For our final project in GC 3400 I wanted to explore more ways to edit photos in photoshop. More specifically, I wanted to learn how to manipulate lighting in photoshop and add lighting that looks natural and/or artificial depending on its purpose. I found tutorials that will teach you how to add dual lighting to your photos, add fake color gels, add a lit neon sign or shape to you photo, add extra lighting (like artificial spot lights) to separate back drop from the subject, and how to shape light to be coming from a certain object or location within the photograph.
Above is my original photograph. This was taken during the personality photography assignment. My main goal here was to incorporate a lot of bright and happy colors onto my subject using color gels. The color gels did a good job lighting up the background, but this did not transfer to my subjects face as I hoped it would.
This is the finished project. The main change that I am super happy with is the color on the subjects face. I've always found dual lighting portraits super visually appealing and I've tried to achieve it all semester. I never had much luck when I tried it with color gels so I'm very happy I found two different ways to edit it onto the subject naturally.
After finishing the dual lighting and fake color gels, I added an artificial spotlight to bring out the subjects highlights on her face because the dual lighting and color gels ended up darkening the photo.
The next trick that I found super cool and useful was shaping light to be coming out of an object or certain place in the photo. In the tutorial they used the effect to have light appear to be coming out of a flower. I used the effect to have light coming out of the palm of her hands to frame her face. I did it very subtly and think it adds a very nice look to the photo.
The last effect is the neon sign with my subjects name. I've seen this effect before and tried it in the past with no success. For this project, I took my time and followed both of the tutorials linked to create a neon sign that looks like its hanging on the wall behind the subject.
All of the tutorials I followed took a lot of playing around with different properties and values to find what would fit with my photo.
TUTORIALS
Dual Lighting - 27 Minutes
Fake Color Gels - 20 Minutes
Add Fake Lighting - 16 Minutes
Control/Shape Light - 30 Minutes
Neon Shape Effect - 8 Minutes
Neon Sign - 20 Minutes
REFLECTION
The topic area I chose was editing natural and artificial lighting in Photoshop. I decided on this topic because my next internship and career after college require strong abilities in Photoshop. I've never had the opportunity to play around with Photoshop this much other than my personal practice projects during my free time. Unlike my practice, this project forced me to find tutorials and ways to edit in Photoshop that I have never tried before, or never done successfully before. In finishing this project, I can confidently say that my Photoshop skills have advanced to a new level that will benefit me for the rest of my time here at Clemson and after graduating.
After completing the tutorials, the most important thing I learned is that Photoshop has so many capabilities. It's easy to think you know everything Photoshop has to offer once you learn the basics. However, the edits and effects that one can apply in Photoshop are endless. With that, there are even more combinations of edits and effects that will enhance and add so much creativity and unique flare to your photo. So, the most important thing I've learned from the tutorials is that if I want to be successful in my career, I can't ever stop learning, and I should continue to find advanced tutorials and follow them closely to enhance my work.
Learning these new skills impacted my creativity by expanding it and unlocking a new branch of my editing skills in Photoshop. I've learned so much about the lighting effects in Photoshop that I can fix whether the photo is poorly lit or doesn't have the correct mood. I can also add so much creative flare with color, neon shapes and signs, or controlling light to be coming from an object in the photo. The possibilities are endless with the new skills I've learned, and my creativity has become more unique.
I thoroughly enjoyed this project. I am happy with how much freedom we were given because it allowed me to focus on skills that I know will benefit me in the future.