Photoshop Workshop Induction.

In our Photoshop induction, we learnt a variation of methods and techniques in editing in preperation for our visual language brief, in which we will create ten photographic print postcards.

My original image- a red glockenspiel beater within the base of a green egg box. I chose to use what was perhaps my most abstract image from my visual language and colour theory photographic documentation series as I knew this would encourage me to be as experiemental as I could be- with little rules in form or shape I wouldn't be easily convinced that one style would be more appropriate than the other in these early stages.

In this image I have used selection tools- de saturating the green egg box, and highlighting the round red beater with the magic wand tool (with a medium tolerance) to increase the saturation, with an overlay opacity layering- which made the red really pop out from the pale green/grey.

The styles that I learnt from this session, in general are not really "my style" (perhaps because of the combination of the green and red- my least favourite colour combination!) though I have found it really interesting experimenting, and have felt like i've really learn a lot already. Despite having experience using Photoshop in the past, I now feel that I am really learning it well.

This image displays a "destructive" crop- a term which I learnt during this session- a crop in which you alter the original image by focusing in on one point- literally "cropping" it down to alter the scale of the image, whereas an undestructive crop scales down the image, or scales up, without removing any other elements- changing the size without altering the proportions.

This image shows a non-destrcutive crop- the image not as "close up" as the destructive crop above, but aligned differently to the original image, not cutting the original dimensions.

Above, I experiment with brightness and contrast from my original image in a non-destructive crop- showing how the slightest amount of editing can really enhance an image.

In the picture above I have selected the red beater and used a 57% opacity blending mode to enhance the brightness of the colour.

Here I began experimenting with tints, with a new duplicate layer over the original image. I tinted the entie image green along with a de-saturation, and then used the selection tool to increase the red tint of the beater in contrast.

Above, probably my most complex combination of edits- de-saturating the green egg box, increasing saturation of the red beater, and then adding a duplicate layer over the beater to apply a magic wand selection to decrease the brightness and hightening the contrast around the beater, enhancing the shadow around it.

Here, a green tint with selective red elipse tool over the beater with an 88 percent opacity on the red- creating a slightly more subtle colour difference.

Here, a non-destrutive saturation- removing all the colour from the image, whilst still being able to work in CMYK colour mode, which is required for both print and this project for the visual language module.

In the image above, I have used a very popular edit- by selecting the beater with the magic wand tool I have de-saturated the green of the egg box, so the colour of the beater really pops out. This can also be graduated and more subtle, with less saturation of the egg box, therefore just being a slightly duller shade that the original colouring.

Here, I have used the inverse selection colour tool with the elipse over the beater- giving the centre of the beater a matte grey colour, with the egg box a deep red.

The image above shows the original image with a simple red tint from a duplicate layer.

By using duplicate layers, this ensures ease when editing- if we later discover that a particular element isn't suited to the design we can simply remove it without altering any other elements of the picture.

Perhaps my most abstract edit (save the most bizarre until last!) it was really interesting creating this last piece-using various tools and edits- de-saturation of the original image, a red tint over the image, then selective red elipse colouring over the red beater, and, lastly, a selective brightening shape over the beater using the elipse tool.

I found this Photoshop induction really interesting and useful,and I now look forward to further experimentations for my project. As aforementioned, the style is not particularly "my thing"- never really liking the somewhat cliched images of bold red lips against a saturated background, but I feel as though I have to now let go of that slightly, and really experiment, trying all possibilities before I potentially fall back into what I consider to be a comfort zone.