Digital Photography and Imaging | Week 5

20/9/2021 / Week 5
Shofwa Alyadiena / 0350019

Digital Photography and Imaging / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

 Lecture 

In week 5 we were briefed on what we will do for the upcoming weeks. The next project would include photo manipulation and creating a poster. Mr. Fauzi explained what steps to consider before creating a poster and how to approach it in an organized manner, starting from finding ideas to finalizing designs. Our  poster's design theme will be about mental health during this pandemic. 

 Project 2A: Hearst Mansion Photo Manipulation 

Before starting the poster (Project 2B), we are first required to do project 2A, which is a photo manipulation practice by editing Shazam and an image of ourselves into a Hearst Mansion background. 

 A. SHAZAM 

1.1 Shazam Original Poster (20/9/2021)

Once I downloaded the image given to us, I slapped it onto Photoshop to start working on the photo manipulation. However, as I was in the process of using the quick selection tool, I noticed that the image had been cropped. I'm aware that it won't be visible as it's going to be resized to a smaller area, but it bothered me so I searched for a higher quality version of it online. I was lucky to find one in teahub.io and moved on with the photo manipulation.

1.2 Shazam Higher Quality Poster (20/9/2021)

With the image fully visible, I restarted on using the quick selection tool. some parts couldn't be picked up without dragging unnecessary pieces, so for some of it I had to use the pen tool to select the image manually. After I figured it out I managed to make a clean selection and created a new layer from it.

1.3 Shazam Cut (20/9/2021)

After the image had been fully cut, I copied and pasted it onto the Hearst Mansion background. It's a lot bigger than expected in comparison, but I didn't mind the extra search for a higher quality image. 

1.4 Shazam Original Size on Background (22/9/2021)

I followed the tutorial video and placed the Shazam cutout near the lamp and made it smaller in size.

1.5 Shazam Resized (22/9/2021)

Once resizing was done, I moved on to figuring out the color matching. Below are the settings for my particular version of this practice.

1.6 Shazam Color Matching (22/9/2021)

The colors all matched up for me, so I decided to move on with the project and add a shadow. The shadow was firstly done by using a hard black brush and then adding a 'Gaussian Blur' effect on it. I personally didn't need to lower the opacity as I had the effect have a higher radius. I think it worked well nonetheless.

1.7 Shazam Adding Shadow (22/9/2021)

1.8 Shazam Gaussian Blur on Shadow (22/9/2021)

Finished with the shadows, I moved on to editing the reflection on the water surface. I selected the parts I wanted to keep with the polygon selection tool and masked the layer then applied it as according to the video. I messed around with the hue and saturation to get the reflection that felt natural. Once the colors felt right, I applied the Gaussian blur to the reflection, by about 0.3 radius.

1.9 Shazam Reflection Color Correcting (22/9/2021)

1.10 Shazam Reflection Gaussian Blur (22/9/2021)

Finally, all resulted to the final Image.

1.11 Shazam Final JPG (22/9/2021)

B. MY REFLECTION

The next part of this task was to make a version with our own image. I asked my mom as I was still at home to take a picture of me.

Fig. 2.1 My Image (23/9/2021)

After choosing the photo, I moved to Photoshop to start the photo manipulation practice. Same steps as before, I first used the quick selection tool and moved to selection tool when I needed to. 

Fig. 2.2 Separating My Image From Background (23/9/2021)

After cutting the image of myself out, I moved it onto the Hearst Mansion background. I wanted it to look as if I was observing the view and that I was immersed in the environment. I placed myself a bit farther in the image and closer to the lamp.

Fig. 2.3 Resized Image of Myself in Hearst Mansion (23/9/2021)

I started on adding and adjusting the shadows I'll use for myself. This time, I didn't use a larger radius for the Gaussian blur so instead I lowered the opacity of the shadow. It created a similar effect. 

Fig. 2.4 Adding Shadow to My Image (23/9/2021)

Fig. 2.5 Adding Gaussian Blur to Shadow (23/9/2021)

Fig. 2.6 Lowering Opacity of Shadow (23/9/2021)

I unfortunately forgot to take screenshots of the masking selection. Skipping ahead, I have duplicated and flipped the image of myself for the reflection before color correcting, so I did it afterwards. Figure 2.7 and 2.8 show the settings used for the color matching and hue/saturation adjustment.

Fig. 2.7 Color Matching My Image (23/9/2021)

Fig. 2.8 Color Correcting My Image Reflection (23/9/2021)

After color correcting was done, I finished it off with adding the Gaussian blur to the reflection. it was only about 0,3 points in radius.

Fig. 2.9 Adding Gaussian Blur to Reflection (23/9/2021)

Zooming out, I have achieved the final image and exported it as a JPEG for submission.

Fig. 2.10 My Reflection Final JPG (23/9/2021)