1 January 2017. A Short Excursus Into PhotoShop Land

The original image

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My PhotoShop version

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There are many legit uses for digital photo-imaging software. We all know the verboten uses… one doesn’t add or remove pivotal figures (although one can remove minor personages, such as a cameraman). Also, one doesn’t add or remove objects (except for lamps, power lines, birds, or other such miscellanea). In any case, there are telltales that are obvious to any experienced user of such software. Here, we see one of the legit uses… I wanted to show you how I approach image editing (the image is of two female gimnaziya students in the late Imperial period).  I wanted to have a more effective colourisation than the first PhotoShop. Firstly, there was feathering necessary around the main subjects. Then, I poked around with the ambient temperature of the image. I had to lower the master saturation level, but I also had to raise or lower some colour levels. The intent was to achieve the same effect as a handcoloured image of the period.

I don’t have the full PhotoShop suite, as it’s beyond my means. I use a homebrew combination of Corel X9, PhotoShop Elements 15, and Paint.net. It gives me more flexibility and capability than just using Elements alone. It takes longer, but the job gets done, as the results indicate.

I hope that this helps you to understand the creative process and how one goes about it in the digital age. Happy New Year to all of you and your families and friends… may you keep inviting me into your lives. BOTTOMS UP! (glasses, that is… that’s a joke, son… nice kid, but kinda stupid (accent of Foghorn Leghorn))

BMD

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