6 Midterm Images

Adjustment Layers

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After

I first adjusted the colors to give it a more purple tone, and then wanted to transform it into an "old" sort of feel, hence it ended up black and white, which seemed most appropriate.

Adjustment Layer 2

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After

On the train tracks in Japan
I added another layer, and decided to play with the color tones. Originally I wanted sepia, but that would erase the greens of the forest- after raising the Cyan and Magenta, the river and parts of the ground turned more purple, which gave it a very Miyazaki feel that I love.

Digital Image 3

I cheated a little by roughly tracing another kitty image, but the coloring and the rest of the background was created from scratch. I used an adjustment layer for each individual color. I like the cartoon-y sketched feel and how cute it looks!

Midterm Overview Documentation

When I first began this course, I was not sure what to expect- I was very excited to learn more about Photoshop and all its magic.  I wasn't disappointed, and although it was harder than I expected, the more time I spent playing around with all that Photoshop had to offer, all the tools and techniques stimulated creative ideas and fun innovative methods to incorporate images together to make new images.  This class allowed me to gain that experience I required to continue practicing and becoming more knowledgable and at ease with all the placements of the tools, which will hopefully lead to a more professional portfolio in the future.

Each assignment taught me a new and important component of transforming a photo.  Besides the more basic tools I already knew of such as color saturation and correction, I was able to take these and blend them into other ideas to achieve the "perfect" outcome of my photo's intention.  I looked through my past pictures for potential imagery, and found quite a few photos, many of which were happy accidents I stumbled across on vacation or solitude trips, that I was proud of and could see adapting in a new direction.  The final images I chose to include in my portfolio are the ones that I spent the most time laboring on, and are also the images that taught me the most with new techniques including compositing, and adding adjustment layers and filters.  The range of these images also include some images that ended up with a subtle fix, because after a lot of transforming, sometimes simplicity is the most natural if that is the goal.

As I explored the multiple features, I became more familiar and bold with the process of each image- some of these images were indeed to focus on making them look as natural as possible; however, I became more playful with the concept as a whole rather than focusing on how organic it looked.  At first, when I began with a new photo, I was stumped as to how to reconstruct or mold it, but my capabilities grew and I became very flexible with the tools at hand.  For example, the digital drawing I included was drawn at least 3 times over until I decided one was good enough to layer more color, body, and flow.  I noticed that when I freely let my mind roam on how to handle an image, my subject matters tended to be drawn towards form of freedom, or transportation, such as my digital drawing, the motorcycles, and train.

 I am happy with the majority of my photos and how much I learned this semester- I gained experience on how to use the lasso tool and clone stamp tool, which I had no idea even existed.  I am proud of the way I could accentuate and enhance the balance of my images the way I wanted them to look.  Some of them are improved versions while others are more abstract.  Many of the concepts are whimsical rather than natural-looking.

 However, there is still a huge learning curve and I believe it is still important to further develop my ability to make images to look natural-looking, especially in compositing when I do selection tools more cleanly and smoothly.  I also want to make the imported images belong on their new placement, which perhaps can be improved with shadowing and manipulation in the whole matching color scheme.
There are also other tools such as adjustment layers that I am sure can be used to blend shapes better or manipulate them in a more interesting way than I can do now.  I also want to become more experienced in what kind of backdrop is more suitable for certain subjects- sepia tones, black and white.  All these photos are meaningful to me in some form or another, but my goal is to be able to produce even more professional looking images that can belong on a magazine or movie poster.

Digital Drawing 2

I used another image as a reference, but this sketch in a sense reminds me a lot of me, so in a sense it is a portrait.  I am always wearing my headphones listening to music, and I love being at the beach, which I ran out of time to detail.  The way her headphones are drawn and her stance, it's defiant and also gives a sense that she feels shackled, but will find her way free.

Digital Drawing 1

Ombre Oilified- I wanted to play around with the colors, making a fiery rainbow palette like the gradient effect I had wanted for my hair.  Then I blurred the lines and added an oilified tool.

 

Birds Composite 3

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After

I cropped out the two red birds and played around with the field picture, zooming here and there to see what placements looked most appropriate to make the birds look like they were somewhat fleeting around or landing on the plants.

Sushi Composite 2

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After

The image is at a sushi restaurant in Chicago, and I cropped out me from a picture where I am sitting on a bench, and attempted to make it look like I am sitting on the edge of the cutting board with the gigantic sashimi!

Reception (composite)

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After

I loved this picture I took of a Japanese elderly man with the most content expression on his awesome motorcycle.  Then I remembered a picture of me when I was riding a motorcycle in Taiwan, and thought it would be cool to composite us having a race at a reception table.

Sideview weave (filter)

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After

I color-corrected the image to make it a bit more contrasted first, then played around with the filters until I decided on the weave filter, which gives it a texture that looks like it belongs on a the design of a straw basket.

Piano Profile (filter)

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After 

This picture (not taken by me) was transformed using multiple components- I added a lens flare, then used two different filters.  I selected the shadow part and turned it into cubism filter, then selected another portion of the shadow and made it wind-like.   The whole image is inverted, and I played around with the degree so that a bit of my skin still shows through- the end result looks very astronomic, which I like, and the lens flare ends up looking like planets.

Japan (color adjustment)

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After

I tried to change the angle of the photo to make the Golden Palace look more balanced, then I tried to correct the color by making the trees more vibrant and the gold more rich.

Imagine (adjustment layers)

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After

This original photo was first color corrected to bring out more contrast and vibrancy.  I tried to make the words "To Imagine is Everything" stand out more.  In addition, I blurbed out the date on the bottom right corner, and using the Stamp Clone tool added the flowers instead.

Taiwan (Color adjustment)

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After
     I like the way the peak of the mountain is in the center of this circle, it is the focal point.  I wanted to give a feel of warmth as I look up, the goal is near if I jump through this final obstacle, or hoop.  A sepia filter was added to give that sunlight glow.

For the lynda tutorial, I browsed the Lightroom 5's New Features by Chris Orwig.  Photoshop Light room allows photo management and enhancement for the user.  It allows flexibility in lens correction, which levels a photo. The retouching tools also lets the user apply feathers, filters, and has folders that can catalog images, film, video, etc. saved to the desktop offline. 

Ruane Miller Exhibit

            The Ruane Miller exhibit featured a series of works using painting and prints.  Most of the colors seemed to reflect a warm landscape with mainly a contrast between blue and orange, which reflects her experiences in the environment of the SouthWest.  Using repetitive patterns of waves, her works often display majestic nature, ranging from clouds, sunsets, and deserts, to the Grand Canyon. 

abstract- idea

This is one of the most intriguing photos I took in Chicago last summer- it is the bottom of the famous Bean landmark.  This is the belly of the landmark, and somehow the way it reflects the city and the people curves in a puzzling way that makes you look twice.  It also kind of reminds me of human anatomy in some ways, or some sort of mirror maze.  

idea

This is before my first train ride also taken in Chicago with my best friend.  I'm pretty excited and nervous, and this picture documents and celebrates that idea of new experiences and travels.

abstract- person

This photo documents me looking into the Bean at Chicago, which is such a fascinating landmark to me.  I kept staring at the way the bean convolutes yet includes the whole city, and I am standing there right in front of me embraced by the whole of Chicago.

person - japanese

I love this image that I captured on the bus in Japan.  Originally I thought it was just so badass to see an elderly Japanese man on a sleek motorcycle, but what I also accidentally captured was his utterly content expression- that is the kind of relaxation and satisfaction I'd want when I am that age on my motorcycle.

landscape

On a random day in the summer, I went for a ride on my scooter and took my mom's camera.  It was really hot, and I wanted to explore the secret rocky path behind my neighborhood.  The field was really beautiful, so I swung my camera and took a "random" shot to see what the instant second would find- this is the result.

Abstract

On my way to the art building one early cold morning, I look down and notice this broken ice on the ground, so I stepped on it some more and it looked like beautiful crystals, kind of ethereal or lost in time.