Digital Postproduction

Bibliography

2008-05-12T15:35:00.003-07:00

Books

Digital Imaging – Second Edition; Mark Galer & Les Horvat; Focal Press 2003

Freewave Booth-Clibborn Editions 2004

Isolated. Funkstorung. Triple Media

Journals

Computer Arts Magazine
Grafix

Websites

antigirl.com
bjphoto.co.uk
leodis.ord
flickr.com
photoanswers.co.uk
siobhansquire.com
showstudio.com
stephengill.com
youtube.com

Evaluation

2008-05-12T15:35:00.001-07:00

At first I found this module completely frustrating due to my lack of skills and experience with Photoshop. However, after looking at online tutorials and asking friends for advice I was able to get a grasp of some basic skills.

Initial research had left me quite certain I wanted to do something with layers and textures. This was mostly influenced by Nick Knight, his video Antony, the series Dolls and the Pirelli Calendar.

Whilst carrying out the tasks I approached this idea quite widely as I was still uncertain of exactly what I wanted to achieve. The tasks were very helpful for me as I was able to experiment with Photoshop and test out the techniques I had learned. I was also able to begin considering ideas for the final images. I decided to develop the idea I had started in task two. This involved using scanned in materials and combining them with photographs. In Photoshop I selected shadows, highlights and midtones of photographs separately and layered them with various different papers and textures. The photographs I used were a combination of buildings and portraits, altered using Threshold. To further develop my idea I chose to photograph buildings and people again, in Leeds.

In task two I used photographs I had found in magazines to create the colours in the background. With my final images I wanted to use my own photographs to do this so I decided to take some product shots in the studio. This involved photographing sweets, jewellery, toys paint and random colourful objects. At the time I was quite happy with the photographs I had taken. However, afterwards I found myself struggling to get them to work as layers in the way I had intended. I could not seem to create anything quite as effective as the images I had created in task two.

Originally I wanted to take some portraits in the studio having been particularly inspired by Nick Knight’s Dolls series. I also felt the portraits I used in the images I produced for task two worked quite well. However, after encountering problems with booking the studio and discussing my work with Neil I decided to move away from the fashion based images I had been looking at and concentrate on buildings, and more specifically the buildings of Leeds. Choosing Leeds as a subject gave me a clearer idea of what I wanted to achieve with my images. I researched the history of Leeds and how the city had been represented over time. I used Leoids.org, a photographic archive of Leeds to see how the city had been documented in the past and Flickr, for more modern and artistic photographs. From this I was able to choose buildings and areas I wanted to photograph. The Corn Exchange was a subject I wanted to focus on due to its recent media coverage. It’s current restoration and transformation into a food emporium caused much protest and debate, I wanted to address this issue within my work.

Stephen Gill was a massive influence to me within this module. His Hackney Flower series involved him layering photographs of flowers over other images and in the most interesting images, using the flowers to make something unpleasant pleasing to the eye. This inspired me to do a series of work photographing a council estate and trying to make the unsightly high-rise flats more interesting and pleasing to the eye. To do this I used photographs of flowers I have taken in the studio and around Leeds. I also used paint, inspired by the Sony Bravia advert. I also applied the same idea and techniques to my work on Leeds and the Corn Exchange although this time using the photographs to create positive connotations towards Leeds and the Corn Exchange or express my disapproval and a large proportion of the publics opinions of the new plans for the Corn Exchange.

My images were becoming quite graphic and so I felt it would be beneficial to do some research into Graphic Design. I found this very interesting and enjoyable, as I had not looked at much Graphic Design before. I was particularly inspired by Jurriaan Schalken. His composition and use of text is especially appealing.

My images were spilt into four sections, Flowers, Council estate, Leeds and Corn Exchange. Although these seem like very separate categories and ideas they all link together quite effectively due to them all being based entirely on Leeds. Also I have approached each subject in the same way, using the same techniques. I am not entirely happy with many of the images I have produced for this module as I feel they are very simple. Although I did not intend for them to be complicated in any way I feel my limited skills have held me back from creating something more interesting. I also feel I did not achieve what I intended to in relation to colour. This was because my product photographs did not work well, they were not abstract enough and the choice of a macro lens could have been a mistake.

Having said this I did very much enjoy experimenting with Photoshop and I was able to express my own personal feelings and opinions about the city and the Corn Exchange. I also valued the opportunity for me to explore Graphic Design. I would like to continue to develop my Graphic Design skills in the future and will definitely look at Graphics again to inspire my photography.

The three images I have chosen for final pieces include one from the council estate series, one from the Leeds series and one from the Corn Exchange series. I feel these images were the most successful and work well as a series. This has a lot to do with the colour range being consistent throughout the series. Each image is similar yet completely different. All three of my final images were printed on fireproof paper. I chose this paper to emphasize the texture of the background.

Originally I choose the image of the Leeds buildings that did not include the white corn exchange on the right. I feel this image is a better choice to work with the series as it links all the images together in terms of colour range. I like that the white stands out and emphasizes the exterior corn exchange image below it.

The text I used with the council estate Image I think makes the image stronger and more interesting. The fonts I used work well with the form and composition of the image. They are simple and linear and therefore reflect the buildings within the image. I did not want the text to distract from the image, which is why I felt it was necessary to remove the hand-drawn text. I wanted to emphasise the shapes and form of the buildings with the text and therefore I did not intend the text to be entirely legible. The text includes a definition of ‘building’ and ‘class’, a reference to Karl Marx as his sociology of class and finally ‘LS1’, which is the beginning of the postcode for the council estate. The references to class within this image were particularly important to me, as I am interested in sociology and particularly enjoyed the subject of class, Marxism and social inequality. I began this series with the intention of wanting to make the unsightly high-rise flats look more appealing and pleasing to the eye, greatly influenced by Stephen Gill. However, as my images progressed I wanted to relate my images to class and social status highlighting Marxist ideologies of class struggles and the oppression of the working class. This is represented through council estates and the negative connotations that often accompany them.

Although I do like the Corn Exchange image I do not feel it addresses all of the issues I wanted it to. However one of my intentions was to emphasise the architecture, I do feel like I have achieved this. The text I experimented with expressed my opinions on the issue of the Corn Exchange and it’s change into a food emporium effectively, however, it did not work visually.

In terms of audience I can see my images being used for graphic design purposes such as flyer's and advertising. Whilst in Topman I came across a number of t-shirts and hoody’s with graphic prints that involved buildings and high-rise flats which made me think my images could be used as t-shirt designs as they are very simple.
I could also see them being part of a local art exhibition. Often we see local artists and how their surroundings have influenced them. They could also be used as a promotional tool for the city of Leeds or possibly Leeds College of Art and Design, on the website or in the prospectus. The images could promote Leeds College of Art and Design and the idea present on the website at the moment suggesting that the college can offer you the chance to gain experience from all areas of art.

Final Images

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Corn Exchange

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With this series i wanted to address the current issue of the Corn Exchange in Leeds and it's conversion into a food emporium. I have tried to express my love for the corn exchange using bright colours and emphasing the buildings unique architecture. Skulls feature in one of the images to express my, as well as a large proportion of the publics, disapproval and protest towards the change.

These images were all created using techniques described earlier such as Threshold, Selecting Shadows and Highlights .

I am not entirely sure whether text works with this images as they are already quite complex. Text seems to make them look a bit chaotic.

The turquoise image to the left was done by selecting the midtones and changing the colour using Hue/Saturation.I tried the same liquify technique in the image above. It works slightly better as it is layered behind the main focus of the image and therefore just looks like random colour.

Leeds

2008-05-12T15:34:00.001-07:00

I feel this was the most unsuccessful series for me as I seemed to struggle to get any images that i was happy with. I wanted to represent Leeds as a city in a positive way to express how i have settled into living here. I do not feel i have achieved this, however i do think the city skylines images below work quite well visually (although there are still missing something). They represent the different areas of the city and the most iconic buildings in Leeds.

This image is alot more successful. It represents Leeds as a city and all the buildings work well together however it may need something else to make it a little more interesting.

Here i used the liquify filter to distort the layer of coloured letters. I was trying to create something similar to the Nick Knight images in my research. However i am not familiar with this tool and the result is not successful.

I quite like the idea of the image above, however it needs something in the middle to complete it.

The composition of the image above does not work because of the angles the photographs have been taken at.

The composition of the image above is not right. The edge of the town hall is quite distracting and leaves the bottom right corner looking empty.

The above images were created by using threshold and selecting shadows and midtones.
The image above was created using the bitmap technique described in the technical notes. I do not think it works very well, especially with the distracting background.

Council Estate

2008-05-12T11:57:00.001-07:00

Within this series i wanted to address the negative attitude towards council estates and high rise flats. I have used post production techniques to make the buildings more interesting and colourful. These images were mainly inspired by Stephen Gill's images and the Sony Bravia advert. Photographs of flowers, paint and graffiti were layered with the buildings to make them more pleasing to the eye.

(please read from the bottom of this post and work upwards)

The text in this image works a lot better as it is more simple and linear. It gives the image form and works well with the composition and linear nature of the buildings.

This background was inverted in this image. It really brings out the texture of the paper. The colour makes the image look like a night scene. I was not sure the hand written text worked as well with this background.

I decided to experiment with text as most of the graphic design i was researching involved text in some way and i felt something was missing from the image below. The text i used was a mixture of typed and hand drawn. It was not intended to be entirely legible. It involves definitions of 'buildings', 'class' , 'house' and 'home' (although i swapped these round). There is also some text on Karl Marx and class and what determines one's class. This comes from my interest in sociology and the class structure in the UK.

The images above are by far my favorite. I think they are more visually pleasing than the others as they are a little more complicated. They were heavily inspired by Jurriaan Schalken. The paper used was scratched then covered in ink. I really like the texture this gives the image.

This building was done in a different way to all the others. First the image was desaturated, the contrast was increased. The layer blending tool was then used on Multiply. It was pasted onto the brown paper and inverted. The technique used for the paint in all of these images above is explained in the flower series.

Select - Colour Range - Midtones

I liked the idea of using graffiti to make these images more colourful and interesting. Graffiti is something we may expect to see near a council estate and there is often negative connotations associated with it. However it also has positive connotations for those who consider graffiti art. Crime or art?

Threshold Select - Colour Range - Midtones

Select - Colour Range - Highlights

The background is skull wrapping paper that was scanned in...

The top layer is from the coloured flower image (flower series). The midtones were selected as shown below.

The building was created using the Bitmap technique (see technical notes) layered twice, with on layer inverted (white).
This is how the coloured layers were created...

The layers were duplicated a few times, colours changed using levels and the rubber used to expose parts of the building.

This was created using the same layers as the 5th image in the flower series.

The brown paper was scanned in and used as the background for most of these images. I feel it worked better than any other background as it is quite plan yet the texture is still visible. The colour also works very well with black and white.

The image above was taken from a magazine, layered ontop of the threshold building. The Shadows were still selected so this layer was copied and pasted onto the brown paper. This creates the outline of the building in the colours of the magazine layer.

This image was created by selecting highlights from the images below...(a photograph of a poster in my room) It was then layered onto the building and a paint layer was added. Again i do not think this image works very well.

This image was created by layering a photograph of coloured letters (taken in the studio) on top of this image of a building. The rubber tool was used to get rid of the rest of the layer so just the windows were coloured. I don't think this image works particularly well........................

Flowers

2008-05-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

This series of images was mostly inspired by Stephen Gill and was simply a starting point for me to practice my new Photoshop skills.

To create this images i started with pink paint as the background...
The image at the back of this screen shot was layered over the top on the paint. by selecting the shadows and the highlight separately (creating two layers). This is done by going to Select on the toolbar - Colour Range - and choosing Shadows/Highlights from the drop down menu. The colour was introduced by selecting the midtones of the third images (coloured letters) and layering it inbetween the highlights and the shadows of the tree. The opacity level was then lowered along with the use of the rubber tool to blend everything together.

This image was created in exactly the same way as the first however this time i used paint. I wanted to make it look like the flowers had been painted.

I used spray paint and ink on white paper and scanned them in. To change the colour a new layer was created and filled using the paint bucket. Shadows were selected on the background layer, making the selection visible on the coloured layer. This could then be copied and pasted as the desired colour.
The paint was layered in between the tree layers and the opacity changed to make it look like the paint was running down the walls.

Highlights and shadows were selected separately and layered on top of brown paper.Highlights and midtones of these images were then selected and layered over the top, adjusting the opacity and changing the colour using hue/saturation.

This was created in exactly the same way but with an extra pink layer (pink paper). The opacity was decreased and the rubber tool used blend it in.

Hightlights and midtones selected (from the two images shown in the screen grab) and layered on top of brown paper.
Midtones from this image were then selected and layered twice over the image. The colours were adjusted using levels and the order of the layers was also changed.

This image was created in exactly the same way as the second image in this post.

Politics of Representation

2008-05-08T05:14:00.000-07:00

Whilst studying digital postproduction I have become aware of (researched) the ethics and politics involved in how an image or photograph is represented.

Photography has an indexical nature. It is much closer and truer to it’s subject than painting or drawing for example and therefore considered more objective. So considering digital postproduction and manipulation this has implications especially in the world of news, media and photojournalism.

The following text is from an article in News Photographer magazine entitled Ethics Matters. It discusses digital manipulation in relation to photojournalism, ethics and the public.

"In national surveys sent to photojournalists, editors, and educators, as if guided by a single voice, all exclaim the same concern: The most serious threat to the integrity and credibility of photojournalism images-whether for still or motion presentations-is computer manipulation.

Almost 10 years ago, Howard Chapnick eloquently summed up the dangers to journalism with such manipulations: "Credibility. Responsibility. These words give us the right to call photojournalism a profession rather than a business. Not maintaining that credibility will diminish our journalistic impact and self-respect." Hal Buell of the Associated Press once said, "Ethics is in the mind. It is not in the tools you use." Robert Gilka, former director of photography for National Geographic said that manipulating images is "like limited nuclear war. There ain't none." The threat to credibility is irreversible if the public starts to mistrust the integrity of news images.

The first time many learned that a new age in photo retouching had dawned were the reports of cable mogul Ted Turner using computerized colorization techniques on classic, black-and-white movies. The motive was profit-it was hoped viewers would be more attracted to the color versions. Profit was the motive for the A Day in the Life books of America, Australia, Canada, and California. All had cover pictures manipulated by computer technology.

Some argue that a cover photograph for a book or magazine or a promotional piece for a news cast can be altered in order to achieve maximum impact because the image is designed to attract potential buyers or viewers just like an advertisement or commercial. Sean Callahan, former editor of American Photo says that covers are sales tools that are used to attract browsing newsstand buyers. "There is tremendous competition in that kind of environment and so you have to do something to get [buyers'] attention," Callahan said.

Photographic truth is an elusive, often subjective, concept. Commercial demands, personal presumptions about how a subject's story should be told, deadline pressure panic, unreasonable editors, an image's eye-catching ability, and interjecting political, religious, or personal beliefs can all demean the credibility of the image, the photojournalist, and the media institution.

John Long of the Hartford Courant and former president of the NPPA, probably said it best:

"Each day when you step out onto the street, remember that you have been granted a sacred trust to be truthful. You have the responsibility to produce only honest images. You have no right to set up pictures; you have no right to stage the news; you have no right to distort the facts. Your fellow citizens trust you. If you destroy the credibility of your work, even in small ways, it destroys the credibility of your newspaper or TV station in the eyes of the people you are covering" (emphasis added)."

There has been a lot of controversy in the media about war photography and the use of Photoshop. With the use of digital postproduction images are given a completely different meaning, misleading the public. Some journalist and war photographers have been discovered staging images, and although this does not occur post-production it is still manipulation and something that can misinform the public.

These are a number of interesting articles found on the BJP website concerning War Photography, journalism, news and media and the use of digital manipulation...
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=printer_friendly&print=340726
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=printer_friendly&print=455150
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=printer_friendly&print=358124
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=printer_friendly&print=202462

When considering Documentary Photography we come across a debate. Should photographers strive to make their photographs aesthetically pleasing using postproduction and manipulation or should they present the raw, true image?
This leads into the question of photography and art. Is photography art? Or is it a representation of the truth? Can it be both and therefore acceptable to manipulate? There are certain ‘Photographies’ defined by the idea of truth, Photojournalism is surely one. Another for example is forensic photography. This type of photography has very strict guidelines and specifications to ensure the photograph is a completely true representation of the scene, obviously any kind of postproduction would be unjust.

In previous modules I have discussed digital manipulation in relation to fashion and beauty. Air brushing and excessive editing is prevalent throughout the industry and is therefore a controversial issue. The media is blamed for distorting our views of ‘true’ and ‘real’ beauty. The Dove Real Beauty Campaign is a perfect example of this, using women of all shapes and sizes and being regarded as ‘real’ women rather than size zero, air brushed models. The advert ‘Evolution’ also shows how much an image is digitally manipulated before it is used in an advert.

I do not feel that it is entirely necessary to consider my images in relation to ethics and postproduction as they are graphic and altered obviously and purely for artistic reasons, they would not mislead anyone in anyway. However they have been created to make a point and express my opinions as well as others, this could be a biased opinion. So is it acceptable to manipulate photographs in order to make a point?

Technical Notes

2008-05-07T04:00:00.001-07:00

(Book - Digital Imaging – Second Edition; Mark Galer & Les Horvat; Focal Press 2003)

(PDF booklet entitled Shooting Raw on your D-SLR - from http://www.photoanswers.co.uk)

(Computer Arts magazine)

Graphic Research

2008-05-07T03:59:00.001-07:00

Seeing as my images are going to be quite graphic i decided to look into a few graphic designers for some inspiration. This is a area that i am quite unfamiliar with so it was very interesting to research.

Jurriaan Schalken

Jurriaan Schalken is a Netherlands based freelance designer specialising in photography and typography. I came across his work in the book Freewave. The way he uses buildings upside down make the image so much more interesting, i may try this with my work.

IAAH

I came across the image below in a book called Isolated. The text below is from the designers website and i really liked how it was written so i thought i would share it.

I like the blues used in this image.

David Gleber

Again found in Isolated - Love the colours in this image - top right - (you may not be able to see them very clearly because it's a scan)

I also like the idea of using text with photographers, not sure it i will adopt this within my own work for this module but it is something i would like to do in the future.

Eduardo Bertone

Again you might not be able to tell but i really like the texture of the image below.

Sony Bravia

2008-05-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

My council estate idea reminded me of this Sony Bravia advert. I had already taken some photographs of paint in the studio so it made sense to experiment with this idea.

Stephen Gill

2008-04-30T04:39:00.003-07:00

I came across Stephen Gill's work in Grafix magazine. His 'Hackney Flowers' series interested me as i had already taken some of my own photographs of flowers in the studio and around leeds.

This is a description of the series from the photographers website...
(http://www.stephengill.co.uk/nobody/books.html)

Stephen Gill has again used his surroundings as the inspiration for this beautiful and evocative series. Hackney Flowers has evolved from his series and book Hackney Wick. This times Gill has collected flowers, seeds, berries and objects from Hackney, East London, that were then pressed in his studio and re-photographed alongside his own photographs and found ephemera, thus building up multi-layered images extracted from the area. Some of the base photographs were also buried in Hackney Wick, allowing the subsequent decay to imprint upon the images, stressing this collaboration with place. A parallel series also runs within this finely produced volume, showing members of the public in Hackney with floral details on their person. This is a warm, poetic and visually exciting book containing images that leave an overwhelming sense of colour, emotion and rhythm extracted from a single borough of London.

The images were that particularly inspiring to me are the ones below...
I like the way Gill uses flowers to make an image pleasing to the eye which otherwise wouldn't be.

After researching Stephen Gill i had the idea to do a series of photographs based on council estates. There is a council estate opposite where i live in Leeds which has some quite unsightly high rise flats. I would like to photograph the estate and use my product photographs to make the buildings look more pleasing.

Buried...
This is another series of Gill's work entitled 'Buried'. Although they are not digitally manipulated they were created in a very interesting way...

The photographs were taken in Hackney Wick and later buried there.
The amount of time the images were left underground varied depending on the amount of rainfall. The depths that the pictures were buried at also varied, as did their positioning. Sometimes they were facing each other, sometimes back to back or sometimes buried singly.

Not knowing what an image would look like once it was dug up introduced an element of chance and surprise which I found appealing. This feeling of letting go and in a way collaborating with place - allowing it also to work on putting the finishing touches to a picture - felt fair. Maybe the spirit of the place can also make its mark.
(http://www.stephengill.co.uk/buried/index.htm)

I really like how the colours run into each other. They remind me of the Nick Knight photos of Naomi Campbell. They become slightly abstract and there is a real texture about them. Although i will be creating my images digitally i would really like to emphasize texture within my work.

This is the article from Grafix magazine below. I find the methods he uses to produce his work very interesting... 'the method itself becomes a response to the subject.'

A History of Leeds

2008-04-30T04:39:00.001-07:00

As my images will be a reprsentation of the city of Leeds it seemed appropriate to research some the city's history and see how it has been documented in the past.

http://www.leodis.net - This website is a photographic archive of Leeds. A project delivered by Leeds Library & Information Service. It has 51, 540 old and new photographs of Leeds. I have chosen some of the most photographed areas of Leeds and the most iconic buildings of Leeds to display on the blog - these have given me ideas about what and where to photograph for my own work.

This is Cuthbert Broderick, the architect of both the Town Hall and the Corn Exchange.

To compare these photographs to Leeds as it is now I also looked at the new corn exchange website (www.cornex.net) and how they had photographed the building for advertising purposes. Flickr was a good research tool to see how other photographers had approached the subject of Leeds, perhaps more artistically.

Change of Idea

2008-04-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

After discussions with Neil I have decided to steer away from the graphic fashion images that i have been looking at and instead concentrate on buildings, using the same techniques of threshold and selecting colour range as i did in task 2. This decision has given me a much clearer idea of what i want to achieve. I will be using some iconic Leeds buildings such as the Corn Exchange and the Town Hall to create graphic images. It seems appropriate to use the Corn Exchange as a focus for my images because of the recent news coverage and restoration it is currently undergoing. Despite mass protesting the plans to convert the corn exchange into a food emporium will be going ahead. I will be attempting to address this issue with my images.

Here is a link to an interesting BBC article on the Corn Exchange...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2007/11/22/skyline_new_corn_exchange_feature.shtml

Tiphanie Brooke

2008-04-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Tiphanie Brooke aka Antigirl is an artist i came across in Computer Arts magazine. She creates mixed media colleges. Her style is similar to the kind of images i want to create by using my own photographs, scanned in images and materials.

The images below are from the section 'women' on her website www.antigirl.com. They seem to be influenced by fashion and remind me of my earlier research on Nick Knight's Dolls. A combination of these ideas is ideally what i would like to achieve.

Metz and Racine

2008-04-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

For task 2 the backgrounds i used were created by scanning in colourful magazine adverts. For my final images i would like to use backgrounds that i have created. Using the images below as inspiration I have decided to take my own product photographs in the studio using toys, jewelry, sweets etc.

The Idea

2008-04-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

For my final images i would like to continue creating quite graphic images like the one above (from task 2). These images were the most successful and would give me the freedom to experiment. I will be using a small number of techniques and tools in Photoshop, keeping the image simple. This will allow me to clearly demonstrate the skills i have learnt.

Experimentation - Task 3

2008-03-09T05:35:00.000-07:00

Combine two of your own original photographs to create a new image.

Here i added the photo of the switch onto the photo of Sarah. I decreased the opacity and used the rubber tool to blend the wallpaper together. I then added the same layer again so i could increase the opacity of the switch on the right hand side.

This photo was added on top of the switch photo. The scale was then changed to make the layer small. I then used the rubber tool to rub out the layer so it looks as if Sarah is standing on top of the switch.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-09T05:17:00.000-07:00

The above images were scanned in from a magazine. I then layered them on top of each other in photoshop, changing the opacity so parts of both could be seen. I increased the contrast and saturation. I then selected the highlights and shadows separately and added them to the brown paper image.

Threshold was used again with my photos. I selected the highlights of the smoking figure and the shadows of the other two photos. I also inverted the top left building to make it white and used the rubber tool to blend it.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

I scanned in this image from Dazed and Confused, increased the contrast and saturation. I also used the clone stamp and blur tool to get rid of the text. Next I selected the higlights and added the layer to the scanned in image of brown paper.

For the figure i used the same threshold technique described earlier. Then i selected the highlights and pasted the layer onto the scanned in image of sweet wrappers.

The selection is visible even when the layer is not visible. This allows me to copy it, which changes the highlights to the colour of the sweet wrapper layer.
I also used a highlighted layer of the figure so it would stand out more against the background.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-09T04:22:00.000-07:00

Here i used the same technique as the previous images... Desaturating the photo of the building using threshold, adding the coloured layer. Then using the eraser tool to rub out the coloured layer. I also descreased the opacity of the coloured layer.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Above are the scanned images, brown paper and wrapping paper.

The screen shots above show the process i went through to change the colour of the building photo. (same technique as with the text earlier)The same technique was used with the face...

The face layer was then duplicated and effects (show below) were added to create a shadow and make the face stand out more against the background.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-08T14:59:00.001-08:00

The image above is text that has been stamped onto a piece of file paper. I scanned it in to use in my image.

The screen shot above shows how i isolated the text from the rest of the image and changed the colour of it before adding it to my image.
Firstly i changed the image using threshold. I created a new layer and coloured it using the paint bucket. Next i selected the shadows (the text) and hid the layer. The selection is still visible whilst viewing the coloured layer, so i was able to copy the selection and paste it into my image and the result is the text is the colour of the paint bucket layer.

The photos above were edited in the same way as previously explained, using Threshold, and selecting the shadows. The Rubber tool was used again to blend layers together.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

This is the scanned image - textured paper.

The screen shot above shows how i used threshold and colour range selection to make my photos graphic. The photo of the smoking figure i did slightly differently to the others. The highlights were selected then the image was inversed to make it black. With the photos below i selected the shadows.

The selections were then dragged onto the background (textured paper) to create layers. I used the rubber tool and Opacity levels to blend the harsh edges of the images.

I was not pleased with this image, the composition is not quite right. So i added another layer...

This image works alot better in terms of composition. The perspective works well as it appears the figure is looking into the shop. It also intersects with the building at the bottom at the right angle.

Experimentation - Task 2

2008-03-08T13:20:00.001-08:00

Add a new element to your original image. This element must be Scanned and added to your image to create a new piece of work.

This is the first image i created by scanning in some silver material and layering it with a photograph i took of Fran. This idea relates to the silver theme i have for my studio brief.

I increased the contrast of this photo to roughly +90, desaturated it and used the Multiply layer blending tool. I then added the silver layer below...

I decreased the contrast and brightness of the silver material and layered it a few times on top on each other to create more creases.

This was created in the same way, except this time i scanned in the material again, slightly creased and layered it with the other scanned material, changing the opacity and contrast.

This was created using exactly the same techniques at the previous two.

Experimentation - Task 1

2008-03-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

The image above looks like 3 potential beauty queens photographed on a beach

This full frame reveals a slightly more shocking image as we see the models with their 'Miss Landmine' sashes and crutches. By cropping the image and presenting it in this way i have intentionally shocked the viewer. This could help raise awareness of the problems of landmines. The Miss Landmine project/pageant was set up as a positive way to help support people who are affected by landmines, specifically women in Angola.

Experimentation - Task 1

2008-03-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

Edit an image through cropping to alter the meaning of the original photograph...

In the cropped image the women appears to be snorting cocaine.

From the full frame image we can see that it is actually a dress that has purposefully been made to look like the models are taking drugs. This image is still as shocking as the cropped one and has raised a great deal of controversy.

Nick Knight - Dolls

2008-03-08T05:17:00.001-08:00

These images were created by letting children of one, two, three and four years old do the model's makeup in any way they wanted, then letting them draw over the top of the images.

I would love to create something similar to this series, perhaps taking some portraits in the studio and using materials and other photographed objects to overlay and make them abstract.

Nick Knight - random selection

2008-03-08T05:10:00.000-08:00

These are a few more Nick Knight images that use the same sort of techniques. I particularly like the images of Naomi Campbell and how things seem to melt. Obviously i have no idea how these images have been created and i'm sure the techniques are well beyond my skills however this is a direction i would like to follow in the future.

Nick Knight Pirelli Calendar

2008-03-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

Nick Knight is a photographer i have researched in the past and I am sure i will keep returning to. His images are always strikingly different and interesting. The Pirelli images become almost abstract, I like the blurring techniques he has used here. The colours and shapes become the focus of the photographs. I would like to attempt similar techniques within my own work.

"This Calendar portrays an imaginary world, so I wanted the images to evoke fantasies, simply hinting at or suggesting forms and situations," Knight explains. "When we dream, we use a wide perspective, and the image may be clearly defined in some details while it is out of focus in others. Of course, the technique must also lend coherence to the images from a visual standpoint."

Knight's post-production technique, based on the "merging" and chromatic processing of the photographs, proves to be quite well suited to this particular project: each shot is perfectly defined in some points, less in others. "In each photograph there are situations or symbols to decipher," Knight concludes. "I want people to be puzzled by this Pirelli Calendar and have fun looking at it and looking at it again, discovering a meaning of their own each day".

(http://www.pirellical.com/noflash/jsp/Calendario.jsp?Year=2004&Lang=en) (2004).

Antony by Nick Knight

2008-01-22T09:46:00.000-08:00

In November 2005, SHOWstudio offered it's international audience the unique opportunity to have their own photographic work featured in a Nick Knight photo shoot with Antony Hegarty, lead singer of Mecury Music prize winning group Antony and the Johnsons. As part of the concept for the portrait shoot on 1st December 2005, Nick Knight used a selection of photographic imagery, submitted by SHOWstudio viewers, to inspire an experimental musical performance. The visuals were projected onto Antony, resulting in a beautiful photographic spread that appeared in the February edition of i-D magazine. Incorporating a gallery with 500+ contributions from SHOWstudio viewers, documentation of the initial brief, shoot and the published story in i-D magazine, the project's spectacular finalé piece takes it's form in an atmospheric film –featuring Antony and a myriad of inspirational imagery courtesy of SHOWstudio' viewers- created by Nick Knight and edited by Sam Blair.
(text taken from showstudio.com)

This video is taken from youtube and is slightly distorted so here is a link to the original video... http://www.showstudio.com/projects/antony/movie

I really like the use of layers in this video. Although the video appears quite simple, using mostly still images with very subtle moving images appearing every so often, all the images are striking and work well together. The music is also a massive factor in how well the video works. I would like to attempt something similar in my work, however i may just concentrate on creating layered photographs. I feel this is still a challenge for me as my skills in Photoshop are not advanced.