Image Skills Test

As part of my Digital Newsroom assignment I have been set the task of taking a photograph of one of the following places:
• Lancashire County Council
• Preston City Council
• The Flag Market
• Preston North End football club
• The University of Central Lancashire

I chose to take a photograph to represent the University of Central Lancashire. I feel that the photograph I chose could be cropped in a number of ways to suit a variety of stories. My original photograph can be seen below.

The assignment stated that once I had taken my photograph I had to crop the image to three sizes. Cropping an image is a vital tool within Journalism, it can define the meaning of a story, but it can also miss or change the original intentions of the story. When done correctly cropping an image can give your story depth and understanding.

The three sizes I had to crop my image too were
• One 100 x 100 pixel thumbnail in jpeg format
• One 400 pixel wide by 300 pixel high version in jpeg format
• One 200 pixel wide by 500 pixel high version in jpeg format


Firstly the 100 x 100 pixel thumbnail. With this image you can see I have cropped it so you can only see the UCLan logo with some of the building in the background. This could be used in an article about the university.


Secondly the 400 pixel wide by 300 pixel high version. Here you can see the logo again but you can also tell that the image is of a building. It adds a bit of depth. It could be used in an article regarding architecture around Preston or on the University Campus or could be used in a story about environmental friendly buildings on campus. The colours in the building encompass this.


Finally the 200 pixel wide by 500 pixel high version. This version of the image adds scale and context. You can see the door of the building so you can imagine how big the building is. The fact that you can visualise this may help a reader understand a story which it appeared alongside.


Carrying out this task has taught me that cropping images is very important. An image can either draw a reader in or put them off. If an image is cropped correctly it can stand alone and be understood by itself which is important when drawing a reader in.

If you would like to contact me regarding any of my posts feel free to email me at FDent1@uclan.ac.uk