Digital Photography and Imaging - Week 5

21.10.2024 - 29.10.2024

Chan Zhi-Ren Zenndan / 0369069

Digital Photography and Imaging / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Week 5 / Part 2A: Hearst Mansion Exercise

Week 5 Lecture

Mr. Fauzi gave a brief lecture on basic photography shooting and how we can recreate certain effects with Photoshop. Examples include double exposure, tilt-shift effect, shadow manipulation, etc. Blend modes were also introduced, highlighting which modes provide darkening, lightening, and contrast.

1. Hearst Mansion Exercise

The purpose of the Hearst mansion exercise is to teach students how to import a full-bodied person into any environment. In this case, we are tasked to place Shazam and ourselves into the Hearst mansion, making it look as realistic as possible. I followed the instructions given below and edited Shazam first.

Fig 1.1 Instructions. (26/10/2024)

2. Shazam in Hearst Mansion

Below is the outcome after following the tutorial.

Fig 2.1 Shazam in Hearst mansion (26/10/2024).

3. Myself in Hearst Mansion (Exercise)

I started by mimicking Shazam's pose, then used the Quick Selection Tool to mask myself out of the original photo. Then, I copied and pasted myself beside Shazam to cross-check the correct eye levels.

Fig 3.1 Cross-checking eye-levels (26/10/2024).

Then, I positioned myself in the Hearst mansion and flipped horizontally.

Fig 3.2 Me in Hearst mansion (26/10/2024).

I then matched the colour of the mansion to my image to make it more natural.

Fig 3.3 Using the 'Match Color' tool. (26/10/2024).

Then, I created a new layer to draw shadows using the brush tool. I reduced the opacity to 66% and used a bit of Gaussian Blur to further enhance the shadow effect.

Fig 3.4 Without (left) and with (right) shadows (26/10/2024).

Now, I would have to make my reflection from the water. I duplicated the layer by dragging the original layer to the 'Create a new layer' button. I don't directly copy and paste because it doesn't maintain the same position; however, if you drag to duplicate, it retains its original position. I flipped the image by adding a negative (-) to its vertical scale (100 to -100). Then, I positioned the image in its appropriate position.

Fig 3.5 Duplicating myself for reflection (26/10/2024).

I used the pen tool to discard parts of the image, then used the masking tool to apply.

Fig 3.6 Pen tool to keep selected parts (26/10/2024).

Finally, I edited my reflection by using adjustment tools such as brightness/contrast and hue/saturation. I also used the Gaussian Blur effect to make it more appealing.

Fig 3.7 Adjustments for reflection (26/10/2024).

Below is what the outcome looks like.

Fig 3.8 Me in Hearst mansion after editing (26/10/2024).

4. Extra

I decided to make an extra version since I have another picture that would fit well on the balcony.

Fig 4.1 Extra version (26/10/2024).

5. Reflection

In week five, we delved into photo manipulation by inserting ourselves into an image of a mansion. This exercise required a lot of fine-tuning, especially with shadows and lighting to make the figure blend seamlessly. It was a fun and engaging task, and I enjoyed learning how to realistically Photoshop myself into different environments.

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