DPI Week 4

14/10/2024 - 18/10/2024 (Week 4)

Lim Yeng San (0366316)

Digital Photography and Imaging / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylors University

LECTURE

Week 4: Introduction to Photoshop 3

The lecturer further explained topics from the previous lecture and gave a demonstration on changing colours.

Adjustment Layer

- A group of non-destructive editing tools that add colour and tonal adjustments to an image without permanently changing its pixels

- Gives the ability to edit and discard any adjustments or restore the original image at any time

Fig 1.1: Basic understandings of the adjustment layer

- When an adjustment layer is added to the image, a new layer will appear over the image and a properties panel specific to the type of adjustment selected will pop up. The properties panel allows for modification made to the adjustment which in turn will modify the image. 

Brightness / Contrast

- Adjustments to the tonal range of the image

Brightness slider: Adjusts the highlights in the image

Contrast slider:  Adjusts the shadows in the image

Level

- Modifies the tonal values in an image

- Adjusts the levels of shadows, midtones and highlights

Curves

- Adjusts the entire tonal range of the image

Exposure

Exposure slider: Adjusts the highlights of the image

Offset slider: Adjusts the midtones of the image

Gamma slider: Adjusts the dark tones of the image

Selective Layer

- Selectively modifies the amount of a primary colour without modifying the other primary colours in the image

Filters

- Changes colour, adds blur or creates completely new image effects

EXERCISES

Mr. Fauzi instructed us to create three digital collage designs using Adobe Photoshop. We were limited to only using pictures that were given to us in Google Classroom.

Digital collage #1

Fig 1.2: The first digital collage I made

With this design, I used the golden spiral as guide for the whole composition. Through this, I made the typewriter the focal point by placing it at the base of the spiral.

Digital Collage #2

Fig 1.3: The second digital collage I made

I used the rule of thirds for this design. I placed the projector and plant at the right side of the image and made it seem like it's peeking out.

Digital Collage #3

Fig 1.4: The third digital collage I made

Using the same idea as the first digital collage, I added another building and changed the orientation of the background. I also moved the fish closer to the typewriter.

Final Collage Design

Once we finished the three digital collages, we had to choose the best one to be edited further. During a consultation, Mr. Fauzi thought that the first collage was the best one out of the three.

Fig 1.5: The first digital collage design shown again

With this design, I wanted to make the colours of the building, typewriter and fish less similar to each other. I also wanted to make the background darker to give hierarchy to the other elements.

FINAL OUTCOME

Fig 1.6: The edited version of the first digital collage

I first decreased the lightness of the building to make it look darker. I also decreased the brightness and contrast of the background image to give hierarchy to the other elements. The colour of the fish was changed to be more purple. Finally, I increased the brightness of the plant and projector slightly and decreased the vibrancy of the entire image by slightly decreasing its saturation and lightness and adjusting its colour.

Fig 1.7 and 1.8: All of the adjustment layers applied to the digital collage

REFLECTION

The lecture was informative and the demonstration given was helpful. Overall, I'm pleased with how the edited image turned out as each element didn't blend with each other and got to stand out.