Photoshoped Image

For this assignment, we simply had to use some of the Photoshop techniques we have learned to alter any photo of our choosing. I went through several different shots and ideas while looking through some photos. I tried editing some shots I had taken from out previous animal assignment, but felt that these photos were getting boring and I wanted something different and new. I finally decided to use a picture of my friend Alicia Mussman from our formal this past winter. In this shot, she is looking down and smiling a little. I like this shot because I liked the original lighting and I think she looks really pretty.

I used a few different tools when altering this shot. I first used the magnetic lasso tool to cut Alicia out of the photo. Then I made the background black and white, while still keeping Alicia is color. I used a “crystallize” filter on the background which gave it a blurred looked. When I put Alicia back into the shot I liked the way the black and white blurred background put much more focus on the subject of the photo and also made the photo pop. After that I clicked on the separate layer that just had the cropped image of Alicia and I upped the saturation and darkened  her a bit. In the original shot the lighting was fine but after I made the background black and white, it seemed much darker which made Alicia seem unusually light. I also added a filter on that same layer. I tried a bunch of different filters, but I didn’t really like the effect they were giving to the shot. After a little while, I chose the “smudge stick” filter. I liked how this filter made the photo less look like an actual photo, but more like a painting.

I liked the opportunity to just play around with some of the things we have learned in Photoshop and alter some pictures. I am finally getting comfortable with the different aspects of Photoshop and the different tools it offers.