Digital Photography and Imaging | Project 1: Digital & Physical Collages

25/9/2023 - 5/11/2023 (Week 1 - Week 6)
Yong Zhen Xing - 0359473
Digital Photography and Imaging - Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Project 1 / Digital & Physical Collages

Contents :

1. Project 1A
        1.1 Physical Collage
                Outcome
       
        1.2 Digital Collage
                Outcome

2. Project 1B
        2.1 Exercise 1 (Hearst Mansion)
                2.11 Shazam
                        Outcome 1
               
                2.12 My Reflection
                        Outcome 2

        2.2 Exercise 2 (Recolouring Black & White)
                2.21 Colouring 1
                        Outcome 1
               
                2.22 Colouring 2
                        Outcome 2
                
                2.23 Colouring 3
                        Outcome 3

3. Final Outcome

4. Reflection

Project 1A :
Task 1A is separated into 2 parts, physical and digital collage.

Physical Collage :
In this exercise, I had to make a physical collage using elements from paper prints such newspaper and magazines. I needed to prepare/plan out 3 different composition before finalizing into one final by gluing them together. Below shows the 3 composition I have prepared along with the idea behind it.

For the first composition, I decided to make the base a diamond shape to give it a more interesting form and use some other shapes to form the planets. I also made it so that subject was in a space shuttle spreading all this words.


fig 1.1, Pre-composition 1 (6/10/2023)

For the second composition I decided to use image sizes and reader's visual to my advantage. I first add a very big text on the top, and then add this odd shape leading down to the subject to create a eye-leading poster. The shape also goes along words such as "Who is in control" to show the meaning that we control our own lives to achieve our dreams. The newspaper text on the right side also emphasize on the word brilliant as we need to read a lot to become smart.

fig 1.2, Pre-composition 2 (6/10/2023)
 
 
For the third composition, I decided to create a room scenario where the subject was just sitting on the bed while thinking about the future and what defines a happy lifestyle. I played around with many elements such as the window to create what I would call and interesting composition.


fig 1.3, Pre-composition 3 (6/10/2023)

Outcome :
In the next class, Mr.Fauzi looked at all of our pre-compositions and selected our best ones. After that, I glued together my final composition which is what the image below shows!

fig 1.4, Physical Collage Outcome (10/10/2023)
 
Back to Top ↑


Digital Collage :
Then in the next task, I needed to create a digital collage using only elements provided by Mr.Fauzi. The elements weren't much but I tried my best to create unique compositions. Just like the physical collage, I needed to create 3 different composition before finalizing into one final one with some adjustments to the image. Below shows the different compositions along with a short description about the composition.
 
fig 2.1, Composition 1 (14/10/2023)

Title : Colours In the Mind
Description/Ideation : The idea came from the lack of colour in the composition. Most ideas or creativity comes from when you open your mind. The typewriter at the center being the focal point to the coloured fishes and plants is to show that all ideas come from writing/typing it down or even just sketching it down. Once that is done, it shows your idea is coming to life. That’s why it’s colourful.


fig 2.2, Composition 2 (14/10/2023)

Title : Started From The Beginning
Description/Ideation : As the title suggests, the collage shows a modern structure from a very old projector. The leaves act as a pathway to the building just to show how far we have come since the beginning. The background also slowly transitions from just a plain ground to rusty old structures and to a modern finish/structure.
 
 
fig 2.3, Composition 3 (14/10/2023)
 

Title : A Flash of the End
Description/Ideation : A human just seconds away from meeting its end. The projector plays the memory as if it already has happened. But what actually happens is that the projector is playing what is most likely the outcome of the situation, death. The white door is to symbolize heaven and possibly the stairway to it. The building flipped upside down is showing above the horizon which indicates an unreachable place, likely heaven.

Composition Editing :
In the following class, Mr.Fauzi chose which composition was the best and then we proceeded to the next part which was photo editing. Since we were still relatively new to Photoshop, we did simple photo editing such as adjusting lighting and hue of our best composition.


fig 2.4, First Exploration (19/10/2023)


After comparing this with the original, I definitely made some parts oversaturated so I tried readjusting again. Image below is my second attempt on readjusting.


fig 2.5, Second Exploration (19/10/2023)


This looked definitely better and I'm pretty happy with it. However, the leaves on the left still looked a bit unnatural. So I used the selective colour tool to readjust to a more natural tone.

Outcome :
The image below is my Digital Collage Outcome!


fig 2.6, Digital Collage Outcome (19/10/2023)

Back to Top ↑

Project 1B :
Task 1B is also separated into 2 parts, Hearst Mansion Exercise and Recolouring Black & White Exercise

Exercise 1 (Hearst Mansion)
In this exercise, we needed to crop out a photo of a subject (Shazam) and then put in into a different picture and making it fit in that scene (Hearst Mansion). We also needed to crop out a photo of ourselves and put it inside the same scene.

Part 1 : Shazam
Cropping and Placing the subject :
First, I cropped out the character using quick selection tool ensuring I don't miss any details on it and then masked out only the character.

fig 3.1, Cropping Subject (26/10/2023)

fig 3.2, Masking Background (26/10/2023)


Next, using the free transform tool (making sure the aspect ratio is the same as original), we were to position the subject leaning on the wall making sure that the size and perspective makes sense.

fig 3.3, Positioning Subject (26/10/2023)


Using match colour, I corrected the colour of the subject ensure it fits the background.

fig 3.4, Matching Colour (26/10/2023)
 
 
Adding Shadows :
I then drew using a brush around the character to create shadows. At first it was too strong, so I lowered the layer opacity and also added gaussian blur to the shadow.

fig 3.5, Adding Shadows (26/10/2023)

fig 3.6, Enhancing Shadow (26/10/2023)
 
 
Adding and Refining the Reflection :
The final step was to add a reflection to the main subject to match the rest of the image. I duplicated the image, flipped it and position the reflection right below the character.
 
fig 3.7, Adding Reflection (26/10/2023)
 
 
Since there were parts that was unnecessary, I first cropped the needed part using the pen tool. Then I masked out the unnecessary part. 
 
fig 3.8, Cropping Necessary Subject (26/10/2023)

fig 3.9, Masking Subject (26/10/2023)
  

Now it was time to add some refining to the reflection. The reflection's brightness/contrast was first tone down a bit. Then I added a small amount of blur to the reflection. Finally, a quick colour readjustment using hue/saturation tool.

fig 3.10, Adjusting Brightness/Contrast (26/10/2023)

fig 3.11, Adding Blur (26/10/2023)

fig 3.12, Adjusting Hue/Saturation (26/10/2023)
 
 
Outcome 1 :
The image below shows the scene after editing Shazam into it!

fig 3.13, Shazam - Outcome 1 (26/10/2023)



Part 2 : My Reflection
Next, we also needed to do the same process with our own picture. So I took a photo of myself and proceeded to photoshop myself inside the mansion.
 
Cropping and Placing the subject :

fig 4.1, Cropping Subject (27/10/2023)


I position myself lightly more the the left so that my image looks more natural.
 
fig 4.2, Positioning Subject (27/10/2023)
 
 
 fig 4.3, Adjusting Match Colour (27/10/2023)
 
 
Adding Shadows :
I tried adding more details to the shadow this time by adding shadows to the left leg and also attempting to draw the shadow of the shoe.

fig 4.4, Adding Shadow (27/10/2023)


fig 4.5, Lowering Layer Opacity (27/10/2023)


fig 4.6, Adding Gaussian Blur For Shadow (27/10/2023)
 
 
Adding and Refining the Reflection :

fig 4.7, Masking Out The Legs (27/10/2023)


fig 4.8, Adjusting Brightness/Contrast (27/10/2023)


fig 4.9, Adding Gaussian Blur (27/10/2023)


This time I also played with the lightness slider as my image still appeared slightly bright.

fig 4.10, Adjusting Hue/Saturation (27/10/2023)
 

Outcome 2 :
The image below shows the scene after editing myself in! 
 
fig 4.11, My Reflection - Outcome 2 (27/10/2023)

Exercise 2 (Recolouring Black & White)
In this exercise, I needed to recolour a picture from black and white using already learned tools. There was 2 way of colouring the picture, one was colouring using a brush tool which is shown in recolouring 1 and recolouring using masking/fill colour tool which is shown in recolouring 2 and 3.

Recolouring 1 :
In the first exercise, we were to colour the subject based on how we would see it if there were colours.


fig 5.1, Before Colouring 1 (31/10/2023)


Firstly, I used a normal paint brush and coloured all over the face of the subject. I ensure I didn't paint over the eye or mouth to the best of my abilities.


fig 5.2, Painting Over Face (31/10/2023)
 
 
Then, I changed the blending mode of the layer to overlay.

fig 5.3, Changing Blending Mode to Overlay (31/10/2023)
 
 
I then lowered the opacity of the layer to make it more skin-coloured.

fig 5.4, Changing the Opacity (31/10/2023)

Using the same way, I then painted the hair.

fig 5.5, Painting Over Hair (31/10/2023)


Once again, changing the blending mode layer to overlay.

fig 5.6, Blending Mode to Overlay (31/10/2023)

Then I added a tint of dark blue with overlay on the eye, a dark red colour for the lip, as well as adding a green colour to the subject's shirt.

fig 5.7, Adding Eye Colour (31/10/2023)

fig 5.8, Adding Lip Colour (31/10/2023)

fig 5.9, Adding Shirt Colour (31/10/2023)


For the background, I first masked the background first so I could easily paint on it.


fig 5.10, Masking the Background (31/10/2023)
 
 
I selected a simple light red colour and readjusted more on the masking of the background.
 
fig 5.11, Fill Background Colour (31/10/2023)

The final step was to simply change the background blending mode to overlay!


fig 5.12, Blending Mode to Overlay (31/10/2023)

 
Outcome 1 :
The image below shows the character after colouring!

fig 5.13, Recolouring 1 Outcome (31/10/2023)
 
 
Recolouring 2 :
This next part is slightly more challenging as it introduces a different way of masking objects. We are also required to take the colours of the skin tone and the hair from the 2 other given images. However with that being said, it does make the final image look more realistic.

fig 6.1, Before Colouring 2 (31/10/2023)

fig 6.2, 6.3 Hair Colour & Skin Tone (31/10/2023)


First, I use the eyedropper tool to pick up the highlights, midtone and shadows of both the skin tone and the hair. I also needed to set the sample size to 5 by 5 Average.


fig 6.4, Selecting Hair Colour & Skin Tone (31/10/2023)

Then I quick-selected the rough image of the hair and then used refined edge brush tool to make sure that the mask includes the small strands of hair.

fig 6.5, Masking the Hair (31/10/2023)


Then I selected the solid colour tool and used the eyedropper tool and selected the midtone of the hair. Then I dragged the previously masked hair into the solid colour layer.

fig 6.6, Eyedropper tool for Solid Colour (31/10/2023)


I also changed the blending mode layer for the hair to soft light.

fig 6.7, Hair Coloured (31/10/2023)


Next, I masked the head of the subject. I ensured that I also mask out the eyes and mouth.

fig 6.8, Masking the Skin (31/10/2023)
 

I then changed the blending mode to soft light.

fig 6.9, Colouring the Skin (31/10/2023)


Unfortunately the skin was a bit too pale on the midtone, so I simply followed the demo by also changing its hue.

fig 6.10, Hue Adjustments (31/10/2023)


The next few steps are quite similiar to the hair and skin colouring. In this image below, I masked the background and painted it a solid colour.

fig 6.11, Masking the Background (31/10/2023)
 

I played around with the background colour a bit more but forgot to set the blending mode to soft light (It will be changed at the last step). I also masked out the shirt of the subject and coloured it.

fig 6.12, Colouring the Shirt (31/10/2023)
 
 
Next was colouring the remaining parts of the image such as the lips, teeth and earring.

fig 6.13, Colouring the Lips (31/10/2023)

fig 6.14, Colouring the Teeth (31/10/2023)

fig 6.15, Colouring the Earrings (31/10/2023)


The final step was to refine some parts as well as changing the background layer blending mode to soft light as I previously forgot. I have also coloured the eyes.

fig 6.16, Final and Additional Adjustments (31/10/2023)

Outcome 2 :
The image below shows the character after colouring!


fig 6.17, Recolouring 2 Outcome (31/10/2023)

Recolouring 3 :
In this final part, we were first to select one of many images from the file provided. Then we were to find images to use as the skin tone and hair colour. This exercise has the same way of doing/process as the last exercise but we were to do it by ourselves which makes for a fun exercise! The below images are the selected subject as well as my chosen image for the skin tone and hair colour reference.

fig 7.1, Before Colouring 3 (31/10/2023)

fig 7.2, 7.3 Hair Colour & Skin Tone (31/10/2023)



fig 7.4, Selecting Hair Colour & Skin Tone (31/10/2023)

fig 7.5, Selecting the Hair (31/10/2023)


I actually spent quite a long time masking the hair in this exercise as the strands are more spread out and more complex.

fig 7.6, Masking the Hair (31/10/2023)


However I still tried my best and I am pretty pleased with the results!

fig 7.7, Colouring the Hair (31/10/2023)


This time when masking the head, I needed to ensure to mask the hands as well as they share the same skin tone.

fig 7.8, Selecting the Skin (31/10/2023)

fig 7.9, Masking the Skin (31/10/2023)

fig 7.10, Colouring the Skin (31/10/2023)

fig 7.11, Colouring the Lips (31/10/2023)

fig 7.12, Masking the Shirt (31/10/2023)

fig 7.13, Readjusting Shirt Colour (31/10/2023)


After the main subject was mostly done, the accessory/object and background was the only remaining part of the image to colour left. The accessory being the ring and the object being the subject's eyes and also the table she is resting on.

fig 7.14, Colouring the Ring (31/10/2023)

fig 7.15, Colouring the Background (31/10/2023)

fig 7.16, Colouring the Eye (31/10/2023)

fig 7.17, Colouring the Table (31/10/2023)

 
Outcome 3 :
The image below shows the character after colouring!

fig 7.18, Recolouring 3 Outcome (31/10/2023)
 

Final Outcome :

Project 1A :


fig 8.1, Final Physical Collage (10/10/2023)


Fig 8.2, Final Digital Collage (19/10/2023)
 
Project 1B :
Digital Imaging Exercise 1 (Hearst Mansion) :

Fig 8.3, Final Hearst Mansion 1 (26/10/2023)

Fig 8.4, Final Hearst Mansion 2 (27/10/2023)


Digital Imaging Exercise 2 (Recolouring Black & White) :

Fig 8.5, Final Recolouring 1 (31/10/2023)
 
Fig 8.6, Final Recolouring 2 (31/10/2023)
 
Fig 8.7, Final Recolouring 3 (31/10/2023)

Reflection :
Throughout all of these exercises, I had a fun time learning so much, such as what makes a good composition or how do I use Photoshop. It has thought me a lot which could be helpful in the field that I am going for which is game designing. Exercise such as the physical and digital collage has got me to think on how do I make a composition interesting, which elements could I use to draw attention to the subject and even how do I communicate something through visuals. As simple as it looks, you need to really examine it and understand the full picture. Exercise like the Hearst Mansion and recolouring has helped me in understanding more in-depth about all the neat features that Photoshop has to offer. While it isn't every feature in the software, these few that I learned are extremely beneficial in making simple work that I otherwise wouldn't know. Overall, I had a good time in this project!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Information Design | Exercises

Image
03.02.2025 - 18.02.2025 || Week 1 - Week 3  Yong Zhen Xing || 0359473 Information Design || Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University Exercises Contents 1. Lectures 2. Instructions           Exercise 1 - Quantifiable Information               Final Outcome         Exercise 2 - L.A.T.C.H               Final Outcome    3. Reflection Lectures In the first lecture we learned about the types of infographic. The 8 type of infographics we learned was List, Statistical, How-To, Timeline, Comparison, Map & Location, Flowchart, and Process Description. From all the types of infographic in the lecture, it was eye-opening to see so many different type of infographics shown with each of its importance. I can now see the importance of an infographic in communicating concept/ideas to viewers in a visually appealin...
Read more

Major Project 1

Image
3.2.2025 - 23.3.2025 || Week 1 - Week 7  Yong Zhen Xing || 0359473 Major Project 1 || Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University Contents 1. Instructions          Task 1 - Proposal Development                      Week 1                  Week 2                 Week 3                        Final Outcome               Task 2 - Design Proposition                    Week 4                    Week 5                 Week 6                ...
Read more

Information Design | Project 1 & 2

Image
17.02.2025 - 04.03.2025 || Week 3 - Week 5 Yong Zhen Xing || 0359473 Information Design || Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University Project 1 Contents 1. Lectures 2. Instructions             Project 1 & 2 : Animated Infographic Poster                        Part 1 : Infographic Poster                        Part 2 : Minimal Animated Infographic                     Final Outcome 3. Feedback 4. Reflection Instructions Back to Top ↑ Project 1 & 2 : Animated Infographic Poster   For this project, we needed to redesign an infographic poster following good design practices as well as make minimal animation for the same poster.  Part 1 : Infographic Poster First I needed to search the internet for an in...
Read more