Digital Photography and Imaging: Project 1

31/Mar/2022 - 28/Apr/2022 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Kim MinJoon (0353248)
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / GCD61204 / Taylor's University
Task 1: Exercise

LECTURES

Week 1

In the first week, The lecturer, Mr Martin, gave an introduction to digital photography and himself. He gave us an explanation to his style of teaching and the required materials needed for the class. The usage of google classroom and teams were mentioned, and the program of adobe applications.

The importance of Photoshop

Adobe applications such as photoshop is a user-friendly software program that many professional graphic designers usually tend to use for their photo edits. It is the most common and the most reliable option when it comes to the category of editing images and photos. Understanding how to use the program is crucial as it somehow viewed as a main component to mastering the subject.

With photoshop, there are countless, endless possibilities to how the person wants to edit it as. It doesn't limit the user on the canvas and in imaginations. You can also create creative graphic designs with the software, making exquisite jaw-dropping images with such ideas. Restoration of old photos, integrating letters and texts into a design, drawing with each individual unique brushes, changing themes and hues in a photo, fixing little mistakes are all available in the software photoshop. So that is why mastering photoshop is a required skill when it comes to design.

Photo Manipulation

Beginning since the 1850s, photographers gathered and combined images to create a new sense of imagery. Photo manipulation is to alter the image and transform it into something that is unique and desired by the editor. It makes something that is not true to something that is believable by the eye.

Digital Imaging

Digital Imaging is to digitalize images, photos, texts into digital images by using scanner or other imaging devices.

Mr. Martin showed us some of our seniors' works to represent the subject and what we need to expect from ourselves.

Week 2

Introduction to Composition

there needs to be a focal point.

Somewhere the viewers eyes can lay upon naturally. Even thought everything is as important, you want the viewers to see what you want them to see with something that gives a special element. The key element to focus on that point.

In the slides, the women are shown with the yellow circle is shown to see what gives an effect of a focal point. Naturally, the viewers’ eyes go to the biggest head writing and the different colors of the tone.

Figure 1.1: Woman in slide (07.04.2022)

Scale and hierarchy, the bigger the size, it is common sense to attract your attention to the design if it is bigger the scale.

The human eye draws attention to the viewer, since it is only natural to do so since we are all human and in the second image, Beethoven is shown with a cropped shape on the left side of his face, this draws attention to his left eye and his face and this is how designers bring attention to their design.

Figure 1.2: Beethoven (07.04.2022)

Having to master asymmetricity is to master design works. elements in a design can have a 'weight' to it. bigger elements can have more 'weight' and smaller objects can weigh less. balancing these elements is also required to have a good piece of design.

In the figure xx, an orange circle is shown in the background but the focus is on the first circle, the black one. this is because of the sense of scale and hierarchy. the black circle is bigger than the orange one and since the orange circle is behind the black circle it is implying that is is less important than the black one.

Figure 1.3: Asymmetrical balance (07.04.2022)

sometimes, it is good to have nothing. A white space to be exact. this is an empty space or a negative space. it balances out the main focus and the other elements in the design. it just brings out the total dominance on the whole canvas and it shows its beauty in its minimalistic and simple design. for example, apple.

In some designs, space matters whether it has all of the components to bring out attention of the viewers. There can be 2 designs that has bigger scale on one side with the designs all compiled on each other and the other, has a nice balance and space between the elements. this is an example of this case in the figure down below.

Figure 1.4: White Space (07.04.2022)

Rule of third

in the rule of third, it is an idea to split the image into thirds, creating a 9-piece image. It is usually best to put the subject in its intersection of the outside lines of the middle piece in the 9-piece image.

Figure 1.5: Rule of Thirds (07.04.2022)

even though rule of thirds can bring out the subject, it has its attention scale in its 4 intersection spots. just like how we read, the important bits are on the top left, to the right, then the bottom left to the bottom right.

Figure 1.6: Rule of Thirds Example (07.04.2022)

Rule of thirds is a way to use composition to naturally bring out its attention to the image, and please the eyes of the viewers. it creatively uses the 'negative space' to its artworks.

Golden Ratio

the golden ratio is a mathematical ratio. Nature follows this principle and it is an important subject when it comes to design. It seems more natural, subtle and it brings out life in its picture. It looks like a spiral of lines that gets smaller in every turn.

Figure 1.7: Golden Ratio Example (07.04.2022)

The golden ratio brings harmony and proportion, and it provides a sense of artistry. The golden ratio is to bring the image down to the proportions and dimensions to 1:1.618. Following the golden ratio, the design looks more pleasing.

Week 3

On the third week, Mr. Martin went through the guidelines of tools in Adobe Photoshop. He gave us 4 images containing a modern room, and 3 other tables. We were required to make the tables go to the room, with the tools such as masking, magic wand tool, the lasso tool and etc. He told us the principles required to when to use these tools and what is different about them.

Figure 2.1: Photoshop learning

Magic Wand Tool: Simple layout of the object and a very distinct background to separate them apart.

Polygonal Lasso Tool: For when the object required is in a very straight orderly line, making it one directional where it is needed.

Magnetic Lasso Tool: Similar to the polygonal lasso tool, but can detect certain spots that are differentiable from the subject and the background and cancels out the background where it is clear. But this can be altered by selecting spots that is needed to be canceled and wanted.

Masking is to select only the part that is required and make it only visible within the same layer as the origin, with the background.

The pen tool was also demonstrated, but it was too much of a hassle and there could be other ways to select an object.

Week 4

We started off the week with a video off of YouTube explaining or demonstrating the usage of the pen tool to remove backgrounds of a complex image which has different colors and objects in the background.

Mr. Martin then demonstrated it himself, explaining why we can't use the magic wand in situations like these. Then, he gave us an image of Shazam to select his out of the background.

With the help of the video that Mr. Martin provided, we traced down an image of a woman with accurate selection of the hair with the function of refine edge.

with the second video showing how to make the contrast and the brightness higher and lower, Mr. Martin showed us the fundamentals and the need for us to use the curve in the curves section in the properties.

Then on the third video Mr. Martin provided, we were able to see the usage of clipping mask used to separate a mask's contrast of brightness without affecting the background.

INSTRUCTIONS

Week 1

Pinterest Interest Digital Illustrations

Figure 3.1: Pinterest Illustration #1

Figure 3.2: Pinterest Illustration #2

Figure 3.3: Pinterest Illustration #3

These Images were found on Pinterest as one of our tasks for week 1. This was to research on what kind of illustrations we were interested in, and to show that we did the work for the first week of the module. We placed these images in the template that Mr. Martin gave us, just like the other templates that he will be giving us for the projects. Then we described why we liked it for each of the composition and handed it in to google classroom.

Week 2

Project 1A - Physical Collage composition

Figure 4.1: Pre-Composition #1 (07.04.2022)

This was the first idea that I had. getting everything solely from the Ikea furniture brochure, it felt the most unique I would say. I tried to create a gentle, subtleness to this composition and I think it worked out okay.

Figure 4.2: Pre-Composition #2 (07.04.2022)

Having to think about the surrealism, I thought of art pieces done by many artists, and they usually replaced people's faces with objects and unimaginable things. I tried that approach In this second composition, but it happened to use newer materials, therefore leading up to a new composition.

Figure 4.3: Pre-Composition #3 (07.04.2022)

A different version from the first one, but the same materials. This composition was done by separating things around a little bit more, to give it space to breathe. But the thing about this one was that it didn't have that same feeling as the first one since the materials used didn't have connection towards each other, or didn't have harmony.

Therefore, after hearing a feedback from Mr. Martin, it was decided to go for the first design. I glued it all together, and got the outcome of Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4: Final Composition / Physical (14.04.2022)

Week 3

Project 1B - Digital Collage

After the physical collage was handed, Mr. Martin went on with the lecture of the topic of digital composition. We were given a set of images, and the process of making 3 compositions were recorded. It could be any type of collage and it needed the sense of creativity.

Figure 5.1: Pictures given (14.04.2022)

Figure xx shows the pictures given to make these digital collages. The gradient background on the mountain really suited well with any of the compositions and I really wanted make a use of that.

There are a lot of different textures, gradients, objects, people in the images and so, I created the following digital collages.

Figure 5.2: Digital Collage #1 (17.04.2022)

Figure 5.3: Digital Collage #2 (17.04.2022)

Figure 5.4: Digital Collage #3 (17.04.2022)

The functions of changing opacity, editing, selecting, copy & paste, change of saturation, hue, I was able to make the strangest combinations that I could think of.

For the first one, I selected a circular shape of the mountain and pasted it in the middle to give it a focal point. Then by pasting more layers back of the mountain, I have changed the opacity to make it more appealing to the eye. To make the collage the most interesting, I added surrealism into the composition. By adding in sharks and the fencer, which 2 do not correlate with each other at all, I believe it was able to form some sort of harmony and surrealism.

This was done several times in the other collage works, and in the second one, I messed around with the hue and saturation the most. I personally like this the most, since this sort of follows the rule of golden ratio. making the fencer the main focal point.

Third is more into the scaling side, making the other objects and organic materials tiny when compared to the building. I pasted in a portion of the mountain on the side of the building to give it a feeling of a window that appears onto a different reality and changed the saturation to a monotone colorless hue.

Figure 5.5: Digital Collage #2 Layers (17.04.2022)

The process of changing, messing and trying out gradients, tools were a lot of fun, and the layers for the digital collage #2 can be seen in the figure above. However, I did not have time to get a feedback from Mr. Martin about the digital collage so following my instinct and gut feeling, I went with the digital Collage #2 for my final composition.

Figure 5.6: Final Composition / Digital (21.04.2022)

Week 4

For the tutorial class, we were given 3 images to work on selecting and masking. An image of a woman on a black tinted background monotoned image, a mansion with a pool in the middle of it, and a picture of shazam on a movie poster.

Figure 6.1: Monotone picture of woman (21.04.2022)

Figure 6.2: Picture of Mansion (21.04.2022)

Figure 6.3: Shazam poster (21.04.2022)

We were needed to crop out or mask out the background to get the woman selected. We then got introduced to the refine edge function within the masking division. with this, we were able to make careful sensitive selection of masking of hairs and small details that were necessary to be picked out.

After, we masked out the picture of Shazam from its poster and pasted it onto the picture of the mansion. There was a platform that someone could stand on in the mansion so we were told to paste him onto that platform. With the help of the video, we made adjustments to him and came out the outcome of figure 6.4.

Figure 6.4: Shazam in Mansion (21.04.2022)

Shazam is seen on the platform but there is also the reflection of him on the pool that is visible right under his feet. This was the adjustments made to really recreate the feeling of reality into the edit. Another task was given out and this time was to make myself, a picture of me go into the mansion. With the same procedure, I made the composition.

Figure 6.5: Me in Mansion (21.04.2022)

FEEDBACK

Week 1

Week 2

I brought in a whole Ikea furniture brochure and I compiled just some materials that I needed for the collage. But it didn't seem enough, so when I asked Mr. Martin, he asked me if I liked my piece of artwork.

I didn't, so then he told me to bring out more of my imagination and get more materials since with the only current materials I had, it was neglecting my creativity and limiting what I could do with my collage.

Week 3

In the third week, Mr. Martin went through our physical collages and gave suggestions as well as peers giving feedbacks on which of the 3 submissions of the physical collage was the best looking.

He gave feedback on the submissions and he indefinitely chose number 1 over the others since it had uniform harmony over the others and it worked well with each other.

He said that it had better visual design than the others since number 2 was way too simple for collage works. For number 3, It was similar to what sort of design number 1 was going for, but it was not matching with the elements all that great.

So Mr. Martin told me to go with the number 1 without a doubt for the physical collage.

Week 4

REFLECTION

In the first week, I didn't expect much since I did take the class through zoom via online. I listened to the class and what I thought the class was going to be was definitely different from what I expected. I thought that it was just about reviewing images and maybe sketching ideas we have but when the usage of photoshop was mentioned, I was certainly more intrigued in the subject since I do want to get more experience in the software. My first impressions on Mr. Martin was scary but he is genuinely a nice teacher so I really respected him for the turn of expectations.

I went to physical class in the second week, made room for my seat and learnt the class physically. We were supposed to bring our materials for the tutorial of collage making and to be honest I was scared that I didn't bring enough variety of images and pictures but in the end Mr. Martin did announce that the pictures that I cut out was only limiting my imagination and skill.

Which meant that it was okay to have Ikea as a theme but to have variety within those materials.

For the digital Collage, I was hyped for it the most. It was including my favorite software, Adobe Photoshop, so I couldn't be more happier. I used to learn it when I was a kid in primary, so having the basics were really helpful for this module. The digital collage was pretty simple to go through, as it was just overlaying photos to an artistic style of form we learnt in the lecture. I really enjoyed doing that specific task.

For the other class exercises, Mr. Martin keeps his cool every time, and is always friendly throughout the classes. He explains what to do and guides us through the exercise well and I learnt a lot from his classes. Even if there were thing I already knew, he teaches me new small things in photoshop and I am grateful for that. I wish to continue learning from Mr. Martin's class.

Kim MinJoon (0353248)

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