Social

Hall Council holds their annual “Puppy Petting Pen” event

June 9, 2026June 14, 2026isabella.caryLeave a comment

This slideshow is about the Hall Council’s annual “Puppy Petting Pen” event hosted on campus, and I wanted to show the actual event itself juxtaposed against the planning of the event talked about over the voiceover. It is almost a narrative arc that pans from the collective atmosphere of the event, showcasing how students engaged with the event in such a positive way, to lots of pictures of the puppies interacting with the people themselves. By adding in an interview with Shelby Crowe, the President of the Hall Council, the story is a lot more holistic and tells the viewer just how much effort and time goes into planning an event, and how much it can mean for the people putting it on. Crowe was very happy to talk about the event via an interview while it was happening.

I chose to photograph the event from a variety of perspectives to provide a total look at the environment (in wider shots that establish the setting and close-ups that show the joy on people’s faces). The slides are ordered roughly to transition from the general scene to the specific; this starting with a wide shot of multiple people to establish the large crowd, then narrowing down through the interactive shots like the puppies play-fighting and the people interacting with the puppies through the pen fence, and ends with settling on the quiet moments like the puppies sitting on people’s shoulders/laps. My chosen pacing allows the viewer to be drawn into the event as a whole, the “big picture,” before finding the individual experiences of students within it. I experimented with video in this audio slideshow as well because I wanted to capture how crazy the experience was within the pen for anyone who did not go. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to bring my tripod into the pen due to safety concerns with the puppies, but I opted to bring just my camera in for a more casual video shot. Regarding audio and text, I integrated Shelby Crowe’s interview to act as the narrative’s backbone and I tried to match the photos to what she was saying when I could. As mentioned, I wanted the audio to feel like a behind-the-scenes look into how the people made the event as special as it was, and to tell students that they too could be involved with curating special college memories like that.

Continue reading →

Dual Hall Councils team up for ‘May the Fourth’ event

May 14, 2026May 18, 2026isabella.caryLeave a comment

Dual Hall Councils team up for ‘May the Fourth’ event

By: Isabella Cary

I began the slideshow with an extreme close-up of a cup of frozen yogurt because I wanted to convey that this was more about what the event was about. While this was a Star Wars event, there was not much Star Wars happening outside of the lightsaber-making and music, so I sought to emphasize the food, which became the main event. After that, I had a picture of Donavan Perea, the interviewee for my entire slideshow and the one speaking over 90% of it. This was to ensure that people could put a face to the voice of those actively working on this event and to describe its activities and process. Next, I cut to a picture of Anya Kraunz, another student working on the event from Nelson Hall Council, to show that there was a lot of preparation and that it took many people to arrange and set up the event that day. After, I went for a couple of photos showing the people attending (Charlotte Janney and June Nye) and helping out with the event, starting with a lightsaber that was built by Charlotte Janney. As Donavan talked about the caterers, I made sure to include a shot of the Yogurtland bag, showing the Frozen Yogurt they provided for this event. The bubble shots were included in the slideshow as a way to break up the other images, and I sought to show that people were playing with bubbles the entire time, outside of the Star Wars things and the food.

The photos of the food were added to show that everyone was having a nice time and that a steady stream of people kept coming to take the Frozen Yogurt as word spread that it was free in the Nagel Courtyard. I wanted to include the photo of Anya Kraunz eating Frozen Yogurt and speaking to someone off-screen, as I wanted to show that the people working on the event were also enjoying themselves and that it was fun for everyone. Kona Ice was also present at the event, and it seemed to attract more people than even the Frozen Yogurt, so I added a picture of the truck itself. As a fun extra, I set down my camera and took a photo of myself in character, as I was the most Star Wars-dressed person there, and I wanted to have a low depth of field image of someone there in Star Wars attire. Lightsaber battles started toward the end of the event, and I captured Charlotte Janney and Ty Anderson battling first, which eventually turned into Charlotte Janney and Dylan Morrison fighting it out, since I wanted to include some motion shots in my images. Finally, I concluded with a picture of an empty cup to signal that the slideshow was over, contrasting with the full cup at the beginning.

Continue reading →

Hall Council hosts outdoor games at Nagel Lawn

April 15, 2026May 13, 2026isabella.caryLeave a comment

By Isabella Cary

My photo slideshow is about the fun and games that are happening at the University of Denver in the evenings. This was a Hall Council event on the Nagel Lawn where they had Frisbee, Connect-4, and a Ball Toss in order to celebrate the warmer evenings we have been having. I wanted to capture the games as they were being played, and how they evidently were making students feel more relaxed as we came into the new Quarter.