Photo Manipulation

Photo manipulation is now popularly used today with the technology provided to us. There are programs out there, such as Photoshop that helps the average person out there have an easy time navigating through the program to manipulate photos. Photo manipulation is the process of image editing to illustrate an deception or illusion. Photo manipulation is now used mostly everywhere to enhance the picture. Photographs taken of celebrities posted on magazines have to be manipulated, so it makes it look outstanding or cause an illusion for other reasons, such as advertising a product or service.

For this assignment I had used Photoshop CS4 and Picasa 3.

Photo 1: Picture was taken at the CN Tower. It was a foggy day as you can see from the sky it was really grayish. The photo focuses on Toronto city landscape pointing towards the Lake-shore West side. At the far Center-back you can see Ontario Place, on the far center-left is the Bishop International Airport, and then a bunch of condos & GO train tracks.

 

  (Original) 

 

(Edited)

The changes I did was made the fog gammas higher, so there is a lot of focus there. The rest of the picture I had made the contrast darker. The buildings, the lake and etc. are all darker. I decided to make the change, because the bright fog was like heaven. If you start from the bottom of the picture going slowly up it gets brighter slowly as you go up. It is like those movies where there is people stuck in a tunnel in pitch darkness and the lights resembles freedom.

Photo 2: A picture of a replica Stanley Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

 (Original)

(Edited)

The first change I did was the lighting. I made the floor darker and the black stand darker. On the left and right side there is a shade of black also. This makes the appearance of the Stanley Cup more focused, because it is the center of attention. The Stanley Cup is one of the hardest trophies to earn in the National Hockey League (NHL), so I made it stand out more and brighten it and darken the place around it, so it is precious and meaningful.

Photo 3: Picture is taken at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. The event is a baseball game showing the Toronto Blue Jays versing their opponent.

(Original)

(Edited)

The first thing I did was crop the top of the image. I removed the big sun light that was coming into the Rogers Centre. I removed the sun light glare, so it would not be the centre of attention, as that glare may have the viewers looking there instead of where I am trying to make them look instead. The Blue Jays Player, Jose Bautista, had hit a home run. I made the field dark, except where the ball was over, which was bright green area. I added the text "Home Run !!!" also indicating it was a home run for the viewer.

To conclude, this was my first time ever editing photos. It was fun using Photoshop and Picasa 3 to help me edit the photos that I had taken from events and places I had attended. The editing of the photos made the meaning of the photo more meaningful.

Early Days of Photography Versus Portraits Today

What are the main differences and similarities between portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today?

Photography in the early days was only affordable to the one who had power, status, and wealth. Photographer cameras were new technology at the time, so they were consider a luxury item and were enormously expensive. Photographers would have to practice and study techniques on how the pictures had to be taken and that it are taken correctly, so that no resources and time would be wasted. In the early days, pictures would be placed in a liquid with infrared lighting shining over the picture sheet and would take hours until the picture would be visible. Today, we can make many mistakes as possible, but it wouldn't be a problem as pictures are retaken within seconds and are shown on the screen instantly, so there is no waiting needed for the picture to be shown or resources wasted if there was a mistake or bad picture taken. The pictures that were taken in the early days are considered vintage and rare as there were not a lot of multiple pictures of the same object. For example, if there was a picture of the CN Tower back then you probably wouldn't take a picture of it again as it would be a waste. Today you can just take multiple pictures of the same objective as there is nothing to waste. Pictures in the early days were taken as art status for people. Today, pictures taken can be for anything, such as media showing whets going on around the world, celebrities to showcase them and make them more known to people. Some places today still use the black room to print photos, which were also done in the early days. Back in the days, wealthy people could afford pictures, so that they can show it to the world to increase their status and reputation. Today, it is still the same, but with paparazzi and media doing the job for them.

Who was the photographer and who was the subject of photographs in the past and today?

The photographers were well trained photographers who had to study chemistry, so that they can operate a camera and to produce the pictures. These photographers would have to go through extensive practicing and training to become a photographer.

The subject of the photographs in the past was wealthy people as they were the ones who would be able to afford to pay the photographers and the photographs. Today, the subject of pictures is mainly families and friends. Then there is a picture of special occasions, events, and vacations something that you may look back and have good memories. 

What was the impact of technology on the portraits in the past and today?

Technology is improving at exponential rates today, so camera technology is getting advanced. They are at affordable costs, and can be purchased at almost every retail store. The biggest improvement for photographs was when color was introduced. It was from plain black-and-white color into a picture with a variety of different beautiful colors. Here is a picture comparing a black-and-white versus color side by side:

As you can tell the enrichment of the color makes the photograph stand out way more than a photograph in black-and-white.

The picture above is taken back in the 1870s. This photograph, which seem really plain compared to the ones today would cost a fortune, so it was only the wealthy families who were able to afford the photos.

 

The picture above taken 1907 by Jean-Baptiste Tournassou, was the first ever documented color photo of an automobile. This picture means more than other color pictures as this was part of history. 

References:

http://www.fixthisphoto.com/color-vs-black-and-white-photography
http://www.networlddirectory.com/blogs/permalinks/6-2007/first-documented-color-photo-of-an-automobile.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Breadfruit.jpg

What is it like to be a post-secondary student studying in downtown Toronto?

Hey,

My name is Huy Tran, and I attend a local community college called, George Brown College, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As a student studying in the downtown core, I've experienced and learned a lot by just attending school. You get to know whats happening in school, and what goes around the school outside.

Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world. Cultures from all over the world are located in one city. As a student, studying in downtown Toronto it has given me the opportunity to experience the finest things occurring in the city. The atmosphere is amazing, tons of pedestrians walking around at any given time in the day, and local events and activities that happens daily.

Living in the city of Toronto, I commute using the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to school. The TTC is one of the best transportation services to get you where you need to be. Additionally, with the different cultures in Toronto, you get the opportunity to try a variety of different cultural cuisines.

Downtown Toronto holds some historical and world-breaking records that tourist comes to see, such as the CN Tower. CN Tower was the world’s tallest freestanding structure from 1975 to 2007, but as a student residing in Toronto, I would always see the CN Tower every day. It has been a wonderful and joyful time studying in downtown Toronto.