Project 4 : Kaleidoscopes

Kaleidoscopes are fun to look through. They fragment what we see, multiply the fragments, and put them together again in amazingly complex variations.

Above : Original Photo

Geometrically Lucid

    Lucid means bright or luminous. When editing this image I increased the vibrance and saturation by 100%. I slightly took down the exposure, increased the recovery light all the way and decreased the blacks. The colors that showed up in this photograph when I increased the vibrance and saturation contrast and compliment each other. It reminds me of a something under a black light. I like the jagged edges in the rock and the contrast in the original image between the wet and dry rock made for a really cool effect in this kaleidoscope. If you look at the middle/top of this kaleidoscope the rock appears to have a dragon-like face or a face that resembles a Praying Mantis. 

Above : Original Photo

Oregon Flora

    Flora is a latin word meaning the plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period. When taking this image I had in mind that on the color wheel purple and yellow contrast and compliment each other. When editing this image I increased the blues and the purples and slightly decreased the yellows because I didn't want the yellow to clash with the green. I tried several different combinations when creating this kaleidoscope and this one was the one that I found worked best.

Above : Original Photo

Lost at Sea

      This kaleidoscope is one of my favorites. I like the contrast in scale between the bird and the rock and  I love the way the wave looks while splashing up against the side it. When editing this image I made the hue in the oranges a darker red-orange, the aqua a deeper blue, and the blues more aqua. I took down the saturation in the reds and I increased the saturation of the orange and yellow. The reason why I edited the color in this image is because I wanted to show some contrast in color.

Above : Original Photo

Chief Crazy Horse

     This image came from a vintage slide that I bought at the beach. When editing this image I used the brush tool to bring attention to the details in the image. I increased the clarity of the image and I used the split tone technique. The two colors I chose when using the split tone was orange and blue, although those two colors don't seem to really show up I think they gave the image a vintage sepia effect.

Above : Original Photo

Two Tone Flora

    Like in the kaleidoscope before this, I used the split tone technique. I first made it black and white, then I put the split tone effect on it. For this image, the two colors I chose were purple and blue, I chose these two in particular because they were both cool colors and I liked the way the highlights turned out in the kaleidoscope. 

Above : Original Photo

Fauna

    With this image I also used split toning and the colors I chose were pink and green. In the original image I loved the way the two zebra's were standing next to each other and both looking at me. Their strips are almost mesmerizing to me as I was most likely to them. This was the second watering hole in Africa I had seen and the amount of animals there was crazy. I love how the image is mirrored in this kaleidoscope as well and it took a lot of trial and error with cropping to make it look just right. I also like how the zebra in the center creates an 'X' shape in this kaleidoscope and he also appears as if he/she has two heads!! 

Project 4 : Diptychs and Triptychs

Modern Day Captain

    In this diptych I compared real to fake. Over the 4-day weekend I went for a walk in down-town Cannon Beach and on my way back I was passing a statue and to my surprise this old man who coincidentally looked almost exactly like the statue. The wrinkles in their face, the hat, the coat, and the body position is all similar to each other. I quickly took a few shots of him seeing that I knew this would make a great diptych. When editing this image I made the old man skinnier in appearance to match the statue more. I used the brush tool to blur the backgrounds in both images. I tried to match the blue in their coats as much as possible and I used the brush tool to take down the exposure in the color of the old mans originally grey pants. to make them black like the wood carving. I changed the color in the face and beard of the statue to make him more resemble the old man. 

Life After Death

    In this image I am using the comparison of life to death. When editing the photograph of the dead bird I tried to create a contrast in value by making it black and white and then increasing the light and dark areas of the image. To me, life is full of color and death is dark, so when putting the two images together I left one in color and the other in black and white.

Christmas Tree

     In this triptych I took a photo of a tree that had been naturally uprooted most likely by a storm and landed on the beach, it reminded me of a christmas tree. The second image in this triptych is a photo of my Christmas tree. The third image is of a fern in water with it's seedlings still intact and they reminded me of Christmas ornaments, the shape of it and the color of green versus red reminds me of Christmas as well.

Prohibited

     All three of these images were taken at the beach. Yes, it is prohibited to shoot fireworks on the beach but almost every time my family goes down to our beach house we light fireworks as a tradition. My dad is a pyromaniac and I dedicate this triptych to him :)

Project 4 : Balance and Contrast

Original - Contrast in Scale

Edited Version - Contrast in Scale

  When I was in Cannon Beach over the 4-day weekend I went into an antique shop. I went to look at the vintage photographs they had for sale and in the pile I found a set of 4 slides from North Dakota. To take this image I had to hold up the slide to the light in order to see the image within the slide. This slide in particular is my absolute favorite, Chief Crazy Horse folding his arms and standing in front of Mount Rushmore is really powerful to me; considering the carved faces represent American History which wouldn't have happened if we hadn't kicked the natives off of their land. Mount Rushmore in comparison to a human is in my opinion contrast in scale considering Mount Rushmore is 59 feet tall. When editing this image I used to brush tool to bring attention to the details in the image. I whitened the background of the whole image, increased the clarity of the image in the slide and changed the color to show the difference in the lighting in the slide image as well.

Original - Contrast in Texture

Edited Version - Contrast in Texture

  I took this image when we went on our field trip to the PSU campus, I stood on a bench and took this photo from up above. With some of the cigarette's out of the water, some in, some half in half out, show's a contrast in texture. When editing this image I darkened the color of the concrete to draw my viewer's focus to the cigarette's in the water. I increased the saturation of the red and oranges. I brought down the light area's in the photo so you would be able to vaguely see some of the cigarettes under the water.

Strong Contrast in Value #1

Strong Contrast in Value #2

  Value refers to the amount of contrast between dark and light. The strongest contrast you can create in any image is by making it black and white. In photography, strong contraswt is useful for controlling the attention of your viewers to a desired subject. In my first constrast in value image I decided to try and focus on the texture in the fur of the little bunny. The darker tone of the back of his ears to the lightness of the inside, and the light areas around his eye, paws, and chest. In my second conrast in value image I increased the highlights and light areas of the image, the contrast, and the shadows of the image. I particularly love that you can see the veins in the ears of the rabbit and you can clearly see the light reflecting off of his whiskers. I find that the second image is a better example of contrast in value because the rabbit itself is white and there is a black rock behind him/her.

Symmetrical Balance