Blog 8 - Poster

Romance is Dead - 24x36 - 2/24/12 - 11:38 PM - Rexburg, ID - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT - Shutter priority - f/11 - 1 sec

Edits: Camera raw: Exposure, Fill Light, Blacks, Contrast, Clarity, upped Red, Purple and Magenta Sats. Then into Photoshop. First, I did a layer copy and sharpened the image. I put a black mask on that layer and then brought the sharpness through around the eye sockets and across the cheek bones of the skull. Then I pulled the sharpness back in the flowers too. Then I added a texture layer from the striped granite block I took earlier in the semester. I used the green channel from the image. I copied that layer, and set both at Normal, 60% opacity. Next I added a Levels layer, Color Burn, 80% opacity. On top of that was Color Balance, Luminosity, 80% opacity. And finally, Brightness/Contrast, Soft Light, 80% opacity. The text on top consists of synonyms for romance that I found on a Thesaurus website, one set in white Adobe Caslon Pro 72 pt size, 150 pt leading, and the other set in red Adobe Caslon Pro 60 pt size, 150 pt leading. Both have layer masks. The word "Romance" is in orange the King & Queen font 170 pt size, 60 pt kerning, and "is DEAD" is in orange Adobe Caslon Pro 100pt size, 10 pt kerning. I copied the original skull image once more and placed that underneath the sharpened layer. This one I burned the edges on, to take out some of the carpet texture behind the skull.

I chose this image because I felt the concept behind the original shot and the design of the piece were strong. And because there is a small part of me that agrees with the message the image conveys. It is something that has a narrative force behind it and is true to the photographer behind the lens.

Blog 7 - Edit: Borders

Flexible Brushed-On Effect

Uncertainty - 2/5/12 – 4:15 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.5 - 1/1600 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I used one of my Portrait photos as my victim for this first border effect. I tried a lot of different brushes before I settled on this one. I went through the listed steps and then began playing with things on my own. I tried different colors, different brush opacities, and eventually I came up with this. The border makes it feel a little morbid, but I still like the colors.

Double Fade Border

Movie Magic - 1/14/12 – 12:53 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/800 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I used one of my Shallow Focus shots for this border effect. I didn't want to use just a square for this one, so I used one of the custom shapes. I really liked the idea of the filmstrip, mainly because of the relation between the Harry Potter books and the movies. I followed the instructions just as they were listed, I just used a slightly different shape and a different color.

Flexible Vignette

Target Practice - 2/11/12 – 2:56 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/4.5 - 1/50 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I used a feathered marquee in black to achieve the Flexible Vignette border. The feathering was set to 20 pixels.

Fine Art Template

Fancy Fish - 1/28/12 – 4:34 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/125 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I used my Fish Pano for this edit. I decided that since it was a pano, I needed more than 5 boxes. Eight felt more appropriate, and ended out working nicely for what I had in mind. I used the photo tag that I created for my Bannack Shootout shots and added a border stroke of the same color. It took a little bit of fenagling to get the fish pano the right size to work with, but I am really pleased with the result.

Blog 7 - Night & Light

Blurred Lights

Aurora Vehicularis - 2/21/12 - 8:25 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/11 - 30 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

All I did was go outside with my tripod and stand on the corner with my camera and watch the cars brave the snowy streets. This photo was originally overexposed, so I yanked the exposure down in Camera Raw and tweaked some of the color saturations.

Camera Motion

Peep Show - 2/21/12 - 8:20 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 30 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I have a little Peep toy that blinks blue and red. I had my roommate hold it up and I focused the shot in the light. I set my camera for the 10 second timer and flipped off the lights. Then I moved my camera around a bunch to get this effect. No edits.

Light Painting

Confessions of a Bibliophile - 2/21/12 - 8:44 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/25 - 20 sec - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I LOVE books, if you can't tell.. I set this up on my kitchen table with a bunch of my books and decided that I wanted my glasses to be the focal point. In order to get this shot, I had to prop my tripod up on three chairs and use my roommates' step ladder to look through my camera to set up the shot. I focused in the light, turned on my timer and flicked off the lights. Then I used a little LED flashlight I bought to light everything from the side. It took a lot of tries to get this image, and at first it wasn't one of my favorites because it was too bright. So I took it into Camera Raw and played around with it. I got it to look the way it does by complete accident, and I'm pretty pleased with my first attempts at light painting.

Blog 6 - Bannack Best

Bannack Best

You Don't Wanna Meet Pa? - 2/11/12 – 2:57 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/4.0 - 1/60 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I pulled this shot into Camera Raw for some adjustments and then opened it in Photoshop. I erased part of the side of her face and replaced it with more hair because the angle of her head made it a little unflattering. I cleaned up any blemishes and smoothed out her skin. I added a little pink to her cheeks and Color Dodged her eyes. Then I Dodged in some of the background to bring more of a focus to the model. Finally, I added a Levels layer for some final adjustments.


Beautiful Music - 2/11/12 – 2:19 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.6 - 1/15 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I bracketed this photo in Photomatix and used the Enhancer - Painterly Filter with Medium Light. I adjusted the sliders to my liking and brought it into Photoshop. I added Levels and Vibrance Adjustment layers and masked out the piano keys in the Vibrance layer. I also used the Smart Sharpen Filter.



Bottles of Light - 2/11/12 – 3:17 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/4.0 - 1/250 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I bracketed it in Photomatix using the Compressor - Default Filter. Then I took it into Photoshop and used the Smart Sharpen filter.



That's MY Chocolate! - 2/11/12 – 2:56 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/4.5 - 1/50 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I took this shot during the Bannack Shootout and adjusted it in Camera Raw. Then I took it into Photoshop, smoothed out her face, Color Dodged her open eye and added a Levels Adjustment layer. Then I used a Vibrance Adjustment Layer to make it a Black and White image.



Turn the Wheel - 2/11/12 – 2:32 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/15 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I adjusted this image in Camera Raw and then took it into Photoshop. I added Levels, Vibrance and Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layers to tweak the colors and then used a Sepia Photo Filter layer to give it that old time feel.

Blog 6 - Edit: HDR

HDR 3-shot

Dark Rust - 2/11/12 – 4:09 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/200 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Normal Rust - 2/11/12 – 4:09 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/100 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Light Rust - 2/11/12 – 4:09 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/25 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I took this shot right outside of the Mill. I pulled my three images into Photomatix, and merged them together. I used the Compressor - Deep Filter and messed around with the settings until I liked it.

HDR 1-shot

A Little Bit off the Top - 2/11/12 – 12:37 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/4.0 - 1/40 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I took this shot in the Saloon. I pulled my image into Photomatix, and used the Enhancer - Black and White Filter. I then pulled just the slightest bit of color back into the image.

Blog 6 - Bannack Ghost Town

Portraits

Lining Up the Shot - 2/11/12 – 12:57 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.6 - 1/200 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I was standing around, trying to figure out what to do next, when I decided to take some pictures of my classmates across the way. This one was my favorite. I did some adjustments in Camera Raw and then took it into Photoshop. I added Levels and Vibrance Adjustment layers.

Leavin' Home - 2/11/12 – 3:13 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.6 - 1/250 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

This image was part of the Bannack Shootout hour. I really liked the emotion in this shot. I took it into Camera Raw and emphasized some of the cool light that was already there and then took it into Photoshop. I added Levels and Vibrance Adjustment layers. No enhancements.

Freeze Action

Off to Neverland! - 2/11/12 – 11:51 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/9.0 - 1/100 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

We were trying to figure out what we could do to capture freeze motion...so we started jumping off the back of the truck. I just happened to capture this image after a few tries. :) I edited it in Camera Raw, and then took it into Photoshop. There, I added only a Levels layer.

Blur Action

Regrets - 2/11/12 – 12:29 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/32 - 3.2 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Dustin decided to pose as our "ghost" for a couple shots, and I captured this one quite by accident. I was trying to adjust my camera settings and accidentally pushed my trigger. But, I liked how it turned out, so I did some adjustments in Camera Raw.

Reverse Shallow Depth

Window - 2/11/12 – 1:44 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/100 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Shack - 2/11/12 – 1:44 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/125 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I was wandering around the hotel when I took these shots. I already had some Reverse Shallow Depth shots, but I figured taking a few more wouldn't hurt. No edits.

Macro Abstract

Looking for Work - 2/11/12 – 3:29 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.6 - 1/800 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

It itches - 2/11/12 – 1:03 PM - Bannack Ghost Town, Montana - f/5.0 - 1/25 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I took a TON of texture shots for this category. I really liked this image of the wheelbarrow that I took, and I dressed it in several different textures before deciding on the battered wall above. I took both images into Photoshop, and dragged the Green Channel from the Texture onto my image. I added a dark gold color fill with Overlay above the wheelbarrow, and reduced my opacity to 40%. Then I copied the texture layer and masked out both layers so that the texture only appeared on the actual wheel. My texture layers were on Normal, at 40% and 15% respectively. Then I added two Levels layers on Hard Light, both at 60% opacity.

Blog 5 - Edit: Enhancements

Enhancement

"Forlorn" - 2/5/12 - 4:20 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/2000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

After adjusting the temperature in Camera Raw and using some adjustment brushes on her hair, I pulled the image into Photoshop. I started with the spot healing brush, cleaning up her skin and removing the dark circles under her eyes. Then I used the paint brush technique we were shown in class to smooth out her skin tone. I used Color Dodge to brighten her eyes, put some eyeshadow on her and some highlights in her hair. I used Color Burn for her mascara and to darken bits of her hair. I used a normal paintbrush for her mascara, blush and lips. Then I adjusted it all with Levels and Channel Mixer layers.

Replace Color

"Fashionista" - 2/5/12 - 4:20 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I did no prior adjustments on this image. I used quick select in photoshop to select Kimberly's shirt and the diamond on her cheek. I turned the fuzziness up to 100% and selected my bright green color.

Match Color

"Srsly?" - 2/5/12 – 4:15 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
"Wheels" - 2/6/12 - 3:06 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I opened the two images in photoshop, with no previous adjustments on either image. With the motorcycle image active, I used Match Color as shown in class, basing my color match on the image of Jenny and Brooke. Then I added a Levels and a Vibrance layer in photoshop, masking out the trees and the building in the Vibrance layer, and then masking the trees and the teal car in the Levels layer.

Challenge

"spAde" - 2/5/12 – 4:09 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/2000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I didn't do any prior adjustments to this image. I took it right into photoshop and applied the Corey Barker Luminosity Tutorial. I altered the Alpha Channel layer just as he described, painted out the background, feathering it around Brooke, and used a purple/blue noise Angle Gradient on Brooke and the lettering. The font I used for "Spade" was Caviar Dreams.

Blog 5 - Portraits

"Spades' smile" - 2/5/12 - 4:09 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/2000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

So I convinced my friends to let me use them as my victims. I had them dress in red and black and drew card symbols on their faces. I took several different shots of each of them, but I really liked Brooke's expression in this one. I did do a little editing in Camera Raw and some Levels adjustments in Photoshop, but nothing drastic.



"Dramatic Diamond" - 2/5/12 - 4:20 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I realized for the first time during this photoshoot that my camera can tip on it's side when mounted on the tripod. I was way excited to discover this and started taking some "tipped" shots of my models. I did a little bit of Camera Raw editing, and added Exposure, Levels and Brightness/Contrast layers to this image.



"Holy Snow" - 2/5/12 - 4:31 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/4000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Once I ran out of ideas, the girls got bored and started kicking around bits of snow. I turned my multi-shot on and managed to catch this one during their antics. I love the way the shattered snow halos around her foot, and I was very happy with the pose as well. Definitely a lucky shot. A little editing in Camera Raw and a Color Balance layer in Photoshop.



"No Straighter Face" - 2/5/12 - 4:13 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/2500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I brought my wand and sonic screwdriver out and they all started goofing off with them. I tried getting some posed shots, but they kept giggling, and I caught this shot by accident because they started giggling again right as I pushed the button. Camera Raw editing, and Levels, Vibrance, Color Balance levels in Photoshop.



"Are you ready?" - 2/5/12 - 4:15 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.5 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

When I finally managed to get them to stop giggling and hold still, I got a few good shots of them posing. This one was my favorite. I really liked their expressions and the lighting fit well. I did a little bit of Camera Raw editing and cleaned up the edges of Brooke's lipstick.



"I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" - 2/6/12 - 3:00 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I was walking home from work and happened to have my camera on me when I spotted these two. I can only assume it was a brother and sister taking pictures, and the fact that he was dressed up made me think mission. I thought the girl's body language added a fun element to the shot. I edited it a bit in Camera Raw and added a Levels layer in Photoshop.