Picture Worth A Thousand Words

This one was a lot of work! I had to start over a couple times, but I think it turned out pretty good. To start, I opened the original picture in a PhotoShop document and color corrected it using levels and curves. Next, I created tons of custom brushes of my name in another blank document using text, then define brush preset. After my brushes were created I selected the shadows and midtones of my image respectively and copied them each into their own layer, then made my midtones gray and my shadows black by going to edit, then fill. Then I combined them both into one layer, making a black and gray portrait. I created a new layer and made it white, then stamped my name brushes all over it. Then, I created another new layer, made it white, and moved it above the portraite layer so it could act as the white background. I selected all of the portraite layer and hit ctrl + C to copy it. Then I clicked on the name stamped layer and added a layer mask, then selected the mask and hit ctrl + V to paste the portrait onto it. I deselected it and inverted it (ctrl + I). I activated the name stamped layer so it showed through the portrait mask and my name showed through all over! I stamped some more where I didn't like how it looked, and used a soft brush to fill in some areas. I also created another layer above the masked layer and stamped a couple name brushes in random places to make it look different. For the colors, I selected the masked layer and gave it a gradient overlay in layer effects. I selected the screen blending mode and the rainbow color pattern. I had to try a couple times to get the overlay to work. For some reason the first time I tried it, the whole portrait layer just disappeared. Up to this point I'd followed the instruction on my own, but now I called Ms. Minkel for help. She didn't know what the problem was either, so I just started over. It worked like a charm the second time! I like how it turned out, but I think I could have taken a better picture to start with. I am glad that I got the color overlay to work, though, because I really like how that part looks. I had a lot of fun messing around with this project! It's a cool trick to learn.

Creation of Choice

I was really excited to do this project! It was very fun to be given pretty much a free reign and do whatever I wanted. I decided to make my creation of choice a graduation announcement. To get started, I created a blank document and set the dimensions to 4” by 6”. Next, I placed one of my pictures in it by opening it in another PhotoShop document and splitting the screen so I could drag it on to my blank workspace. I corrected the picture using the curves, levels, and color balance menus. Next, I created a border around the image by right clicking on the layer icon and clicking ‘select pixels’, and then going to edit -> stroke. After this I created a gradient over the picture using the gradient tool (quick command- G) and making the right side of the image black. I found an image of a small pink flower on the internet and extracted it out of its background by using the quick selection tool (quick command- W) and dragging it over to my workspace through a split screen. I transformed it (ctrl + T) to make it smaller and placed it on the bottom right corner of my image. After duplicating the flower (ctrl + J), I created a light pink satin layer style over it. Online again, I found the mortar board ‘class of 2011’ image and turned it into a brush by selecting it in another PhotoShop document and going to edit -> define brush preset. I stamped this new brush in the bottom left corner of my image and created a textured clipping mask behind it. To do this I created a blank layer and painted it pink using the paint bucket tool (W) and adding a textured filter. Next, I right clicked on the layer icon for the pink textured layer and clicked ‘create clipping mask’. I added the text (T), and changed my lips to a slightly darker pink by selecting them and going to image-> replace color. Also online, I found a picture of a swirly vine type thing with flowers. I turned this into a custom brush using the same methods as with the ‘class of 2011’ brush, and stamped it in the upper right corner. I really like how it turned out! It was more work than I expected, but I think it looks great. I don’t think I’ll use it as my actual announcement because that’s not one of my real senior pictures, but I think it looks nice anyway. And it was fun to practice and mess around with styles!

Personalized Card

This one was a lot of fun! First I opened a blank document in PhotoShop and set the demensions to 4" by 6", then I made a new layer and painted it blue using the paint bucket. I darkened the edges using the dodge tool, then entered my name with the text tool. I used free transform to rotate it and make it bigger, then created a drop shadow for it. I went online and found a picture of some pretty blue ice crystals that fit the theme I was going for, and I saved the image and brought it into PhotoShop. I dragged it onto my working space and made it into a clipping mask to go behind my name. To do this, I dragged the ice layer on top of the text layer, then clicked 'layer' on the top menu bar, then clicked 'create clipping mask'.  Next, I found some pretty snowflakes and swirls online and made them into custom brushes by selecting them in PhotoShop and clicking 'edit', then 'define brush preset'. I stamped those around, rearranging them until I liked how they looked. One of the snowflakes was very powdery, so I used that one to create a snow-like texture over the whole card. I think this card represents me because I've lived in Minnesota my entire lilfe, and the cold winters are part of things here. I love playing in the snow, and I think it's part of who I am. I really like how it turned out!! I had a lot of fun messing around with the brushes and colors, and I think it looks pretty nice.

Flyer

First of all, I opened a blank PhotoShop document and set the size to 8 ½ inches tall by 11 inches wide. I created a blank layer and used layer styles to make a cloud texture on it, then selected the glass texture to go over the top of it for the background. Next, I went through all of the pictures that I wanted to use (which I took on November 25^th of this year) and corrected them all using color balance and levels. I went through the images and used the quick selection tool to select the glass doll, the two different teapots, the shoe, the two bells, the glass swan, and the two pineapples. I refined their edges and moved them onto the blank document one by one. They were all far too big to start with, so I used the free transform tool to make them smaller, and to rotate some of them. Once I had them arranged I used the clone stamp tool and the healing brush tool to remove some of the glare on the glass objects, and then I added the text. All the fonts are Wide Latin. I wanted to do a gradient on the title, so I selected the pixels of the text and used the eraser tool to get rid of the actual words so that only the selection remained. Then I used the gradient tool on the selected pixels. To choose the color for the title gradient I used the color dropper to get the gray from the streaks in the glass swan. That gray was also used on the address, and the color of the phone number was from the red on the chicken. The color of the ‘One man’s trash…’ text was taken from the shirt of the glass doll on the left, and the color for the background was taken from her hat. For each of the two bells on either side of the title text, I changed the blending mode to ‘screen’ with opacity and fill both at 100%, and I changed the opacity of the title text to 75%.

For all of the text I created drop shadows:        

Blend mode: multiply.

                        Opacity: 75%

                        Angle: 120 degrees

                        Use global light was checked.

                        Distance: 1

                        Spread: 0

                        Size: 5

All of the text also had bevel/emboss effects:

                        Style: inner bevel

                        Technique: smooth

                        Depth: 100%

                        Direction: up

                        Size: 5

                        Soften: 0

                        Angle: 120 degrees

                        Use global light was checked.

                        Altitude: 30 degrees

                        Highlight mode: screen

                        Opacity: 75%

                        Shadow mode: multiply

                        Opacity 2: 75%

Then I was done! It was a lot of work, but I really like the result. The Treasure Trove is a thrift store in the town where I’m moving to this summer. The lady who owns it is really nice, and I love taking pictures of all the interesting things in her store.

Choice #1



This picture was taken on October 21st at approximately 11:30 in the morning. My camera was set to no flash.




To edit the image, I first went to the levels menu and enhanced the shadows and the highlights. Next, I raised the cyan, green, and blue on the color balance menu. Lastly, I used the burn tool a little bit on the banner hanging on the side of the building to bring out the color. I really like the edited image a lot better than the original. I think the colors look more saturated, and the red sign stands out more. Overall, it's a lot less dull. I like the contrast between the red of the sign, the white of the ledge, and the black of the shadow underneath. There's some interesting lines, too.



Cityscape




This picture was taken on October 21st at approximately 11:30 in the morning. My camera was set to no-flash.

 



I really didn't do much to edit it, I thought it looked alright for the most part. I lowered the input on the curves menu and enhanced the red, green, and yellow on the color balance menu. I like the edited one better just because it's a little brighter, and the yellow sign stands out more. It's a little bit more vibrant overall, and the dullness of the original image is gone.

 

Scale




This picture was taken on October 21st at approximately 3:00 in the afternoon. My camera was set to auto.

 



To edit it, I first cropped out some of the edges and rotated it so it wasn't as crooked. Next, I added red, green, and yellow in the color balance menu and used the burn tool on the part of the sky in the circle to bring out a little bit of the blue. I think I do like the edited version best. The subject follows the rule of thirds a little bit better than in the un-cropped image, and the color cast is nicer to look at.