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.

 

Architecture



This picture was taken on October 21st, 2010, at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon. My camera was set to auto.




In photoshop I first used the burn tool a little bit on the sky to bring out the bits of blue slightly. Next, I used the dodge tool to brighten the stone structure and get rid of the shadows. I used the clone stamp to get rid of the little sliver of building on the left edge, and also the white blotches on the building. Lastly, I enhanced the highlights on the levels menu and added cyan, a little magenta, and yellow on the color balance menu. I really like the edited version a lot better. the original was really dark, and you couldn't really see the texture of the sctucture. I think the edited image looks much nicer.



Diagonal Rule




This picture was taken on September 25th, 2010, at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon. My camera was set to auto.

 



This picture follows the diagonal rule because the path draws the eye diagonally from the bottom left corner to the person in the top right corner. To edit the image I cropped out the boring parts so the path was the main focus. Next, I enhanced the midtones in the levels menu and added red, magenta, and yellow on the color balance menu. I really do like the edited picture better than the original. The cropping really made the subject more apparent, and I like how the colors stand out more.

 

Lines




This picture was taken on October 5th at approximately 8:00 in the evening. My camera was set to macro.

 



In photoshop I edited the picture first by using the auto color function. After that I enhanced the highlights on the levels menu, added cyan, magenta, and yellow on the color balance menu, and then using the dodge tool on the corners and some of the albums to get rid of the shadows. I really like the edited picture; the color cast is more pleasing to look at than the original, and the brightened albums really make it look better. I love the rough edges and lines in this picture, and I think the depth of field is really interesting. Part of it is blurred and part of it is focused.

 

Landscapes (2)




This is my land emphasis landscape, and it was taken on October 9th at approximately 4:00 in the afternoon. My camera was set to landscape. It's a land emphasis landscape because the horizon line is in the top third of the picture.

 


To edit the picture I first lowered the input on the curves menu, increased the shadows slightly on the levels menu, and added cyan, a little magenta, and some yellow on the color balance menu. Next, I used the dodge tool on the left bank of the river to make it a little brighter. I thought the dark patch there was kind of distracting, but now I think I could have made it look a little more realistic. I think I do like the edited picture a little better, but the left bank of the river bothers me.




This is my sky emphasis landscape, and it was taken on October 9th at approximately 4:00 in the afternoon. My camera was set to landscape. It's a sky emphasis landscape because the horizon line is in the bottom third of the picture.




I edited this picture by lowering the input on the curves menu slightly, increasing the shadows on the levels menu just a little, and adding cyan, magenta, and yellow on the color balance menu. I also used the dodge tool on this image to brighten the bottom right corner a little bit. As an afterthought I got rid of the little white house towards the bottom left using the clone stamp tool. I definitely like the edited image a lot better because it's brighter and it doesn't look quite so dull. I wish there wasn't so much brown, but it's just that time of year! I do like the color of the sky.



Black & White With Color



This picture was taken on October 17th at approximately 6:00 in the evening. My camera was set to no flash.




To turn the picture black and white, I went to the hue/saturation menu in adjustments and lowered the saturation all the way down.




Besides turning it black and white, I enhanced the input on the curves menu, I enhanced the shadows on the level menu, and I cropped out some of the empty space on the right and bottom edges. After this, I used the quick selection tool to select only the eyes and the apple in her hand, then used the eraser to take out the black and white in those areas. I really like the edited picture a lot! Her eyes are so blue, and they really stand out when everything else is black and white. The apple adds a little more color and balances the picture a little, I think.



Photo Cleanup



This picture was taken on September 14th, 2010, at about 8:15 in the morning. My camera was set to auto.

 


To edit this picture I used the spot healing brush tool to clear up the skin a little bit, and I used the dodge tool on the eyes to make them a little brighter. I lowered the input on the curves menu, enhanced the shadows a little bit on the levels menu, and added cyan and a tiny bit of magenta and yellow on the color balance menu. After that, I used the quick selection tool to select only the background, then I used the clone stamp to get rid of the person sitting behind the subject. I used a gaussian blur on the background to cover up where the clone stamp didn't match exactly, then used the blur tool on the edges of the face so the contrast wasn't so sharp. I think I do like the edited picture a little better, because the background looks much cleaner and the person isn't there to distract from the subject of the image. I'm not completely pleased with how the edges of the face look. I think it's still obvious that the background was edited, and you can tell from the sharpness of the edge. Overall I think it looks pretty believable, though! I put a lot of work into it, and I hope it looks alright.

 

Color Replacement



This photo was taken on September 25th at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, and my camera was set to no flash.



I cropped the image and replaced the light blue of the petals with pink. I also enhanced the shadows on the levels menu, adjusted the input on the curves menu, added cyan, magenta, and blue on the color balance menu, and boosted the vibrance on the vibrance/saturation menu. I like the edited image a lot better because the subject is more apparent, the colors stand out more, and the yellow cast is gone.



Angle Shot vs. Straight Shot

 

I took this picture on September 25th at approximately 11:00 in the morning. I had my flash turned off, and the camera was on the macro setting.

The two images above were taken on September 25th at approximately 11:00 in the morning. The flash was off, and the setting was macro. I corrected the image directly above by changing the input and output on the curves menu, and changing the color balance by adding cyan, a little magenta, and a little tiny bit of yellow. I also enhanced the shadows a little bit on the shadows and highlights menu. I like this image a lot better because the water droplets really stand out more, and the colors of the leaves seem more saturated. The main subject is much more obvious, and the background isn't so cluttered.