Twirled, Swirled and Mirrored

In this post, I wanted to show a before and after example of an image I photographed and then edited. There is a building in progress behind my apartment that looks really interesting when it is lit up at night. I thought this would be a good starting point to do some more experimenting with mirroring and twirling editing effects. This is the result of my efforts, which I may or may not keep, though it was fun to create, and gave me new ideas for future projects.

Refraction Photographs, Part 2

 

Here is my second batch of Refracted Light Photographs, which I think are much more successful this time around. I love the detail that they have, and the color I was able to incorporate into them. I learned some new tips, about how to color them, and how to add depth. The colors are painted directly on the plastic, which is made from melting water bottles. If you try this, make sure to do it in a ventilated place, so as not to breathe in any fumes. I only like the holes in the plastic for the blue images, as they remind me of bubbles in a pool. The brown and red ones (not pictures) had holes, which made them look too flat and lose their depth. I am excited to keep experimenting with this process, and get more intricate results. Like the first batch, these photographs have only been cropped, there was no editing done to them, they are true to the original photographs I took today.

Mirrored Forest Images

Here are two more mirrored forest photographs. The weather warmed up a bit today, so I was able to get some more photography done, without my fingers feeling like they were about to fall off. I am having a great time editing these images, and am using them as a way to practice using Photoshop. I almost have enough images cropped, altered, and ready to order prints of, so that they can be here in time for the art show next weekend.

Mirrored Forest

 

Here are some edited photographs I just finished, they were originally trees taken in the woods behind my parents' house. I mirrored the shots, then played around with the coloring until I got the effect I was looking for. I am really starting to get the hang of photoshop, as well as using my camera, and am really enjoying the pieces I can create with this new medium.

Moving Lights

These photographs are of a chain with orange lights that I have around my bathroom mirror. I was intrigued by the way they reflected in the dark room. I then started playing around with lower shutter speed and moving the camera while it was taking the picture. The result was the blur that resulted in the first three pictures, each in different patterns. The last two images show the chain a little more clearly. These pictures were not edited at all, not even cropped. They are shown here exactly as I photographed them. I have been reading more opinions lately of people showing disdain for edited photographs, calling them a mockery of photography. Although I do not share this opinion, I thought it would be nice to have some photographs that were not edited, for the people that feel this way.

Refracted Light Photographs

These photographs are of refracted light. I used various lights and shined them though different glass bottles, and plastic pieces. I then took the pictures of the amazing ghostly images they cast. These photos have only been cropped, no other form of editing has been applied. I read about a photographer who uses this form of refraction photography as his sole source of inspiration and art. He melts his own plastic to get the shapes and colors he needs. I have some ideas for new materials that are more complex than glass bottles, while less complex than melting my own plastic shapes. I am hoping to find a successful medium within my future experimentation.

Edited Photographs

This photo was also taken on my new camera. It is a close up of a fur like pillow, showing the texture of the long hairs. I edited the photo in Photoshop, using the negative settings to add a more dramatic flair to the picture. I also inverted the photo to add more mystery as to what the image actually is.

Photographs

I finally bought myself a nice camera, so I can start on some photography ideas I have. I went for a compact, but didn't want the look of the point and shoot, flat camera that fit into your pocket. I wanted a digital camera, that looked like a SLR. I ended up with the Nikon, p510, for anyone that is interested. It has 16.1 megapixels, 42 times wide optical zoom, and lots of fun features I am still trying out. Here are some of the first few photos I took yesterday. They were all taken outside in the dark, thanks to my camera's wonderfully powerful flash. I am so excited to continue to use this camera, as the picture quality and clarity is so much better than the pictures I usually submit on my phone. I uploaded these pictures straight from my memory card, without editing them. Two of them are taken of a streetlamp, one with the camera moving. The third is a telephone wire, also taken with the camera moving.