Thursday, March 27, 2008

Compositing Images

Ok, So I am going to be combining this tutorial with photo of the week. The tutorial is over putting two images together and making them look like they are supposed to be together. The image I took for this project is of three girls with a pretty boring, if not bad background.

This image was shot in a RAW format and so after making the necessary adjustments I opened the image. You can either set the color balance before or after selecting your object within the picture. I chose to do it after I had selected my object because I feel it is better to work with individual objects rather than a entire scene. This is merely personal preference and is up to you. Try and match the color to the same white balance and other necessary settings to the image you will be placing your selected objects into later.


The next step is to get your polygonal lasso tool (L) and trace the outline of one of the girls. Once the girl is selected, go to Select, then Refine Edge. Choose a black background to go around your picture while you are working with the tightness of your cropping around your selection. You may have to contract or expand you selection a bit before you add a bit of radius and feather, then click Ok. Select inverse, then press delete to get rid of everything else in the picture.


Your window should look like this. At this stage go to Filter>Sharpen and Add Noise. Try only about 2% or less.
Save your file and place it into the photo your are transferring your selections to. Free transform the image till the size is right and repeat steps 1-3 with the other objects you will be placing in the photo. Remember to hold the Shift key while you are doing this so that you don't stretch you object. Once your objects are in, you may want to add a drop shadow or create a new layer, choose the Brush tool and lower the opacity. I think for this I lowered it to 13% and brushed my shadows in. I also slightly desaturated the girls to make their colors a bit more consistent with the photo. Look for highlights in the image that "pop" too much and darken them a little. In this photo I darkened top of the steps slightly. Keep playing with the different layers and blending modes to create the desire effect. Below is the finished product.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Something Clever

Ok, so if someone is going to get serious about doing graphic design and they want to start their own company they need to have a company name. Well, that was obvious, you might be thinking, but coming up with a company name and good logo that works for it are two very difficult tasks. I am currently working on a logo for a potential company called "Something Clever". Here are a few ideas that I had for the logo. Rather, it is all the same design just different color schemes. I have not settled on this as the final design nor am I saying that this design is complete, it is just an idea.


The last color scheme is too dark because the computer I was working on did not have the screen calibrated properly. I was trying to go for a dark green, just not that dark. I am trying a simplistic approach to this logo because oftentimes things can end up being over-designed and look bad even though certain elements were good. I may update with some new pictures of the logo process as it continues.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Photo of the week!

Ok, so usually photo of the week will be on Friday but since I just started this blog on Saturday I will post one. I took this picture at Jones Gap State Park with a Canon AE-1 while I was hiking. Film is a the disadvatage between the cost of film and deveolpment and speed but I think it showed itself still a great competitor in the photographic world. I really liked the way the rocks just layered on top of each other and how their shadows contrasted with the lighter areas in the photo. Also, the selective focus so that the trees aren't overly distracting is a key element. Let me know your opinions!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Grand Opening

Hey Everyone! I am starting this blog to give you guys a taste for asome of my work in the realm of graphic design. This blog will contain a number of different things. I will upload a photo of the week every other week, I will upload some of my artwork, I will upload a tutorial every week that I found useful and fun, and anything else having to do with the graphic design world. I may end up doing more but that is what I will be doing for now. Please leave comments on any of the photos or artwork that I upload and if you liked the tutorials you can drop a note there too. I like constructive criticism so please feel free to speak up! Also, if there is anything you think should be added to the site feel free to let me know. Well, I hope you all enjoy visiting this blog and that you stop in frequently