Download - Experimental photography pro forma

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Experimental Imagery in

Photography

Sophie Baker

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Case Study

Case StudyThe artist here is Rocío Montoya who is a photographer and graphic designer from Spain who uses handmade collages to make her final products. Her work goes down the more traditional route because of her use of paper collage from photographs she has taken, as well as drawings they’ve made. Montoya’s aim is to manipulate images to covey the perception of nature through aesthetic experiences. Such as the models used in her photography. However she also uses non-traditional techniques by using digital productions, Photoshop, to adjust the lighting, exposure, tone and shadowing on her photographs. After this she begins to go through magazines and her drawings to add to the improved photograph. When the collage has been created she adds to them further with paint and defining other connotations of the images by using a crafting knife to scrape to add different textures to the images. Due to her work using both traditional and non-traditional methods her work is both historical and contemporary. I personally find her work to be more historical than contemporary due to her rare use of Photoshop and her work focusing more on her collages and artwork on the photographs to make the final product. This work would most likely be displayed in galleries and on the internet for the artists website/ promotion.

Traditional method: Non-traditional method:

Final product:

Case StudyThe artist here is Matthew Brandt is photographer from Los Angeles. Brandt uses the traditional method of taken photographs he has taken and submerging them in water. By doing this he has created a dynamic and dramatic perspective on a clear image. The photographer takes images of lakes and brings back samples of the water from the lake to soak the picture with once they have been printed. Doing this degrades, stains and erodes the image(s) and gives them a new perspective as well as an aged look from the locations own sources. Such as the lake water. Due to Brandt not using an digital post productions or techniques his method for his photography is traditional. His traditional approach to his work makes his work more historical rather than contemporary because of his natural techniques towards his final products. His work is mainly displayed within galleries and online on his own personal blog to display his portfolio.

Case StudyThe artist here is Ellen Hoverkamp. Hoverkamp uses scanography, scanner photography, to create her work. The scanner takes the image with a black background placed giving the subjects in the foreground more focus and definition. She uses natural resources, plants, to create her displayed images through colleges or displays of the plants within the photograph. Due to her using modern technology to create her work with a scanner her photographs would be deemed as contemporary and being created in a non-traditional method. Even though she is using sources for her images which have been around for years, such as plants, it wouldn’t be seen as a historical/ traditional type of photography because of her use of modern techniques. Hoverkamp has done a traditional form of photography in a non-traditional way. The photographers work has not only been displayed in galleries and online for her own webpage but also in a gardening book to further display her work on other platforms to broaden her audience.

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Technique #1Out of focus

Technique #1: Out of focus

How I carried out the technique to make these images ‘Out of focus’ was by making sure the camera was in manual focus, not auto focus. This was to ensure the images would be out of focus and not automatically in focus. The images taken were of lights mainly but inside and outside meaning that the focus needed to be adjusted for each image to get different effects from them. As well as trying to make sure the images were distinguishable even out of focus.

Technique #1 Chosen image (On separate document):

The image that I have chosen has a bokeh effect from the fairy lights in the image. I figured that this would be a good background for something rotoscoped to have. I began by looking up images of illustrated fairies, chose my favorite for positioning and shape and dragged the image into Photoshop. Using the ‘Rotoscoping’ tool and began cutting the outline of the fairy. Once rotoscoped I right click on my mouse where a column of options appear and go for ‘Layer Via Copy’ so that I can drag that layer of the fairy independently onto another document with the chosen image on using the ‘Mouse’ tool.

Technique #1

Once the layer of the rotoscoped fairy is dragged using the mouse tool onto the chosen photograph I wanted to change the colour of the fairy to look more like a shadow. I double click on the layer needed and a menu opens. I go for ‘Colour Overlay’, to get a full coverage of the rotoscoped layer, and click on the small coloured rectangle to get a selection of colours and shades to a better selection. After playing around with the colours to see what matches the background the best I went for full black so that the fairy looks like a shadow over the bokeh photograph.

Before colour adjustments

After colour adjustments

Technique #1 After rotoscoping, placing and colouring the first subject for the chosen photograph I noticed that is was still quite bare so I went back and found another subject to rotoscope and colour to look like a shadow for the left side of the photograph.

Technique #1

The strengths of my final image are the overall concept of using a fantasy element to the image. I like that the fairy on the left looks as though she’s holding one of the bokeh lights. This small detail, I think, makes the composition look more pleasing for the viewer. However the weaknesses of my final product is that the rotoscoping of the subjects is quite messy. I could have taken more care with them to make them more defined. How I could develop the technique further is maybe adding more or maybe having the bokeh lights to overlap them to make the subjects look even more like shadows. This image would most likely be seen online or possible as a print for children.

Original image: Edited image:

Technique #1: Development Original image: Edited image:

To continue with development for my photography I went back to taking a few more images and to work tried to edit one of them I thought would work well. I ended up doing the same technique as I had done before hand with the previous out of focus edit. I went online and found an illustrated image of a hot air balloon to add to the out of focus image of the clouds to have a mix of reality and fictional imagery tied together. The strengths of this image is that the overall idea of having an illustrated image with the photograph is interesting and makes the composition interesting. However the weaknesses of this image is that the illustrated style is too obvious in comparison to the photograph making the image not very aesthetically pleasing. This type of work would be seen as prints for children and most likely would be advertised online.

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Technique #2Reflections

Technique #2: Reflections

The technique I used to carry out images as reflections was to make sure the camera was in auto focus to make sure that the subject was clear and stood out at any angle or surface. Sometimes I would use manual focus if the surface was to obscure to ensure the subjects were noticeable.

Technique #2 With the second image I wanted to play around with the brightness of the image, as well as add a bit of colour to the image to make it more defined. So in order to achieve this I went for the adjustments. I started by adjusting the ‘Brightness/ Contrast’ to make the subjects within the image more noticable. Which worked slightly by making whatever darker elements in the photo more prominent.

The image became slightly more prominent after working with some of the other adjustments, such as the ‘Curves’. The main effect that came from the ‘Brightness/ Contrast’ and ‘Curves’ was that the subjects became more and more obvious to the eye.

Technique #2

After some more sharpening adjustments to make the two subjects more prominent to the viewer with ‘Levels’ I began to add colour to the image to bring vibrancy to the image. First off I played with the levels on ‘Vibrance’. This added only a small amount of colour change, even with the levels being very high. So I went for the most effective adjustment ‘Hue/ Saturation’. Instead of being clam with the colours I went for as bright as possible to bring as much colour to the image in contrast to the original chosen images.

Technique #2

The strengths of my final image are the use of colour. Even with the noise in the image the final result I personally find to still be aesthetically please and makes the composition interesting because both the subjects remain still it gives the image an eerie feel, except now instead of the subjects fading into the background like in the original they have become more focused from the sharpening and coloured adjustments. The weakness of this image is that even though it’s quite eerie it is quite bland. There isn’t a lot in focus here. If I were to develop this image further I would work on the angle of the image to make the overall finish more dynamic and interesting for the viewer. The image would most likely be seen online or in a gallery for a specific theme of reflections by an audience of all ages.


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Technique #3Hockney Joiner

Technique #3: Hockney Joiners

In order to achieve a Hockney Joiner I needed to find a subject that would be identifiable even when in the college style of a Hockney Joiner. I chose to use a bike that had a fairly clear background so that the subject was easily in the foreground of the image. I began taking an image of the handle bars and carried on taking photographs of the bike in a snake-like pattern before stitching them together on Photoshop.

Technique #3

In order to make my Hockney Joiner I needed to go File> Automate> Photomerge to open up a menu in order to locate all the images to create the Hockney Joiner. But first I needed to make sure to un-tick ‘Blend Images Together’ at the bottom of the menu so that the effect and purpose of the Hockney Joiner would be lost. Once done I click on the ‘Browse…’ option near the top right hand of the menu to select the file that holds the photographs take to make the Hockney Joiner.

Technique #3

Once I selected to ‘Browse…’ my files I needed to select the correct one under My photos> Hockney Joiner and collect them all by clicking the top one then scrolling to the bottom and holding down ‘Shift’ while clicking on the last photo selection. Selecting ‘OK’ on both the files selected and Photomerge section begins to load the image until they are all piled to gether on screen. They came out messy and not very identifable as a bike so I needed to selcted layer by layer to move them around to create a clearer image of a bike.

Technique #3

The strengths of my final image for the Hockney Joiner is that even though the final product is slightly jagged and misplaced the subject, the bike, is still identifiable by the viewer. Because the image is capable of being recognized but in a different kind of viewing the composition becomes interesting and aesthetically pleasing. The weaknesses with this image is that I could have take the image in a different angle. This would have developed my technique with the Hockney Joiner if I had taken the photographs from head on or from a looking up point of view to make the image less obvious and interesting. This types of image would be seen online and in galleries or prints with an audience with no age restricts. Because it’s of sporting equipment as well the audience could show an interest in sports, particularly biking.

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Technique #4Long Exposure

Technique #4: Long Exposure

To create images in long exposure I needed to make sure that the shutter speed was slow so that there was little focus on the moving images. So around half a second to 1 second. I also needed to make sure that the ISO was high so as little light as possible passed through the photos taken, making it around 100 to 200. Finally, the aperture needed to be low as well, around F30. This is all to ensure that the images taken turn out to be exaggerated and out of focus. For instance with the cars it looks as though they’re travelling at extreme speeds.

Technique #4

Similar to my Reflections image I used the adjustments for this image to add more sharpness and colour to the original photograph. To begin with I used the ‘Brightness/ Contrast’ to make the image more defined and sharper by adding light and shadow to the naturally dark and light aspects of the image. I followed this by adding a bit of colour with the ‘Hue/ Saturation’ to bring in more warmth to the image because the ‘Brightness/ Contrast’ was too harsh in terms of light and dark. However to add more colour I played with the colour on the ‘Hue/ Saturation’ more. Like the Reflections image I decided to add more brighter and bold colours to the image to bring out a different side in comparison to how it looked originally.

Orig

inal

imag

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Technique #4

The strengths for my final product of the long exposure is that with the addition of colour the image makes the composition look more interesting and dynamic. The original image already looked as if the car was speeding, due to the ISO, but with the exaggeration of colour its made an exaggeration on the cars appears and speed as well. The weaknesses with this image is that the colour, even though it’s much bolder in comparison to the original image, is almost garish and not very appealing or eye-catching. The colour is bright but it wouldn’t stop anyone to look at it. The overall image leaves me wondering where this type of photography would be seen. Most likely online or/ and in a galley specializing in long exposer images for an audience keen on that type of imagery.


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InvestigatingExperimental Techniques

Investigation #1: Multimedia

Investigation #1: Multimedia Multimedia photography is all about visual storytelling through layering your photography. One of the ways in which multimedia photography can be achieved is by collaging. This can be done is variety of ways. One way is by taking an image, such as a head shot, of your subject and using that as a template. The equipment that would be used on this for this technique is the DSLR of choice by the photographer to gather images of the subject(s) and objects/ backgrounds they will want for their collage. Then a mass amount of post production on Photoshop in post-production to make the college. Post-production is key for this kind of multimedia photography because it’s how you collective place your photographs together to make one. Once the photographer has gathered their images they’d most likely make sure their subject for this image, if there is one, by going onto Photoshop to cut and crop the image to be suitable for your final product. Either by focusing on the subjects eyes, hair, making them smaller/ larger to fit in the college better, etc. It’s then down to the photographer to gather other sources of imagery to into the collage (either by taking the photographs themselves or sourcing them online). The method that would most likely take place is putting the images wanted on a separate document, one at a time, from the document you’d want to put your final product. Using the ‘Polygonal Lasso Tool’ on Photoshop to cut the images to be the right size and cut onto a separate layer and them dragging them onto the final document to be placed into the right position around the subject(s).

Another way in which the photographer can make the collage is by not only making them on Photoshop is by printing out the photographs taken and making them by hand. This is done cutting out the printed images, either with scissors or a crafting knife, and layer in the images one by one. Other forms of equipment could be used such as paint, fabric, plants, inanimate objects, etc. to make more shadowing and texture to the image without it being digitally done. Once made by hand the photographer would take a photograph of their finished collage. The limitations of this technique is that sometimes to create collages the photographer will use images from online. This is sometimes done to use images that are vintage or old fashioned to merge with modern imagery and settings. Due to this the photographer loses a lot of validity with their work. The concept of the collage and the collection of images is purely done from them, however the actual images aren’t always theirs. There is also the factor that because they will sometimes want photographs that are vintage, from space, underwater, etc. they will mostly need to look them up online but they may not be able to gain access to them or find the ones that are needed which can cause a lack of process and limit what they can do with their final product and need to change their initial ideas.

Investigation #2: High Speed

Investigation #2: High SpeedHigh speed photography is much more technical of a technique. It require a lot of camera settings in order to achieve the images you are wanting to capture. To begin with the it is recommended that the photographer has a block colour as a background, preferable a completely dark room to create a much more effective series of photographs because you will be using the flash to freeze the action of your subject rather than the shutters speed in a dark room. If you are going to be using the flash on the camera you are going to want to adjust the flash power to be. The higher it is the slower the flash of light with be meaning there will be less motion frozen to be captured. One way to make sure the camera captures the image at the right time is using he microphone on the camera which will trigger the flash and when the photo is taken. However, the problem with doing this is being careful with the distance from the where the subject of the photo is from the camera. The closer the sound the sooner the image will be taken, if the camera is too far away the image will be taken too late.

The key element to using high speed photography is making sure you camera has the capability of manual settings. That way you are capable of adjusting your settings to match your locations, such as having a light room or a dark room. A key setting that you will need to adjust is the shutters speed. You’ll need a fast shutters speed (at least 1/ 500) in order to capture as much movement as possible with plenty of light. This means that you will need an aperture of f/8 or above in order to capture the high speed movement in focus, as well as achieving as much depth of field as possible. Depending on your location, a light room or a dark room, you will need to adjust your ISO to prevent noise and achieve the right amount of focus on the subject of the image. As well as making sure the focus in on manual. If the focus is on auto it’ll take too slow to capture the fast moving subject. Depending on the photographers subject of choice, such as ink blots in water, you need to make sure the camera is level with where the object will either land is going to be (such as fi you’re going to burst a water balloon with a pin it’ll stay in one place and not be lowered or moved). Using a tripod will be essential to make sure you don’t lose focus on the subject in any way.

The limitations on taking images in high speed is that there can be a limit to how many objects can be used. The photographer is going to want to use liquids, such as paint, water, ink, drinks, etc. which can cause quite a repetitive cycle with their images. These images can be very time consuming and unpredictable as well. You never know the angle of how the subjects will look when they fall. If they don’t turn out correct it can waste a lot of the photographer resources and time.

Investigation #3: Multi Exposure

Investigation #3: Multi Exposure How multi exposure images are achieved is very similar to how multimedia images are made; a lot of layering. The photographer is in need of finding two, or more, subjects to be in their final product. Unlike multimedia images, which can use up more subjects to create their images for collages, multi exposure images usually focus on two that are combined together. The first step to achieving multi exposure images is by making sure the main image is prepared and captured to how you want it. A lot of the time it will be a head shot of someone either head on or from the side and putting said photo onto a new Photoshop document. One of the first steps that can be taken out is by cropping the image, by using ‘Crop Tool’, to make sure the size of the image is to your liking. For instance, if the image was taken as landscape and you want it to be more portrait and have the subject be more central and focused. Other adjustments like this can be made such as adding brightness and contrast. This can be done by going to Image> Adjustments> Levels to brighten your image. You can even clean up parts of your image by using the ‘Spot Healing Brush Tool’ to smooth out your subject before further edits are made.

The next step to editing your image is by selecting your ‘Magic Want Tool’ and clicking anywhere on the background away from your subject and going to Select> Inverse to have your subject selected. The next step is finding the ‘Refine Edge’ button to slightly increase the ‘Radius’ value and ‘Edge Detection’ to 1.5 to make the edges more smooth to sharpen the details of the subject. Following these steps you need to set the ‘Output To’ from the ‘Output’ section of the options menu from the ‘Refined Edges’ to ‘New Layer with Layer Mask’. This will make the subject and background now separate to work on. Now you’ve edited the subject you can now work on finding the second layer to create the multi exposure. Either by selecting the image you’ve taken or from online (usually this is done of a forest). Drag this image to be the layer above the subject and keep the layer of the second layer selected while pressing the ‘Control’ key and select the ‘Layer Clipping Mask’ of the layer with your subject. This will now show a dotted outline of the subject with the background (second layer).

The next step requires you to ‘Add Vector Mask’ at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ panel to cut away the rest of the background layer on the outside of the subjects outline and hide that second layer once done and select the subjects layer and make a copy (Control – J) and place that new copy layer above the background layer. Once done right click on the subject layer and ‘Apply Layer Mask’ and change the ‘Blending Mode’ of that layer to ‘Screen’ in the ‘Layers’ panel to create the multi exposure. Further exposure can be taken out to soften the image with the ‘Brush Tool’ and ‘Eyedropper Tool’ to make adjustments.

The limitations with work like this is that it can become a repetitive look after a while, it could be argued as a theme but there can be a limit to the amount of double exposure looks that can be carried out.

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Planning Documentation

Mind map

Mood board

What types of experimental photography will you produce? What are your subjects?

I will produce two kinds of experimental photography. One is of multimedia photography in the form of collages that are eventually scanned but done by hand rather done on Photoshop of people in a candid situation but added elements to image to make them look mythical. The other is multi exposure photography of a person from two angles of emotions or elements (two faced). The aim is for there to be a theme of who they want to be as opposed to who they really are.

What techniques will be required?

The techniques that will be needed are mainly post production for both experimental photography techniques. The collages will require me to take additional images to go around the subject in the photo. All image for that image will be printed out and cut with either scissors or a crafting knife to be layered and placed together. Other techniques would be paint, pencils, fabric, scrapping with the crafting knife to add a different look/ texture to the image, etc. and then using the scanner to get a full finish print of the final product. I imagine while taking the images I’d want the ISO to be quite low and high to change the perspective of the subject through lighting. Then there’s a range of looks and mood to the images through light. For the multi media photography the main technique would be done with post production on Photoshop. This will be the way in which I assemble the photographs together making them multi media.

Proposal

What equipment is required?

The equipment that will be required for this will be a DSLR to take the images of the subject )and other elements for the collages) as well as a tripod to steady the camera. For the collages I will need to use art equipment such as paint and pencils to make up the collages. Whereas for the multi exposure images I will need to use Photoshop to combine the images and edit them.

Plan - LogTime Date Experiment

2pm-2:30pm2:40pm-3:10pm

21st October, 2016 The subjects of the images I took were of two different people to get both a head shot, a head to torso shot and more of a body shot to experiment more on what I could do with the them in terms of both collages and emotions. The settings were a plain white wall so that the subject was more in focus and to make to scenery more minimalistic. The style for this image would be done mainly through post-production to conduct the collages, both the fantasy one and the two faced one. In order to do this I took images of nature (such as leaves, flowers, branches, etc.) and have the subject in the same position do a happy or natural face to a sad or screaming face.

3:00pm-4:00pm 4th November, 2016 Setting up the camera on the tripod so that it’ll keep the image straight and angled of the one subject against a white backdrop so that the subject was focal point of the image. Having their face covered so that what was happening to them through post-production was more eye-catching than their facial expression. I also found it was more affective to not see their faces because then it made them look more limp with the hair down, coving the subjects face and head down. The photo’s from outdoors were all used as potential elements through post-production that will be edited and added to the subject to make them look more whimsical and have more a fantasy element.

3:50pm-4:00pm 11th November, 2016 The two different subject were positioned in a different way from one another in their shots separately but were going to have a similar theme of because combined together with their other halves. The first I had stand to the side with their back away from the light so that their face was darker. And then from the same position step to the right so that their body was facing forward with the face was turned to the light so that it could be well lit and seen. This was so I had a good position to merge the two together in one image. The next subject was one person stood in the middle of the frame looking into the camera, then turning their head (stood in the same spot) left and then right. These two images were going to be used to be merged together (separately from each other) and added post production to create emotions through mediums such as paint and water-coloured pencils.

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Production

Contact Sheets (Shoot #1)

Developments (Shoot #1)Chosen Images:

The first step of post-production that I took for my first image was to choose this the right images taken from outside and rotoscope them to fit to the subject. One of the first edits I had begun to do was by using the ‘Rotoscope Tool’ to select a branch off the tree image I took to use as an arm for the subject. Once made into a new layer I used to the ‘Scale Tool’ (Edit> Transformation> Scale) to fit as an arm, as well as the ‘Warp Tool’ (Edit> Transformation> Warp) to curve out the branch to be less straight and narrow. Due to their being a sleeve I need to rotoscope a portion of it and make into a new layer I could put above the branch to make it look as though it’s coming out of the shirt and not on it.

Developments (Shoot #1)Next I experimented with other images I had rotoscoped such as the leafs and feathers to created wings and a crown on the subject to make there more of a fantasy element to the image overall. I then went on to my previous image of the tree and rotoscoped another smaller, more curved branch to be used as a vine to wrap around the subjects legs and arms. Using the ‘Scale Tool’ to fit to the size of the subject and then double clicking on the layer of the branch itself to use a black ‘Colour Overlay’ to make them look less like a branch and more like a vine.

Shoot #1

Shoot #1 - Analysis

For my first edit I used both digital methods of post-production and traditional. When doing the digital method I used some image I had taken outdoors to make elements of the subject look more ethereal with branches and leaved. Using the images of nature that had been rotoscoped in different positions and colourising them added more depth and texture the image. As well as with the traditional method of post-production. Using the original image for this method to show contrast between the digital and traditional techniques. The different colours show a lot of texture and tone to the image. However there isn’t a lot of techniques used in the second image. I could have taken advantage of the nature photography I had done to make a different collage with the second image.

Developments (Shoot #2 – Edit 1) For my first shoot I made sure to take two images from the same position of my subject within the photo. This was so that I was able to Photoshop the two subjects together as one. I wanted to get a new perspective with the image by having the subject laying down facing the wall and then have the second image, to blend with the first one, was to have the subject face coming out of there had. One face is neutral and the other expressive. To blend to the two images together I used the ‘Rotoscope’ tool to make the subjects in each image a separate layer. This was to make the blending of the images easier. In order to do so I used the ‘Spot Healing Brush’ tool to selected segments of the subjects forehead and face to get the right shading combination. However, the shading of the two subjects was too different. One had too much of a shadow compared to the other. As well as the fact that one of the images was out of focus. This made it difficult to make the images one.

Original images:

Making the images separate layers to combine:

Developments (Shoot #2 – Edit 1)During the first shoot I used another subject to get a different image from the first image I tried to edit. Either as an additional edit or in case one went wrong. For this second image I tried to use the same concept of having the subject in the same position but moving their head so that the two expressions can be blended together as one. These two images had much better lighting so when using the ‘Spot Healing Brush’ tool the selection of skin tones was much better to blend together. In order to get the right position I took the second image (where the subject is looking up) to a separate layer cut off to the point needed (which was just past the subjects nose to be blended to the first images forehead). Having a blank background made it much easier to ‘Rotoscope’ the hair around the subject because the background was the same for each image.

Original images:

Shoot #2 – Edit 1

Shoot #2 – Edit 1 - Analysis

The main technique I had used for this edit is through using the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ on the two images of the same subject to be blended together. Due to the two images being taken on two different angles the lighting of them was different. This meant that then aligned after rotoscoping the skin tones didn’t match. So using the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ on the skin tone meant changing a lot of it losing depth and tone on the skin while blending it together. However, the contrast of the image worked with the two faces being blended together because of the change in angles and dynamics of their being two sets of eyes that the viewer looks at. With the non-digital post-production it looks a bit out of place with the edit. Maybe if the dark to brighter colours were blended together it would look less obvious and stands out over the subject.

Developments (Shoot #2 – Edit 2)For my second edit I took an image from the first shoot I did and tried editing in a new way which was inspired by the photographer Rocío Montoya who edited wild flowers growing out of the middle of her subjects face. I took a headshot of the subject for the edit and began rotoscoping the curve down the middle of their face to make into a separate layer. Once done I made sure it was the top visible layer and when double clicking on the layer I added a ‘Drop Shadow’ to the layer to give the image for depth rather than have it be too flat. To create more depth to the middle of the subject face from where the flower come out of. I made a copy of the rotoscoped layer I had done of the subjects face and made a ‘Colour Overlay’ so that it was fully black. After making sure the coloured layer was underneath the face layer and positioned them so that the face layer was further away from the coloured layer (which was in line with the original image). Then so that the layer wasn’t too sharp I used the ‘Brush’ tool and made sure the brush was softer to create a shadow effect I used it around the outside of colour layer. Once done I began rotoscoping the wild flower image I found on line. I positioned the image, once placed into Photoshop, by using the ‘Scale’ and ‘Rotation’ options under Edit> Transformation. When I had finished rotoscoping and positioning the wild flower image around the subject I carried on rotoscoping other image to go on and around the subject make the edit look much more like a collage.

Original image:

Developments (Shoot #2 – Edit 2)

Image chosen offline:

Developments (Shoot #2 – Edit 2)Image chosen offline:

I tried experimenting with different angles of the image by adding different plants and flowers to the image. One of which was rotoscoping a flower to fit around the subjects eye by using the ‘Warp’ tool under Edit> Transformation> Warp. I then went on to use my own images of flowers using the same technique I had done before. Following this I went and use a picture of multiple wild flowers to create a background around the subject by rotoscoping around the edges so that it didn’t look so much as a picture behind the subject.


Before rotoscoping the flowers behind the subject however I need to make sure the subject was lined up so that I could find a what needed to be cut away. Before getting more detailed with the rotoscoping I did a rough outline of what I wanted it to look like and then became more detailed.

Shoot #2 – Edit 2

Shoot #2 - Edit 2 - Analysis

Unlike the other images I only used the digital method of post-production for my techniques to make this final image. I had developed the image by using images I had taken of flowers to be used as a background of the subject and to be used to create depth and texture to the subject by adding layers to the subjects profile. The main technique I had used was through the ‘Rotoscope Tool’ on Photoshop to use on the subjects profile and the flowers in the background and on the subject. The symmetry of the image was taken away when I added the middle layer on the face for the flowers to be on top of it. However, this did create a lot of contrast from the subject to the flowers and angles within the image. How the image could be improved is by being more advanced and creative with the use of collaging. I could have taken advantage of the amount of nature photography I had and used them to create more elements to the image. I feel like the creativity stopped after the edits I had done on the subjects face with the yellow flowers only. I could have done more with the other images. Such as using the hand and wrist with more of my nature photography.


Keeping with the theme of merging the subject together in different ways I did the same with thing with two subject in my third shoot. The first thing I needed to do when editing these images was to make them into separate layer so that they could be placed on top of one another before being merged with the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’. Once rotoscoped into two layers I began working out the positing of how they should be further edited. When placed correctly I worked on rotoscoped and cutting any of the excess background that was done through the rough cut of the two layers of the subject. This helped for when I needed to actually use the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’.


I then went on to using the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ to being bring the two layer, of the same subject, together so it looked like they were one. The hair was rather difficult to merge because of the different tones of light and colour in the subjects hair. This meant looking at it as though it would be one so the light of the hair travelled down together not into each other. Whereas with the clothing it was easier because of the patterns of their clothing. The colours were easier to blend together because they were block colours and different shades of light or colours. Once done the image looked as though they were connected. After the digital images were finished I worked on adding watercolors to the image instead of paint like I had done with previous images. However, the texture of the paints didn’t work as well in terms of vibrancy or texture taking elements of the image away because the lack of effect from the watercolors over-powered the subject.

Shoot #3 – Edit 1


The techniques that have been used to make this image is through both digital and traditional methods of post-production. Compositional techniques I had used were about the lighting being in the image I made sure that one angle of the subject was darkened with less light and other was well lit with their face exposed in contrast to not being shown before. Due to there being more of the body being shown there is more movement in the subject from moving out of place and showing more of themselves in the second angle towards the lighting. Because there was a darker and lighter side to each image I used the traditional method of post-production to do so with the colours. Making there a light, warmer side to one end and using darker colder colours to the other. Using watercolors didn’t work out as well as paint did and the colours used weren’t effective enough due to a lack of vibrancy. As well as the colours used in the traditional post-production I could have worked on using a far-out shot and a head shot with these images to practice on. There could also be more texture to the image. Rather than just using watercolors on the image I could have also used paint and collages to add more element to the image.


Like other images I needed to make the three different images into three layers so that I could position them fitting so that they would work well together when using the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’. Using the ‘Rotoscope Tool’ I made a rough outline of the subject to make into layer and once in place with the other three I cleaned up the layer by using the ‘Rotoscope Tool’ again so that the subject hair and clothing didn’t have any of the original background against the now white background. When ready I used the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ to join together. Once I had edited the images I had them printed off so that I could add paint to the background. Cutting out the image around the subject and gluing the cut out to a blank piece of paper to work on a clearer background. Splitting the image into two halves, one for anger and the other for sadness through colours that show those emotions (e.g. red and blue) with the middle subject being neutral to show two sides to them.

Shoot #3 – Edit 2


The techniques that have been used to make this image is through both digital and traditional methods of post-production. When taking the images of the subject I needed to use compositional techniques of symmetry in order to keep symmetry with the editing of the photographs. Due to this there isn’t a lot of shape used in the final image because I needed to keep all three images equal to one another so that they could be blended together on Photoshop using the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’. The skills I had used on Photoshop were the use of the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ to make sure that the hair, skin and clothes matched up together so that they looked as though all subjects were one. The contrast of the paint to the image shows a bit of diversity from the dark colours on the subject and the brighter colours around them to the contrast from in techniques and post-production. How this image could be improved further is by working more on how the the tone of the image. The only show of light to dark is shown on the subjects hair. I could have moved the lighting to be more central to the subject so they were better lit so there was a bigger contrast from the background and them. There could have also been more use of the rule of thirds. The alignment of the eyes isn’t central to the middle of the image so it doesn’t meet the viewers eye-line.

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Evaluation

Final Image #1

Final Image #2

Final Image #3

DevelopmentModificationAfter editing each of the images on Photoshop I took additional post-production for further experimentation by adding paint and watercolours to the images after being printed. This was to elaborate the images due to the subjects in each image being combined with one or more of themselves with different angles and facial expressions. The paint was used to make and show a deeper divide on the image through colours representing emotions. Such as red and black for anger, blue and purple for sadness and yellow and orange for happiness.

Creating ImagesPost-production was key to the completion of my photography because I had a specific brief in mind for my images which was to merge a subject in a photograph to another angled image of that same subject. Using tools on Photoshop was needed in order to do this so that they looked more realistic. As well as adding paint and other art mediums after the post-production on Photoshop. Both elements of post-production, digital and traditional, were useful for the finalising of my images to match my intended brief.

EvaluationReflectionI think at the beginning of the project I worked through the project professionally but due to poor time management my work became less professional and all the images ended up with the same post-production techniques. My intentions for the project were set out as I had planned, by combining subjects in images and using mediums such as paint and water colours to make the image more dynamic. However, if I had managed my time with the photo edits on Photoshop quicker I would have had more time to work on making further post-production my interesting and elaborate. Such as using images I had done to cut out for collages as well as other materials to add to the images. I don’t think that my end product was near-professional because of the added paints but without they still wouldn’t have because they all would have looked too similar and plain with just the white backgrounds and use of the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ on the subjects.

ConclusionWhat I could do to improve for the future is to work on more ideas through further research for inspiration instead of choosing one and trying that for all images but through different angles and models. As well as making time to practice further post-production techniques so that they can be done in more of a professional manner and with more variety. I think that my intentions were carried out but they could have been carried out much more with better planning and ideas that could have been done. For the future I need to take more time with research and brain storming as well as putting everything into practice.

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