Proficiency in Photoshop

Out of the three programs that we used this semester, Photoshop is definitely the one that I had the hardest time with and what little I did learn I'm not sure if I remember... I think this program has a lot more technical things that you have to be aware of than Illustrator or InDesign. So it just takes more time to adjust to and become comfortable with. But Photoshop is definitely something I want to become very familiar with because I would still love to somehow incorporate photography into my work/job or maybe even become a photographer.

This is my best piece in Photoshop - our Mood project where we had to combine 3-5 photos to create a mood. These are all photos that I have taken in the past, all at different times within the last three years. As I have blogged before, the mood I was trying to create was a calming, relaxing mood because I find those things in nature. 

I used masks to cut out my roommate's head and the leaves from their original pictures and altered the color/saturation of each of them. I also cranked up the saturation of the background photo as well. Then, once they were all on the same page, arranged the way I wanted them, I created four separate gradient masks (one for Erin and each of the leaves). Now, each part of each object slowly starts to become slightly translucent to add to the airy feel. Finally, I used the paintbrush tool to add the smaller leaves that seem to blow away in the distance. The paintbrush tool allowed my to make this selection and make it lighter than the rest of the background.

I hope that I am able to learn more about photoshop and become more comfortable with it in the future.