Manipulative Photography

Katie Reed

Photo Manipulation Examples

Christophe GilbertI think this manipulative photograph was constructed of only two different photographs. One, in a studio of the model using a fan to blow her hair to the side. The second photograph I think could have been taken of either horses racing or laying down. To combine the two images to create this manipulation I would have said that the model and horses were made into two different layers, placing the horse layer behind the woman. They were then carefully placed around the hair, covering up any loose strands.

This photograph was probably made of two photographs, three at most. The photograph of the model seems as though it was taken in a studio using probably three lights (two at the sides and one from above). If the model was wearing a skin tight dress, with loose material at the ends, using a fan to blow the dress will cause it to create the very soft movement in the picture then all the artist would have to do is get the fish scale pattern and fix it to the dress.

Thomas BarbeyI think this photograph was composed of 2-3 different photographs or perhaps many different smaller photographs (the people holding the umbrellas) taken individually. Originally these photographs could have been in colour beforehand and after the layers were put together, using Photoshop, it could have been edited in a tonal fashion so everything would have the same even effect on it. This could have been one way that Barbey used to make this picture realistic whilst at the same time, utterly ludacris. If taken apart I think that this photo could be made up of at least 3 photos (in my opinion) and possibly 4-5 at most. These photos could be 2 landscape photos, the sky in the background and the houses of parliament, and different photos taken in a studio which would be the people holding the umbrellas.

I think this image was made up of 3 different images. A personal view of someone playing the piano, two zebras and a landscape of perhaps a field.To get the effect of the zebras being part of the piano I think it was either lined up very accurately or some sort of paint/shape tool was used to guide the zebras striped and join them with the piano keys.There is no pattern in Thomas’ work but he does have a tonal/black and white theme in the photographs he composes.In addition to the manipulation of the photo, using the dodge and burn tool, once the layers were put together it could have been used to highlight the white of the keys and the white on the animals.I think he had used this photograph in his portfolio because as well as it matching his theme of tonal photography, the black and white zebras and keys on the piano are well fit together, creating a clever composition which will show off his creativity in his work in his portfolio.

Ideas

• Walking through a keyhole with a different landscape on the other side.

• Keyhole darkened (siloet) separating two different types of scenery

• Black and white street thug/chav/gangster kneeling down to look through a keyhole.>

• AA typical London stereotype.

• Dark brick wall – dirty, brown• Old, abandoned• Negative appearance• It will look like an uncomfortable

place to be in it’s a very intimidating scene.

• Lit by street lamp or torch?• Photo taken in late evening/night

• China Doll makeup

• Neat & clean• In colour• Bright colours• China doll through

the keyhole• Holding big key

For my final image I would like it to be quite dark and gloomy. I’ll create an atmosphere like this in the photograph by taking a picture of a dimly lit wall with a single light, lighting it up. On the wall to the bottom there will be a large keyhole with a china doll standing in it, holding up a key. Opposite the wall crouching down there will be a person (in run down clothing) looking down at the doll (the china doll will also be looking up).For my second image the china doll will be in the persons hand, placing down the key as the person will be pushing the wall opening a door and walking through it. Through this door there will be a bright colourful scene with a long road and trees either side. You will be able to see this when the door is being opened.For both of these photos the person will be in black and white (almost the same as the wall, however the wall will only be dark brown colours) and the china doll with be bright and colourful. The keyhole for the first photograph will have a bright white light coming through it.

Ideas+/Photo 1This is the type of wall/ally-way and lighting that I want for my manipulation photo. I want it to be dark (not too dark) with very dim lighting. I want it to look really run down and sort of old fashioned too. To get the right lighting for this, I might wait until the sun sets to light it up with a torch. If this does not work I will find a street lamp or try again during the day and just turn the picture into black and white/darker colours on Photoshop.This photograph will also be my background and close to this type of angle.

My second photograph will be of a closed door which I will put into the wall and on top of that will be a giant keyhole.The keyhole will be my third picture which will only have a white light shining through it. To take this I will either find a real keyhole, shine the light through it and take the picture as it is or, I will make a keyhole shape in a dark studio and shine a torch through it then take the photo that way. To get the effect that I want I will try taking the picture head on facing the front or I will try taking it at an angle to match the angle of the picture of the wall. To do this I will have to make sure I remember the distance and make a rough estimate of the camera when taking this photo. To take the photograph of the door I will have to take the same things into consideration. The actual door will probably one on a shed or one in my house. This will also be edited on Photoshop to match the tone of the wall.

My fourth photo will be of a china doll (classmate model) that will be standing in the key hole holding a giant key (sixth photograph). The china doll will be giving the key to a normal sized person who is dressed in very baggy/intimidating clothes. Together they will give my final outcome a good meets bad, light and dark, happy and sad feel which I am hoping will work if I am able to put them together carefully.I want my china doll to appear to be evenly lit by the light coming from the keyhole and the light in front/above her. Also by having even lighting it would be easier to change if she’s too bright or too dark on Photoshop. If I was to have uneven lighting over her then it would become problematic if it doesn’t match the light for my other photographs.

Shoot PlanFor my first shoot I want my model to be dressed as a china doll as this will be one of the main photographs I will need for my manipulative photograph. Regarding the lighting for this shoot I would like it to be even both sides of my model so if she faces either way there would be no change to how she is lit. I want her to have an even skin tone that I will be able to make the lighting fit with the other photographs.For this shoot I will use:• 2 - 3 max lights (all with soft boxes)• a tripod (as this will be a full body shoot)• a camera (ISO 100, F Number 8?, Shutter Speed 1/200-250)This shoot will be fairly straight forward and no other equipment will be necessary.

I want my model to be standing at a 45 degree angle with her arms parallel, reaching up in front of her. This will be her first pose, to look like she is holding up a giant key. I will also try different facial expressions to see which works best (either smiling or a sympathetic face).The second pose I want to try is when my china doll will be standing on a hand. I want her to crouch down as if she is placing the key in the hand. However in most of my photographs she will be paying attention to the other person.The third pose is going to be for my last manipulation which is when the china doll and the bigger person are entering through the door together. I want her to be looking over her shoulder, smiling but leaning forward to give the impression that she is leading the way.

Shoot EvaluationFor my first shoot I used three lights ( all with a soft box) and a camera on a tripod. Two lights were to either side of me facing my model, and the third was held above buy an assistant. I had used the lighting this way to get an even amount of light covering the model, but it also made her look paler which I used to my advantage. The light above her head highlights her face and arms which are the two most important features I would like to stand out.When using the camera for this first shoot I kept the ISO at 100, The F number was 8.0 and the shutter speed at first was set to about 1/600 of a second which completely blacked out the photograph once taken, so I changed it to about 1/200 which greatly improved the image outcome.The reason I have chosen to light my model this way is because she will be standing in a keyhole which will have light coming through it and although the scene in front of her will be a little darker, the scene will be lit from above so the light shining above her is ideal to fit in with the lighting for the photograph of the wall/street.As the normal sized person will be in black and white, I want it to have a sad atmosphere which is why I decided for the doll to have this specific expression (sympathetic/concerned). I chose to have the doll standing at this angle because it will match the angle of the door and they keyhole. At about the same angle I will take a picture of an old key and place it in her hands. This will make it look like the doll is giving the key to the black and white person.At the beginning of my shoot I wanted to try out the poses of holding they key up straight away as it will be used in my first manipulation. Positioning my model at a 45 degree angle I was able to see her face and position her the exact way I had pictured. My lighting set up had stayed the same throughout the whole of the shoot.Secondly, I wanted to try another different pose for my second manipulation but I wanted to use different levels. So, to do this I had my model, still at the same angle, kneel down with her hands flat (palms facing upwards) in a pose that suggests she is placing something down. In this case for my second manipulation it would be the key she would be placing in the black and white figures hand. For each pose/photograph, most of the time I would have my model looking up to where the tall person would be. I had made sure that she was looking to one specific spot to make the photograph more realistic, as oppose to different photographs with her looking in different directions. This would mean that the black and white persons position would be constantly changing and cause confusion when put together.Finally I decided to try taking photographs of my model standing, facing the opposite way (still at 45 degrees) and looking over her shoulder up to the other person. I wanted this to represent the china doll about to enter a different world together with the black and white figure.

Backing Up My WorkAll of my images are backed up on my memory stick, in a file in my documents on a computer at college and I have also saved them to my computer at home. Like I do with all of my work I also send myself an email with the file attached to it, so if I were to accidentally delete that email I will be able to open it in my sent box. This is how I can get my work at home so as soon as I open the email I can open the document and save it to my computer in a work file. I always make sure I have at least on backup of my work whenever I save it. This way I will be able to access it from anywhere if I loose my memory stick or delete it by accident when at college.