CAGD 112 Final

CAGD 112 Final:

HDRI, Portrait, and Hyper-Realism

CSU Chico

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Assignment 3: Hyper-Realism

May 10, 2019

Final Image

For our final project, we were instructed to compose a hyper-realistic or surrealistic image using 2 or more original photos. In order to do so, we reused older techniques and learned new ones (including adjusting layer types and different types of selection tools) during our lessons and exercises.

To indulge deeper into the creation of my project, I intended to capture the feeling of awe and wonder that is commonly portrayed in pictures of galaxies or outer space, but in a familiar, "down-to-earth" environment. Taking pictures of my mailbox, rose gardens, and the brick wall are all familiar objects that viewers are able to identify with.

Of course, a majority of fantasy extraterrestrial pictures convey some sort of wormhole or portal, which was what I attempted to create. I decided against windows and doors as portals, and chose an item that is more quirky and less expected. In a sense, my big emphasis on this piece is the separation of extraterrestrial, unfamiliar elements and earthly, familiar ones.  

Original Images

The creation of this piece involved a lot of selections and trimmings. As I brought the three images into Photoshop, I selected and masked the focal points without the use of cropping or directly damaging the original layers. To create soft shadows and blending, I used soft ended brushes. I adjusted the lighting and shadowing by using the gradient tool, and I blurred the background or any items not facing the front to create perspective (as the brick wall was blurred, it would throw the balance off if nothing else was adjusted). To create the warm-colored, fairytale vibe depicted in the final image, I adjusted the contrast and brightness with the Curves tool, used the Gaussian Blur tool to soften the image, and added filters and adjusted the Color Balance to emphasize the warm colors. 

Meanwhile I enjoyed creating the theme and the message displayed, there are certain fields that I had difficulty with. I personally feel the depth inside the mailbox does not look convincing as I had trouble shading it as well as giving it perspective with the brick wall. The rose bush does not seem to be blending well with the wall, either. Because of that, the image turned out to look a little more one-dimensional than I intended, as if the scene inside was just painted on.

Despite the difficulty, this was my favorite project to create due to the amount of creativity and imagination I had to put in it. Overall, I'm rather pleased with the result, and this is definitely a project that I would do again and again.   

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Assignment 2: Portrait 

April 19, 2019

Final Image   

The purpose of this project was to capture the essentials in portrait photography, including the direction and intensity of lighting and shadowing, as well as using new techniques such as the Gaussian Blur tool and stamp tools used in Photoshop. We were also supposed to highlight the emotion conveyed in the image using lighting and shadowing.

For this particular project, I photographed my friend under a lamppost during the sunset and dusk, also known as "golden hour". I was particularly fond of "golden hour"lighting as I felt it conveys a thoughtful, calm, and nostalgic sort of feel, especially under the orange-yellow lighting from the lamppost, but I feel it was ultimately removed when I adjusted the settings in Photoshop. Meanwhile my intention was good, my work and overall result could not keep up, resulting in, what I consider, a photo that could have been better.

By making the image in black and white, I emphasized the shadows, resulting in a much more dramatic piece. Because my initial intent was to capture the summer-like feel, I was ultimately thrown off when getting a different result. Therefore, I tried to work with the black and white image like I did with the original colored photo. To my mistake, the contrast is too heavy in the final image and leaves a lot of "questioning", meaning that the viewers cannot relax upon seeing it because the shadows are too dark. 

Original Image

As well, having the trees in the background competed with the subject. Especially with the image in black and white, the trees were more busy and articulate in design than my friend. It therefore creates a competition on what to look at first. I did my part to blur them, but because the depth of field was too shallow, the entirety of the image was blurred.

If I were to fix this piece, I would definitely attempt to take pictures in multiple angles as well as different times during the day so I could study which lighting suited the dramatic, stark black-and-white appeal or the calm, golden summer appeal. I would look for a background that was more consistent and not as articulate in design to work with my friend rather than compete- perhaps, taking the picture with flower bushes or some sort of wall. What would work as well is to control my depth of field and blur the trees more efficiently than in Photoshop.

Meanwhile this proved to be the most difficult piece, I learned a lot of valuable lessons. As a photographer and a student, I learn from situations like these, and I will strive to do better next time.  

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Assignment 1: HDRI

April 4, 2019

Final Image

The intent of this task was to capture three pictures of the same subject in different exposures (over-exposed, under-exposed, and regular), and then proceed to combine them in Photoshop in order to create an HDRI image. Short for "High Definition Range Image", it is well-known for enhancing the quality of the image by boosting the product to 16-bit and enhance minor details without the risk of noise or pixels (in contrast to non-HDRI images).  

There was no specific reason (in terms of aesthetics) as of why I chose this orb to be the subject of my photo. I noted it complimented very well with the red/brown water that it was in, and as the swimming pool in the background served to be a calm and consistent background, the orb was able to stand out to the viewers without attention strain.    

Original Images

Meanwhile the project was fairly simple to complete in contrast to the other projects, the photo still needed rendering. My issue as I realized was that the three original exposures were relatively the same- meaning that the over-exposed picture is not too bright, nor is the under-exposed picture too dark. Due to that issue, the HDRI image came out to be fairly neutral and I even had to adjust certain settings manually to enhance the contrast and quality.

My other issue was that I changed position while taking the three pictures, although very subtle. I did not use a tri-pod or lean onto any solid surface for my camera to take pictures at a consistent angle. Because of that, the exposure layers in the final image are easy to identify and even creates some sort of vibration motion.

Despite the issues that came at hand, I learned my mistakes, and will continue to be more careful with the movement of the camera as well as exposure levels. Although the enhancements are subtle, I'm very impressed with how much HDRI adjustments can enhance an average photo.