Nature in the Eyes of the Beholder
The image that I have composed is intended to reflect the meaning of nature through the eyes of an individual. I have included three images that are elements of nature: the water, sunset, and forest. The layer with with water is an image from my trip up north with my family this past summer. There is a large concrete dock with a lighthouse at the end and is surrounded by deep, blue water. The image including the sunset is from my backpacking trip in Pictured Rocks with my family, which holds significance because it was a time where I was able to bond with my family through the simplicity of nature. The forest image is from the same trip to Pictured Rocks where we were hiking and found this set of stairs in the middle of the woods. I tried to capture the staircase so it was centered in the image. In Photoshop, I layered the images so that the darkest image (the water image) was the smallest opacity because I didn't want it to control the image. If the image was lighter, it had a greater opacity. Overall, I wanted this image to reflect the significance of nature in my life and how beautiful it is in my eyes. I titled this image Nature in the Eyes of the Beholder to play it off of the common phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to create a parallel structure to reflect that nature is beautiful in different ways for everyone.
Natural Dependence
This double exposure image that I have created reflects my inner dependence and admiration of nature. The photograph of the landscape was taken in Montana, when my family and I were on vacation several weeks ago. Being surrounded by beautiful mountains and trees and large amounts of snow was relaxing and healthy for my well-being. The quote that I have selected on the image shows my feelings in thinking that if you find peace and hope in natural beings and substances, you will feel more fulfilled and find meaning in what is greater. I adjusted the landscape image so that the brighter lines of the sunset were placed over my eyes and my mind, showing my desire to see and understand natural beauty. I also found it interesting placing the patterns of the snow next to the patterns on my scarf.
From Selfie Project to Double Exposure Project
Starting at the beginning of the trimester with my Selfie project, I can easily pick out several mistakes that I had made. Learning to use Adobe Photoshop was a challenge at first. There are several components to each image and it is easily common to make mistakes. Having said this, I do think that the image I created for my Selfie project was good. I had a common theme and all of the images balance each other with their components in the foreground and background. Coming to the final image of my Double Exposure project, I have learned the works of Adobe Photoshop and have become quote fond of it. There are so many different tasks you can complete and different techniques that allow you to do so. I have learned the names of and the jobs of most of the tools on the side bar, some of which allowed me to make this project. I have learned about filters and the adjustments that allow you to make an image different and better. I have expanded my knowledge on layers and the different changes you can make to them. All of this, and more, allowed me to make all of the projects on my Weebly. The common intentional theme that I have selected for both of these images is nature, because of the significance that is has on my life. I reflected the moral understanding that I have on nature and wanted to show my connection through my images. The double exposure image is more clear and more refined, allowing the viewer to be clearly drawn to it, whereas the selfie project has a lot going on at once, which almost can push the viewer away. Overall, my understanding and grasp on Photoshop is reflected in the increase of quality in these images.