The Photoshop Effect

In class we watched a video on the photoshop effect.  In this video a reporter volunteered to be photographed and photoshopped just to see the effect that it has on people.  The reporter was very excited about being able to see herself in a photoshopped point of view, she even said she thought she liked her self better as photoshopped.  In reality most people would like to see themselves as photoshopped, because with photoshop you can always change what you don't like.

In part two of the video on photoshop, there were several comments on taking photoshopped pictures out of the media, because they are causing problems.  Someone also made a statement that photoshopped pictures should be tagged in magazines and other forms of media to let people know that the photos are not "real"and that they have been retouched.  I think that adding a disclaimer to a magazine about the photos would be a good idea if that is what the media thinks is best.  A warning label doesn't really stop people from doing other things that are supposed to be dangerous.  

Dove Beauty Ad

In the Dove Artificial beauty ad we saw that in ad campaigns, pictures are not always what they seem.  The Dove company wanted us to see the process that a model goes through to have her picture taken from looking "normal" to having a styling team fix her hair and do her make up, and then having a professional come and take and edit the pictures.  The girl in the video did not even look like the same person after the team of professionals got through working with her.  It is kind of funny, that we don't even recognize that photoshop has been used in pictures sometimes, because we are so accustomed to pictures looking that way.

Different angles.

Four different angles of the seating area in front of the Hamrick building. I took a picture from the left side, the middle, the right side, and from the steps looking down.

Photographs and Ethics

In Friday's class we viewed many different links to show how ethics can affect the outcome of photographs.  In many ways photographs can be altered for the good, to crop out something that didn't need to be there, to edit the contrast, and other small details.  In the pictures that we viewed, the editing purposes were misused.  The cropping tools were used to make one thing look a different way than it really happened. Also, the editors were superimposing images onto old background of other pictures that had been used several times.  Many photographers also tried to make something seem as if it occured naturally, such as a toy being found during a natural disaster, but one photographer in particular made is very obvious that he was randomly placing objects into the pictures, because the toys weren't dirty and they were oddly placed. 

          Some of the links that we went to were:

1. http://click.si.edu/Story.aspx?story=178
2. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~hick0088/classes/csci_2101/false.html
3. http://mediamythbusters.com/index.php?title=Fauxtography
4. http://blogs.photopreneur.com/worlds-most-infamous-staged-photos

 

Second Set of Photos I Took

First Set of Photos I took

Day Two: Seond Half Of The Pat Wright Lecture

Pat Wright's Photography Rules
Rule 3:
Use different angles, shoot vertical or horizontal pictures, bend your knees to get a lower view.

Rule 4: Use different camera lenses.  Whether you have a camera that has removable lenses or a point and shoot camera that you can change the settings on.

Rule 5: Be aware of the light and how it affects the composition.

Rule 6: The rule of thirds.  Divide your picture into three equal parts.

Other Tips from Pat:
1. take more than one shot
2. Always carry more than one memory card
3.Carry plenty of batteries
4.Set your camera clock to the correct time and the calendar to the correct date.
5.Keep image resolution set to high.
6.Experiment with different light settings.
7.Carry lens tissue to keep lenses clean
8.Carry a small notepad with you to keep track of information you may need.