Memorandum Date: October 6, 2011 To: Dr. Reese From: Katelyn Ciaccio RE: Digital Photo Editing Assignment In this digital photo editing assignment I evaluated four different pictures taken by TSM 251 students by looking at how well various photography techniques and principles were used. I chose two pictures from the TSM 251 photo gallery that I thought I could improve and then I enhanced them in PhotoShop. Enhancing the photos on my own allowed me to apply the knowledge of PhotoShop I ve gained from lectures and put it to use. I also learned how to resize an image by adjusting the pixels in PhotoShop. Lastly, I learned how to create buttons in PhotoShop, which taught me all about how to use layers and the different effects you can use to make little rectangles with text and a background color look like real buttons. Thumbnails with captions describing the techniques illustrated This is a picture of a pine tree taken from the ground looking almost directly up. The person who took this photo made use of the rule of thirds by making sure the tree trunk was placed off to the right and also, the very top of the tree is placed on the upper right rule of third point/intersection. Besides rule of thirds, the trees height is emphasized by making use of the angle this picture was taken at. Since the person was pointing the lens of the camera up at the sky, we get the feeling that this is a tall tree, which has a much different feel than if the picture would have been taken farther away at a straight-on angle. This person also made use of the line the tree trunk makes to draw your eyes up the picture. This is a picture of a pine cone from ground level. This photo illustrates rule of thirds by making sure the horizon is not centered (it s an uneven horizon though, so the left side of the horizon looks like it s getting close to being centered, but you can tell they tried). Also, the pine cone is placed off to the side and falls on two of the rule of thirds points. The photographer of this photo also uses the contrasting textures of the pine needles and pine cone itself to make the image more interesting and full of detail. This is a picture of a black squirrel holding an acorn in his/her mouth taken from ground level. This photo illustrates filling the frame because the squirrel fits inside the picture, using all of the space. Actually, this person may have filled the frame a little too much, and I might like it better if there was more grass around the head of the squirrel-this is too close for me. This person definitely kept it simple. Angle is used because the person taking the picture got right down to the ground on the squirrels level, which makes a totally different impact than if the person would have taken the photo standing up.
This is a picture of a bike taken behind a fence. The bike is framed by the fence. Although I see the technique this person was trying to use, I think it could use some work. However, I thinking framing is one of the more difficult techniques to use, so I thought this was sort of creative. Framing adds depth to the image. Original vs. Enhanced Photo
To enhance the original photo, I cropped a lot of the green foliage out of the picture to fill the frame with the subject (the flower). I implemented the rule of thirds by lining the lower left and upper right intersections (rule of thirds points) with the center of each flower to make the picture more aesthetically pleasing in a subtle way doing this made the image asymmetrically balanced, which can be a little more interesting than symmetrically balanced. Lastly, I increased the contrast of the colors to make the flowers pop. I increased the contrast by adjusting the photo exposure in PhotoShop.
To enhance the original photo, the first thing I did was lighten it up by increasing the exposure in
PhotoShop. The reason I did this was to make the squirrel more visible against the originally darker background and foreground, and also to bring out the contrasting textures of the squirrels fur and the bark of the tree. Enhancing the texture makes the image more interesting. I also decided to crop the picture since it originally had a pretty centered horizon, so I applied the rule of thirds to fix that. I also thought the lower left corner of the tree was stealing some attention away from the squirrel so I cropped some of the tree out of the picture to fix that. Images related to my area of interest with one dimension 320 pixels This picture of a girl hugging a tree and looking up at it relates to my area of interest, the environment. This is a picture of the San Diego skyline, which relates to my area of interest because I plan on being an environmental consultant in San Diego. PhotoShop Buttons I created these buttons in PhotoShop by using three different basic layers light, dark, and normal. To give the buttons a button look I chose the bevel and emboss option in PhotoShop and then selected which colors I wanted by clicking on the color overlay option in PhotoShop. To save the buttons with the right background color, you select the two that you want (for example, click the eye option for the dark layer and the home layer) so those are the two that are visible. You have to make sure that the layers with text are above the background color layers, otherwise you won t be able to see the text. These images can be used as buttons on websites. The purpose of making three different shades of the same color is to allow for the button to look like it is actually being pressed when you click on it with your cursor. It s like a mini animation that happens really fast when you click on the button.
Throughout this photo editing assignment I learned several things and gained some hands on practice using Photoshop. One neat thing I learned was that the crop tool in PhotoShop will draw the rule of thirds grid on the image you re cropping, if you want it to. I also learned how to create and make use of layers in PhotoShop, something that I never would have figured out or even attempted if it weren t for this assignment. I also learned how buttons on the internet work, and how to make them myself. I also got some experience taking a look at how principles, rules, and techniques in photography can be applied to enhance the quality of a photo.