PSA

Photographic Truth Reflection

            For our third project we did something called a photographic truth.  We had to put ourselves in 6 pictures from history that all related to a theme.  We then had to figure out how we wanted to put ourselves in the picture.  We had to have our pictures taken in the specific pose for the photo we were going to put our image in.  In order to do this first we needed to find 6 pictures that we wanted ourselves to be in and then use the tools to make it look like we were actually in the picture.  To me "photographic truth" refers to how pictures aren't always what they seem, that a picture can be altered so that it's meaning can be changed    and that the "truth" of a photo isn't always true.
             The images I chose were of the San Francisco 1906 earthquake.  In one of the pictures I replaced the head of the person in the picture with my own.  When I had my picture taken I had to have my head angled the same way as the person I was replacing.  Then I had to match the color scheme of the picture and the quality of it.  The picture was black and white and the color wasn't that good, so I had to blur my picture a bit.  For the other pictures I didn't just replace someone's head with my own, I actually put my entire self in them.  Despite this the steps I took to do this were pretty much the same.  The tools I used were the magnetic lasso, the blur filter, and variations for the color changing.
              The theme I chose was the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  The reason I chose this theme was that I knew it would be easy to put myself in the pictures, but also because that earthquake really interests me and the pictures were fascinating.  Even the ones that I didn't use showed how horrible the destruction this earthquake caused.  There were pictures of buildings collapsing and how people had to basically live off the streets after this.  My presence in these pictures didn't really alter the meaning of them, but I don't think I would have been able to do that because just putting someone in a picture like this changes that this happened and the damage was real.
                What I learned from this project was that you can't always trust a picture, because when everybody was done, almost all of the pictures looked real, like they had actually been there.  I liked this assignment because it was fun putting myself in a picture and basically altering history.  This project wasn't that difficult, but I did have some trouble with a couple of the pictures.  The picture where I replaced someone's head was slightly troublesome in that it was difficult to size my head so that it fit the picture without looking like it didn't belong where it was.  The last picture I worked on caused me the most trouble because it wouldn't accept my picture.  I never really found out why, but I got it to work and that's all that really matters.  I feel as though I was successful in this project, but I'm not really sure that I would do anything different.

Photographic Truth

triptych reflection

      For our second project we made a lyrical triptych.  We had to pick a song and look up the lyrics so we could use part of the song lyrics to make the lyrical triptych.  We had to find pictures that related to the song and put them together to represent the lyrics.  We split the lyrics or part of the lyrics into three parts for each triptych.  We also had to use a filter one or more times and variations at least once as well.

               The song I chose is called "Those Voices" by Darren Criss and Nicholas Joseph Strauss-Matathia from A Very Potter Sequel.  In the first panel the background is a picture of a farmhouse that I chose because I feel it gives off a nostalgic feel.  I found a picture of a glowing eye which I made transparent and put it over the sun in the background picture.  Later I used the glowing edges filter on the eye.  I also put a picture of a boy laying down, it looked like he was almost asleep.  I put this picture of blue lights that looks kind of like stars.  I used color variations on the lights to make the colors more vibrant and even-toned.  I also used color variations to make the panel darker.  On the second panel the background was a picture of a small boy holding open a door where there was a merge of blues, purples, and pinks.  I took a picture of a green eye, duplicated it and used the dry brush filter on both, then I put them on the bottom of the image.  Then I took a picture of a couple, cut them out with the magnetic lasso separately.  Then I placed them in the doorway and made them transparent, I made the man more transparent than the woman.  On the second panel the background was a man and a boy holding hands across a small table in front of a very bright window.  I put a picture of a couple in the window, made them transparent, and used the same filter that was used on the eye in the first panel.  I then used a picture of a mirror, cut out the middle and put it around the couple, so it looked like they were in the mirror.  I used color variations to even out the color of the mirror and make it brighter and made it transparent.  The final thing I did was use color variations to raise the saturation to give it more color.  
                   In the first panel I created a nostalgic feel with the colors of the background picture.  I also used my understanding of the reason for the song to my advantage.  The boy on the first panel looks as if he is dreaming about the house in the background, that's why I put the lights above his head.  I used a glowing eye because one of the lyrics is "there's glowing in your eyes".  In the second panel the people are walking into the doorway away from the boy.  They're transparent to show that they're leaving this world behind.  The eyes represent the boy's mother's eyes, which I know are green.  In the last panel I had the couple in the mirror because the boy sees his parents in a mirror, so I kept that idea even though it wasn't said in the song.  The man is supposed to represent the boy's godfather whom he shares a moment with at the point in the song that this panel represents.
                    I enjoy working with photoshop and I was naturally good with the magnetic lasso.  It's enjoyable to be able to change certain elements in pictures.  I feel that my triptych was successful because it represented the song very well.  The picture are blended together nicely so they don't look out of place where they are.  The second panel was the easiest, everything just sort of fell together.  If I were to this differently I wouldn't change the second panel but I'd try to find different pictures for the other two in hopes that I would be able to get them to fall together just like the second panel did.

lyrical triptych

            

magazine cover

Reflection

              For our first project, we designed a magazine cover.  We had to decide what we wanted to be on a magazine for and who are target audience would be.  We also needed to decide how we would design the cover; how our picture would be positioned, what would be on the magazine and how that would be positioned.  Then we had to come up with at least 3 headlines to go on the magazine, one of which had to be about us.  Once we decided on what magazine we would be on we had to put the logo on the cover and we also needed a barcode.  

               My magazine cover is a theater magazine called "American Theatre".  I found a picture of a stage with lights shining on it.  I scaled my picture down so that it looked like I was on the stage.  Then I used both an inner and outer glow that matched the lights on the stage, so it looked like the lights were actually shining on me.  For the magazine logo I put an outer glow around it.  Once I typed the headlines onto the magazine I changed the font of the words and used blending options to make them stand out more.  The last thing I had to do was the barcode, I had to scale it down and then I put it in the bottom left hand corner.  

                  Through this magazine I was trying to capture the interest of my target audience.  In order to do this I used a lot of color.  The stage background that I used was full of different colors.  Since I used both an inner and outer glow on myself my image is very bright, which draws the eye to it.  All of the headlines are colorful and have some sort of blending effect to make them stand out.  Finally the title has a very prominent glow surrounding it so that it stands out amongst many other magazine covers.

                   I feel that my finished artwork is successful.  The reasons I feel this way are that the images I selected were always related in some way to the communication objective I was trying to get across.  I used blending options for everything on my magazine cover other than the stage background and the barcode.  There were multiple layers to my cover and I had to use the magnetic lasso tool to cut out my image.  I also used the magic wand to cut out the magazine logo.  The other thing I had to do was scale a few of the images so they worked well with the other images used.      

The Real Me

I'm 17 years old, but in December i'll be 18.  I'm kind of indifferent towards a lot of things, but I'm trying to fix that.  I have a very extensive vocabulary, but I have horrible spelling.  Reading is one of my favorite pastimes.  I also enjoy video games and being on the computer.  I used to watch a lot of T.V. but now I don't because I'm on the computer more.  I use a lot of sarcasm while speaking.  I love theatre and my favorite color is purple.