Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Greek Goddess Elpis


For my second myth I chose the greek goddess Elpis, who is the goddess of hope. Elpis was trapped in a jar by Zeus and was under the power of Pandora. When the jar was opened all the spirits in the jar escaped except for Elpis and she stayed in the jar to comfort mankind. Elpis was often represented by a young woman or a young child carring flowers in her arms. So I took this photo of my little cousin Charis. I took the photo out side to give the picture a soft sunlight. When I was taking pictures of Charis I had her hold these yellow flowers in her hand to help represent the greek myth. Then when I was editing the photo I didnt have to do too much, just a gaussion blurr and I earased her profile and the flowers to keep the focus on them. I also used the sponge tool in the background on the house because it was bright red and it look distracting.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Greek Goddess Circe


I did the Greek Myth of Circe who was a goddess that used magic and potions. She lived on the Island of Aeaea and when sailors or who ever, came to her island she would feed them and when they drank her wine they would turn into dogs, lions or pigs. Then she would bring them to her stables where many other sailors had been transformed into animals. When the sailors changed into animals they looked and talked like an animal but still had their human brains which made them more gental. So to interpret this Greek Myth I took a picture of my cousin and my dog. I took the picture in a field to show the feel of the island and how I thought it might have looked. I had my cousin look down tward my dog as if she had changed him from a sailor to a dog. To make the photo more mystical and magical I gaussion blurred the background and kept my cousin and my dog in clear focus. Then I changed to opacity down to about 70 so the photo would be kind of clear but still blurred to keep the focus on my cousin. Another thing I did was burn the photo and I changed the curves so the picture would be darker to help the mood. I also clone stamped out a house in the background because it was distracting and I dodged my cousins cheek a little to help your eye lead straight to her.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Portrait of Charis


I took this photo of my cousing Charis. I choose this photo because I really liked the facial expression which shows her personality. I feel like I could have done a better job with this photo but to impove what I was working with I cropped the photo so she wouldnt be in the dead center and I also used the gaussion blur filter. I then earased the gaussion blur around her eyes and a little of her hair to help them pop out but I think the photo could have turned out better if I would have not blurred the bottom half of her face so much. Also to make it not so distracting I used the sponge tool to take away some color from the window frame in the background and I also blurred the background.

Portrait of Asa


This is a photo of my little cousin Asa and I choose this photo because I really liked the lighting in her eyes. I used the gaussion blur filter and earased it around her eyes to intensify them and I blurred the background. I also clone stamped out a sky light from the ceiling because it was distracting. Another thing I did to make her eyes brighter was use the dodge tool on the highlighted areas of her puples and burned the black in her eye to make it darker and give them more contrast. In this photo I feel like I should have not blurred her face as much because then it would have helped bring it out more. Also I wish i would have done something to the window so it wouldnt be so distracting.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Color Couch 4 'Yellow Wall Paper'


For the Yellow Wall Paper I took a photo of these bananas. I took a picture of them because the bananas in the background kind of fade out and in the story the lady talks about how the wall paper fades out and frustrates her. So I thought since she didn't really like the wall paper this related because the bananas don't really look that good so some one may not want to eat them.

Color Couch 4


This photo was taken at my cousins wedding and the feeling I get from it is a joyful, happy feeling because its like a family gathering and people coming together for a happy celebration. I think this picture represents those feelings well because of the warm orange and yellow colors. To help make the colors my rich I used the burn tool around the edges of the lights and I also darkened the photo and blurred the background to help make the colors pop even more.

Color Couch 3


For this photo the color I was representing was red. I chose to take a picture of these red objects because when I was walking into my house they looked so vibrant and attracted my eye. One thing I did to help make the red come out more was the neon glow which helped the red berry lights pop alot better. Another thing I did was blur the background and I clone stamped a telephone pole out of the background because it was distracting to the photo. The feeling I got from this photo was a happy, holiday feeling because it was Christmas lights and the red was so beautiful.

Color Couch 2


I took this photo of a plant in my house and the feeling that comes across is in a way a plane feeling because the colors are so basic. Like we said in the critique I think it definitely looks flattened and I should not have used the flash. But to deal with what I was working on I clone stamped the light switch out so it wouldnt get distracting. I also think this photo represents a refresing, life because green can show living and livelyness especially through a plant.

Color Couch 1


For this photo I took a picture of my dad's painting and I tryed to represent a blue color. Even though I was aiming for blue I think the other colors like redish pink and green also come across the photo as a focus. With all these different colors the feeling could almost be 'cumfusing' because there is so many colors. But to help make the blue pop more I intensified the black around the shirt to help it come out more in a three-d look and to help portray a little bit of a 'calming' color.