Photoshop: Car Transformation Assignment

For today's assignment, we were given a picture of an audi at an auto show and taught how to remove the background, tint the windows, and enhance the color of the vehicle using Adobe Photoshop.  

Before:

In this picture, you can tell the focus is on the car, but there are a lot of distracting things in the background that draws the attention away from it.

After:

This is much better, because all distractions in the background are removed, the lights on the hood of the car are removed, the focus is completely on the car, and it has a professional sheen to it, just like a commercial.

After doing this assignment, I learned many quality techniques for editing pictures, such as enhancing the color on the car and removing objects irrelevant to the subject. I did not find any problems while using photoshop, particularly because I already had prior experience. My favorite part of the assignment  was using the selection tool and tinting the windows.

Photo Assignment #1: Macro

For my first "official" photo assignment, I decided to try taking macro pictures. Macro photography is simply taking pictures of objects or living things close up. It is often used to capture details on the objects that we often skip over. Here is my best macro photo I took among the few:

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/220 seconds
Aperture: f/4.7




From this assignment, I learned how to control my hand movements, take pictures in focus, and follow the rules of exposure. The thing I liked most about this assignment was the clarity and the outcome of the photos. I also liked trying the different ISOs and zooming in and out to get each photo in focus. The least exciting part of this assignment was trying to find objects interesting enough to shoot. I had no insects handy and wanted to stray away from generic photo shoots. the lighting was very difficult to get right as well, so I had to keep relocating and trying different angles until I got it right. Overall, this was an enjoyable assignment for me; I'm satisfied with what I have produced!

Pop Art Assignment

Today's assignment was a quick Pop Art avatar consisting of 4 of the same pictures, each in different colors. It was pretty easy to do, and quick!

The primary point of this assignment is to get us used to photoshop, and learn basic techniques such as cropping, coloring, and white and black balance. There wasn't anything I disliked about this assignment, and I learned how to use photoshop!

Inspirational Photos

1.) This is a macro shot of a water droplet on the tip of a plant. The photographer placed a rainbow background behind the droplet and the plant, which is seen clearly with the droplet acting as a magnifying glass. I chose this picture because I thought it was unique, as well as a great example of macro. It displayed an original idea while being simply a macro closeup, which is what I would like to accomplish.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/6017642048/ User: Doug88888

2.) The second photo is a closeup of the tip of a pencil. The composition in the photo was simple, and that's partly why I chose this. You can see the details of the pencil lead, as well as the texture of the wood. The color contrasts nicely as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mystic/41422849/ User: Thiago Lopes

3.) Lastly, the third photo is a picture of a jumping spider. I liked this picture because it was setup so there was a distinct color scheme with the white sand contrasting with the brown spider. Since this is a macro shot, the furry details of the spider can be seen, as well as its marble-like eyes, while the background is blurred out smoothly. The amount of light also coming in is just right. This picture will definitely act as one of my models to my future pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickmaninov/3678151593/ User: Rick_in_the_QC

Composition Assignment

I took these 11 pictures for a composition project in digital photography. In this lesson, I learned how to:
-Take pictures with certain elements that makes pictures appear even more enhanced.
-Work photoshop and the camera "properly."
-Manually adjust certain settings, such as white balance or exposure to follow certain rules of composition.
-How to use the rule of thirds and make more "professional" pictures.

I struggled a lot on:
-A composition called "balance." I didn't know where to find objects that seem to balance each other.
-Taking clear pictures, as I always shake and the pictures usually turn out blurry.
- Taking pictures using the rule of thirds; although I knew what to do, I simply couldn't take decent pictures.
-Taking pictures using the rule of symmetry; I knew what it was, but I had trouble trying to find examples of it at school or at home. (Even doors weren't completely symmetric!)

Overall, I had a lot of fun with my first photography assignment. I especially liked:
-Taking pictures using the element of texture and the clear look of it.
 -Playing with the color settings and make the pictures appear slightly vibrant, or make the object look more enhanced by toning down the background.
-The idea of being able to apply these skills to future pictures I take in or outside of school.