Midterm Portfolio

Abstract: A portfolio of six digital images made in Photoshop.

Production log:

This is a photo from a live performance of the band Strapping Young Lad.  First I color corrected the photo so the highlights were very bright and the shadows were very dark, then I brought out the shadows again.  I got the negative effect by using the curves editor.  I blurred all of the background of the photo to accentuate the sharpness of the foreground.  Last, I skewed the photo to give it more of a psychedelic effect.

Second is a Photoshop painting of a dragon.  The dragon itself is a reproduction of one I found on the web, in only black and white.  I added color to it, and then added the mountains in the background.  I added a gradient to the mountains to simulate shadow.  The result is a cartoonish portrait of a dragon.

 

Third is a photo I took myself of three giant sword sculptures in Norway.  I color corrected the photo to bring out the color.  I adjusted the brightness/contrast and also brought out the cyan, green, blues.  I edited the sky, the swords, and the ground and lake in separate layers to bring out the right colors to make each section look brighter and more saturated.

Fourth, I have a composite photo, made from three separate images of myself.  I didn't have a tripod to take them so I had someone else take the photos from roughly the same angle.  Luckily they were close enough to easily be composited.  The image of me to the far left is the original.  The center and right images were copy and pasted over the original.  I used the burn tool for some shadowing and did some basic color correction as well.

 

Fifth is a another composite image, made with an original photo of a kitchen as well as two photos of paintings, and a photo of a picture frame found on the web.  The image of the painting on the left had a frame in it already, but I had to find a frame for the Mona Lisa myself.  I added the frame to the Mona Lisa, then copy and pasted the whole thing into the original image.  I skewed both paintings to match the angles of the wall, and used the burn tool to add a bit of shadowing on the outside of them.  I did some basic color correction as well to make everything blend in a bit better.

The last image is a simple color correction.  I edited the brightness and contrast, hue and saturation, and the vibrance to bring out the colors.  The top left was very bright and the bottom right was very dark.  I used the burn tool to accent the edges in the top left, and the dodge tool just a bit to lighten up the shadows in the bottom right.

Self Evaluation:

Generally speaking, I liked the way that most of these images came out.  Looking back, I can definitely see a huge improvement over time.  There are a few things I don't like about the images.  The two composites I did both ended up being a little bit too dark.  In the painting I did, mostly because I used a mouse, the lines are a little bit squiggly.  In the last color correction, the upper left still looks a bit washed out, which kind of sets the image off-balance.  I was really pleased, however, with the way the first artistic color correction turned out.  To add on to this portfolio, I would like to incorporate the use of filters as well.  The first image would probably benefit the most from them.

Rock and Roll Living Room

The guitar amp is a 3d model made in Maya, and the beer bottles and guitar are all from other images.  To put the amp behind the furniture, I copied the furniture into new layers to put in front of the amp.  I did some transformations to all the copied images to make sure the angles matched, and used the burn tool to add some shading.