Editing Pictures

On September the 8^th, the day when we started our project, we all went out of our school building, taking pictures of ourselves in any position with any background that could express us in some ways I wanted myself to be taken with my mirror-reflection, because although it might sound strange, I have two persons inside me. Only few of us actually used the pictures that were taken at that time, because the rest of the classes were feeling more comfortable to take a good picture at their homes that could reach their expectations. I also took my picture at home, simply because I felt confident enough to get good pictures that
could express my ideas better than taken at school.

These are the pictures I took in my bathroom (^_^) and the homework the teacher gave us was to edit our pictures with online editors:

• Picnik.com Phixr.com
  
• Flauntr.com Photohop
  
• Fotoflexr.com
  
• Splashup
  

I used picnic.com and faluntr.com and I really liked it, because it was very easy to use, but also had a variety of fixing tools and effects.

Anyways, then afterwards trying again and again, I finally could take a good picture. This picture reaches every requirement on the design specification list and it is a picture that satisfies my expectations. My expectations were that the picture should express me in a way I want it to have and help me to get some ideas for my final artwork.

After finishing takng photos, I went on picnik.com to fix my final picture. I used two different effects, which you can see below:

I liked the first one better because it really looked as if I have a twin and that means that I can show my ideas better, which is my goal of this project. Although the other one had a nice effect, it bothered me that it could not really show my emotions on the picture. I really tried hard to have the look of some kind of strength, mixed up with care and loyalty, because I think that these traits are a part of my personality. Yet, I think that it didn’t work out that well, but at least the first picture can show more emotion than the other one. I don’t know whether it is because of the effects or of something else, but I think that the second picture has a blank expression and that it has nothing to ‘tell’.

The third design you cant even tell that it is me! So it didnt meet the requirements on design specification!

This picture gave me an idea of having the two “Me’s” to be totally opposite of each other. While I paint the ‘original me’ in a bright colors and decorate it with lots of different materials, I can have the mirror-reflection plain and not eye-catching. I as well as could make the mirror-reflection unfinished by painting or using other material so that it would look as if ‘the other me’ is disappearing or a much better idea, being unfinished, just like a puzzle that it is not put together yet.

The effects I used for each website:

· Soften

· Cotrast (flauntr.com)

· cross process

· holga-ish

· ortontish

· Focal zoom

· I changed the temperature into cooler tone, because in my opinion that makes pictures look cool and interesting rather than warm and open toned photos.

· Contrast (picnik.com)

Here you can see the pictures I took at school and I edited them as well. All of them were edited on picnik.com:

1. Highlights and shadows (I use this technique, because it makes the person in the picture to stand out of the background more and it looks more professional as well. If I make high shadow, small errors like on the face

will be ‘hidden’) I did not choose this design, because first of all it looks plain and not interesting. It looks like as if I only changed the color a little bit stronger, which does not make any difference besides making the picture more colorful. Second, the reflection of me is not coming out of the background that well, whereas in the design specification it says that the picture itself should be recognizable and clear. In addition it does not help me with my ideas for my artwork at all, where I wanted something exotic so that it could give me good inspirations. So, I think I should not use this design.

Colors (I changed the saturation of the picture into colder tone and I made the temperature high creating a nice mixture of black and white picture with some mixture of different colors)

This design was ok, because it did not have something unique as well as, where I could get inspired. Maybe the color could kind of express me, because I am the kind of person who is reserved and the brownish tone represents those kinds of traits? The mirror-reflection still is not clear enough to be ‘another me’. In design specification it says that it should represent me in some ways and that it should be first of all clear and recognizable.

Holga-ish (It turned into black and white)

For me this design is just an other version of picture 3, just used different effects, because first of all I kind of don’t like black and white effects, because for me those techniques are kind of plain and commonly used and I needed something that could INSPIRE ME and this picture could not give me what “I was asking for”. It didn’t have anything to tell about me to the others.

Film grain and Posterize (I took the original picture again and used those techniques. It looks very good with the mirror-reflection, it almost looks like as if I am there with someone else he he)

I really like this one, because it is first of all unique and interesting to look at, but also everything on the picture is clear. This picture really shows the contrast between me and the reflection: My face is bright and white, whereas the reflection itself is dark, which I can use to express myself. Somehow it did not match the image I had in my mind, which was that the photo should be easy enough to trace on the paper and decorate etc, but this picture

Soften (I took the original picture and softened it. It makes a very soft look and very ‘innocent’, which I like a lot! Then I used Invert technique and it also looks very cool! It gives me the look as if someone is watching me…creepy...)

This one was the best design of the photo I had taken at school! It is very interesting and mysterious to look at ^^ I wanted to take this picture as my final one, but before I made those edition on this picture, I already took pictures (see top)of me and I edited them, so I was able to choose my final one. This picture is very unique in a way and it as well as inspires me to include quotes and sayings in my artwork.

I added some real cool quotes in it, some are personal and some are quotes I got from some websites http://kermitqueen2005.tripod.com/id18.html http://www.healthyyounaturally.com/edu/deep_and_meaningful_quotes.htm

Circle splash

This is cool a cool effect and nice colors though it failed expressing my two personalities. Like I mentioned in the previous entries, I wanted to show the opposite personalities of me and this picture, unfortunately, does not. First, the mirror-reflection should have been dark and mysterious, but here it is not and you even cannot recognize the reflection at all! However, this photo actually inspired me to paint ‘original me’ with the color tone this picture has.

I thought that the design specification is going to be about what materials we should use and how it should represent me, but I didn’t know that the picture we have edited will be actual design of the whole project. However, I think it does not matter whether changing the design specification or not, because each of them are somehow related to the designs of edited pictures.