rhythm composite

In this assignment we worked on rhythm composites. We had to take multiple shots of a subject with the exact same background in each one, but the subject had to be in a different spot every time. After we took the photos we edited them and combined them all in to one to create the idea that the photo had repeated rhythm. How we did this was with using different selection tools and layer masks. First we would select the subject in one photo and create a layer mask with that. After we had the layer mask we would open up the "background" image and turn it in to a layer. Once it was turned in to a layer we would drag the layer mask of our selected subject over to the "background" image and arrange it accordingly to make it look realistic. If it didn't look too realistic, like maybe it was missing a shadow, we could use the burn tool to paint in a shadow to lessen the look of it "floating" on the image. After we had repeated that process with all our other shots of the subject we edited the photo using different adjustments to enhance it using tools previously learned.

This assignment I found to be sort of difficult. I thought it was hard to select the right amount of the subject for the layer mask including shadows and reflections if needed. When you didn't get the right areas selected it looked really unlrealistic so you had to use the burn tool to create the missing shadows. The difficult thing about the burn tool was that you would do that on the background layer to you couldn't blend it very well in to your subject. Once I got the hang of how to do it though, it went by really fast and quite easy actually.

selection tool

For this assignment we had to use different selection tools (lasso, magnetic, quick selection, magic wand, etc.) to select a subject. Once our subject was selected we would save the selection then turn the rest of the image black and white but leave our selection colored. This created am emphasis on our subject because it was the only thing in color.

For this photo I used the magnetic selection tool to select the main subject of the two crocs.

For this photo I used the quick selection tool and magic wand to select her headband.

This assignment went very well. I thought it was really fun to learn how to use the selection tools and create this emphasis on a subject that the black and white with some color resulted in. The most difficult part for me was trying to figure out what selection tool worked the best for each photo, but after I found a selection tool everything went very smooth and good.

portraits & lighting

In this assignment we learned how to take good portraits with lighting angles that flatter our subject. After taking the pictures, we edited them to enhance the colors using tools learned in previous assignments, then we also used lens flare, photo filter, surface blur, spot healing, and other tools with layer masks on our photos.

This photo was taken with natural and side lighting, and I used an orange photo filter to create a warmer look.

This photo was taken with natural back lighting and edited with spot healing and surface blur using a layer mask to smooth out the skin and make it look "flawless". I also added a lens flare to this to make it look like the sun hit the lens and created circles in the bottom right hand corner.

This photo was taken with natural side lighting that was also reflected to get rid of harsh shadows. To edit this photo I enhanced the colors and used spot healing and surface blur with a layer mask to even out and smooth the skin. I also used the paintbrush on overlay with her eyes to make them a little darker and "pop".

Overall I feel this assignment went really well. I had a very fun time taking these portrait shots and editing them to look their best. The only frustrating thing that would happen was sometimes the overlay brush wouldn't work too well and would turn lips a grayish tone, but otherwise everything went really well. Some of my strengths in this assignment I would say was capturing the subject's personality in the photos. A weakness would be when working with the studio lighting it was pretty dark so it was very difficult to get a clear, crisp image, but I did manage to get a few that worked out.