Testing out Lighting

 

PHOTOSHOP:
In todays class, we learned about Refining and Mask editing-

We learned about changing the smoothness and feathering of an outline- Sometimes a crisper edge is needed and necessary, however, it can leave a “pasted on” look to an image. A soft 1 or 2 smooth should refine the shape. However you can use Refine and Mask to edit it further. My preferred method is the black on shape. You can crop and adjust the shape for your own preference.

For homework, we used last weeks and this weeks skills to edit our various photographs:
First I cut out a car from the car park photo, and pasted it after brightening the image.

I struggled to find an interesting object to add. I love the main image, and for my next batch of photos I plan to take more diverse and clearer pictures. The competition is beautiful and love the staircase, but this assignment isn’t up to the standard I want. I wanted to create the illusion of the car driving up the stairs, which comes across okay, but I know I can do better.

Next: We used the Gradient tool to merge two images

Even though this was the easiest to create, I love the simplicity of it- I am a massive fan of fog in general, thanks to games like Silent Hill, and love the mysterious aspect of the image; Adding a third image really sells this eerie mood, and the cloud acts like a natural blend of the two. I love the atmosphere and the gradient tool was used quite well here. 

This was adding a silhouette and masking to create depth and change the context of the image; an overrun world full of nature. I love the depth I created by adding the shape behind CÍarrai, creating this feeling of the world being overrun. It also helps your eye draw to her. I think next time, I could get cleaner edges if the image was clearer. I need to fix the lens for the next batch of images I choose to use. Overall I like the composition and love the gradient in the corner. I’m slightly disappointed in the image quality, but like the direction I went in.

Overall, I'm happy that I understand photoshop more, and have been learning to experiment more with the tasks. I need to get better photographs in my next batch, using AF more and getting better subjects.