text + image

For this assignment we worked on adding text to our theme images. In order to do this we first edited our image in photoshop with color adjustments and all the usual enhancements. (I made my photo black and white and added a slight vigette.) After we were satisfied with our editing we added the image to a print document in adobe illustrator and added text. There are a lot of ways to add text but I used the type on path tool. To do this, on a new layer I drew a line with the pencil tool then switched to the type on path tool and started typing. Once my text was all typed out I would use the white mouse to grab ahold of certain anchor points and move them around to edit my line more.

This assignment went really well for me. I enjoyed taking the pictures a lot and found it really fun being able to personalize it by adding text that related to the meaning. I actually didn't have to many difficulties during it except for trying to come up with ideas for the placement of my text. After try8ig different spots I finally was satisfied with my final placement. The easiest part for me was the beginning adjustments before adding text, like turning it black and white and using a vignette.

sharpen

before

after

We sharpened one of our theme photos by using a high pass filter. I used a radius of 10 to sharpen this image. After sharpening the whole image I increased the contrast and brightness. I also used a cooling blue photo filter on a layer mask to make the ocean and sky a brighter blue color and kept the foot how it was.

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.

white balance

Durring this assignment we used different white balances to get as true of a white as possible in out pictures. In order to do this we would first take a picture using auto and if our whites seemed to be orange or yellow tinted we would choose a shade or cloudy white balance setting to balance it out with a blue filter. If the whites using auto originally appeared blue tinted we would use a tungsten or daylight white balance setting to add a yellow or orange filter to it in order to balance out the white. Different editing techniques we used were with different color adjustments again just like last assignment, black and white (finding the right black and white for your photo, not just the auto setting), creating a vignette with the marquee and layering tool, and also worked with the clone stamp to get rid of or add something to your photo.

This picture was taken with a "shade" white balance to get rid of the yellow tinted whites. It was also edited with a vignette and boosted colors and saturation.

This picture was taken with an "auto" white balance. I also boosted the colors, created higher contrast, and added a vignette to it.

Overall I feel this assignment was very successful. I enjoyed being able to take photos of what ever subjects we liked, I feel it game me more of a chance to create better photos because it was more open. I also liked adding the vignette because it helps direct your eyes on the subject by creating a darker edge. The only thing that was difficult for me was the clone stamp. I got the hang of it after a while, but at first it was hard for me to blend the right colors in to make it look as natural as possible.

a day in the life

technique description

During the assignment "A Day in the Life" we learned about how different ISO's affect your picture, and took different pictures from an average day in the life of a person or an object of your choice. My assignment was of pictures taken from a day in the life of myself (an average sophomore), showing all the different things I do throughout the day. These pictures in the collage were all taken with different ISO's to balance out the light and edited in photoshop to bring out the best qualities about them.

In photoshop under "Image" on the menu I used auto tone, color and contrast and also under "adjustments" I used vibrance, hue/saturation, brightness/contrast and levels. When I used all these adjustments I was trying to brighten the whites and get rid of blue or yellow toned whites and also brighten up the highlights in order to make the photo still look realistic but with stronger highlights and qualities. Using the vibrance, contrast, and saturation tools were my favorite because I feel they brightened up the colors and made the pictures look so much better and alive. Something that was a little frustrating was that when my original photo started off really dark with a lot of shadows, it was hard to brighten it up really well without losing the quality of colors in it. I noticed that the colors would start to drain and that was a little frustrating at times.