild tortoises! I'll put up a picture of one soon. :)

This was at sunset. We stayed there all day! It got really cold around 8 p.m. and we were all glad to head home. 

June

This summer I'm working for the McKee Library at Southern Adventist University as the PR, Marketing, and social media assistant. It has only been one week since I've started, but I've learned so much already!

Below is an image I created using Canva. Canva.com is a graphic-editor for quotes and such. Most of it is free, and the things that do cost money are only $1. It's fun and really easy to learn!

Photoshop no. 1

Budapest, Hungary.

While traveling abroad I did a series of postcards from each country. I successfully printed only one. Now my traveling photos are sitting here, waiting to be marveled. I've recently started playing around with Photoshop. The very last photo I took in Budapest is the very first photo I'll be talking about. 

I wanted to use this picture for a postcard design, but the fence was too distracting. On the bench are my two very good friends, Jeremy (my boyfriend)  and Kathrin (my roommate). 

Seeing the problem

The scenery in the above photo is beautiful--but the black fence is in the way! I could crop the photo above the fence, but then Jeremy and Kathrin wouldn't be in it. Also, the color is drained from all the haze. 

Solving the problem

  1. I took one copy of the photo and traced the ground below the fence, the bench and the people. Then I deleted the rest of the photo. You can see how it looked below:

2. I took another copy of the photo and placed the people and bench on top of it. As you can see above, the backpack on the bench is already gone. I just took an eraser tool to it. 

3. Then I took the original picture and placed the traced image over it, covering up the original picture's fence. I made it all black and white, as you can see here:

Moving the people "up" in the picture helps us see the city in their point of view. 

Adding details

I like the photo black and white, but I'd rather see Budapest in all its color. After I changed it back to color, I noticed all the mistakes--holes in the ground from the fence posts, the red backpack strap stuck on the bench, the terrible pasty look--so I used the patch and band aid tools to smooth everything out. 

Afterwards I corrected some color, added vibrance and boosted up the contrast. 

Before

After

I hope you enjoyed this quick post! You are welcome to comment below. 

--JA