FINAL DESIGN
I will be merging ideas from Antonio Mora, Cole Thompson & Alex T to create a set of final photos. This will be extremely interesting to see as all three photographers have very unique styles of photography as they each display very contrasting ideas with Antonia Mora capturing images of nature and merging this into the mind whilst Cole Thompson is a black and white photographer which enables me to incorporate this style somewhere within my final piece. Alex T is very intriguing as he adds a sense of disorientation by blatantly using staged lighting, a background and changing the clothing by using different sets of costumes for every person in his image. He also replaces the head with an unusual flower altogether creating very artistic pieces. I will digitally edit my images using Adobe Photoshop.
Original photographs taken to use in my final design:
Unedited:
I captured my original images in different areas of my garden to help me decide on what area would be best suited to use for my final image. I aimed to capture different emotions and standing positions so it would not be the same, repetitive images each time. This enabled me to produce very creative pieces, whilst the original images were taken in one shoot, the actual images edited were quite unique from each other.
Design idea 1
Edited:
Firstly I used the quick selection tool to trace around certain areas such as the flowers on the dress and the pops of colour that I wanted to display. For the rest of the image, I used the black and white filter held in the adjustments bar to completely transform the image however removing the areas that I had previously outlined so the pops of colour from the flowers were highlighted whilst everything else almost lingered in the background. I then increased the contrast so the black and white areas were darker and displayed a greater shadow and certainly adding more depth to the image. (adapting on Cole Thompson's simplistic approach to photography), whilst the droplets of colour on the dress increased, adding more vibrancy and definition. Additionally, I slightly increased the saturation of the image, once again adding emphasis to the different colours visible which was the inspiration of Alex T's style of photography where his constant approach is using flowers to create his seeming less pieces. Once I was satisfied with the outcome, I began to use the quick selection tool to trace around the unwanted background and filled this area in using the paintbrush tool in black. I then filled the areas that were producing harsher edges and evened them out. I also traced around the hands and used the motion blur tool positioned in the filter section to add a blurry, edgy feel, exactly as to how Thompson chooses to do so in his own images. Tracing around the second original image of the flowers only, I used the quick selection tool to cut off a full flower and then duplicated this around four times and attached this to the bottom of the edited image around the surface of the dress. Using the layers edit, I merged the set of flowers swiftly into the dress by using particular layering effects to create the best pieces. I created 3 different images, each with a different layering effect to create a stunning collage piece. This useful merging technique that I had developed was to merge in the ideas from the last photographer, Antonio Mora into my image.
Design Idea 3
I repeated the same method of cutting around and applying black paint to the background to remove the original, cluttered background. I also used the quick selection tool and cut round the bright coloured flowers of the dress whilst adding on the black and white edit to filter out the rest of the image. This resulted in the image in a black and white tone however, the detail on the dress of the flowers were of high contrast and visibly stood out. As I had already sectioned off the flowers, I further increased the contrast and vibrancy of these areas. I adjusted the levels bar to darken the areas that appeared too exposed to light, whilst brightening the areas that were far too dark and practically hidden. Overall, this increased the balance and composition of the image and helped it to blend everything quite beautifully. I used the quick selection tool to cut round certain areas of the image where I wanted a blur to appear. This was mainly areas near the hands- I completed this by using the motion blur tool in the filter section. To add extra colour, I cropped out flowers from a different image (of my own above) and slightly decreased the saturation in order for them to blend suitably against the original nature of the edit which highlighted the idea of flowers. I positioned several of the duplicated images around the background to add my own interpreted style to the image.
Design Idea 4:
I intended to keep the original background of the image as it suited the overall theme of the edit itself. Once again I used the quick selection tool to trace around the flowers on the dress in order to keep their colour against the black and white filter that I had then added, that was positioned in the adjustments bar. This resulted in the image completely black and white against the contrasting, splashes of colour on the dress. I increased the contrast of the overall image, which darkened the display of the image such as the once summer green grass to a black, sharp colour creating an eerie, haunting feel. Corresponding to this, the fence in the back darkened substantially once again adding to the frightful arrangement that the image had gradually gained. The splashes of colour on the photo were added for effect, so the image was not completely excluded from colour, creating a distinctive piece. To finalise, I used the quick selection tool to trace around 2 separate images of the same type of flower but captured at different angles. I decreased the contrast and saturation in order for them not to appear so harshly vibrant against a colourless background and positioned 3 of these just above the hands.
FINAL PIECE:
Unedited:
Edited:
![Picture](/uploads/8/3/8/3/83830000/editor/final-design222222222.jpg?1527185559)
For my final piece, I chose to merge in my ideas from my design ideas. Instead of editing the full image to be in black and white, I used the quick selection tool to select half of the image, from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, and place the black and white onto the selected section. I then increased the contrast and adjusted the levels to create a dismal, eerie feel, similar to the idea from my design ideas. In contrast to this, the other half of the image remained with its' natural colours, and by increasing the saturation and vibrancy to this section, it created the total opposite mood/atmosphere of having a bright, welcoming feel. Once, I was satisfied with the image, I used the quick selection tool to cut round a piece of flower from a different image, and split the image in half, following the same tradition of half in a black and white filter and the other remaining the same. I positioned this onto the head of the subject to incorporate Alex T's style. Lastly, I selected sections where I wanted a blur, which was the hand area and the ruffles at the bottom of the dress. I used the motion blur tool in the filter bar to complete this.
To improve on my final piece, I could've taken several different sets of photos in different backgrounds and with different clothing and colour to create a mood board type collage. My timing was great for this photo, but I believe I could've added in different ideas and began with lot's of different photos as most of my original images were taken in the same scene.