Photo Manipulation

Before:

After:

1. Mr. Blue Eyes
2. Queen Creek, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates realistic/stunning editing. I basically made a copy of the layer, desaturated the new layer, increased the contrast by increasing the whites and blacks, and used the erasing tool on his eyes to let the blue of the layer underneath come through. I think it turned out really nicely. :)
Before:

After:

1. Storms of Life
2. Gilbert, Arizona
3. This photo demonstrates surreal editing. It looks like a super simple editing job due to the overcast sky, but it really wasn't. The overcast made a weird line on the subject and wall. I made so many edits to this I'm just going to summarize: I took the sky from another photo I have taken and imported it and then I softened the border between the two images. Basically.

Before:

After:

1. Light of Christmas
2. Queen Creek, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates taking something from one photo and adding it to another while trying to make it as real as possible. I took the background photo, as you can see. To edit, I made the temperature more yellow to match the lighting in the Christmas ornament* and make it more real. I added in the Christmas ornament photo I found online as a layer and I erased the background and gingerly did the same with the edging right around the bulb. Then I cropped it at the end. I think it turned out really great! Funny thing is, when I took this photo a while ago, I wanted to do this exact thing but I didn't know how then. XD

*I don't know who took the photo since it came up in a google search, but it linked to a site called Factory Direct Craft where they sell Christmas ornaments.

Candigraphy

1. Pursuit
2. This photo was taken in Chandler, Arizona.
3.This photo demonstrates what I call candigraphy. (candid photography) She did not pose for the photo and it was taken in a split second. I am personally very pleased with this photo because I took this while I was running away from her. (She mildly didn't want her picture taken and was chasing me lightheartedly.) So yes, that is my arm in the bottom right. I went into photoshop and just made it darker so that it would be less distracting. It kind of helped. . .but I'm still really proud of this photo. I love the Dutch angle and the focus is impressive considering how fast both she and I were moving. And yes, it was taken during golden hour and actually while I was trying to get photos of something else.

1. A World of Pure Observation
2.This photo was taken in a church building in Mesa, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates candigraphy because it the subject did not pose for the camera and it is imperfect in composition. It was really difficult photographing this baby because he was surrounded by a bunch of little girls all vying for his attention and so he moved around a lot. This photo is in focus, has a nice shallow depth of field, and I like the moment it captured of him just seeing the world as a small child. I did slightly edit this photo but basically all I did was turn the temperature down. We were in a church building where the lighting was very yellow. So I just turned the temperature to more of a blue.

1. Second in Time
2.This photo was taken in a church building in Mesa, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates candigraphy in the very genuine expression of the child (not posed). She was doing her own thing and I was trying to get her in focus and she looked at the camera at just the right moment for me to snap this. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I love how big her curls are and the raw feel of the whole picture. The colors in it also go really well together and are pleasing to the eye. Again, the only thing I did in editing was turn down the temperature. (I would have left it as it was, but it was really yellow so you couldn't appreciate the photo as much.)

Still Life and Movement

1. Authentic Living
2. This photo was taken in Chandler, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates still life. I did this as a tribute to my grandpa. He was a forest ranger and he loved belt buckles. So I have his belt buckle on the right. I also put his boots in the shot which was a bit of a challenge because they were pretty tall, so I compromised by turning one on it's side and sticking some dandilion-like flowers in them. I also added my dad's hat to fill the frame. I think it turned out well and really captured the texture of the objects. I like it. :) Editing: All I did was bring up the clarity just a hair so the blurriness of the bottom part of the flowers was no longer distracting. I could have gone without it, but I was editing my other motion photos, so I thought: Why not?

1. Split Second
2. This photo was taken in Chandler, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates a capture of still movement. My little brother was riding the scooter but everything is still, and FINALLY in focus. . .I honestly don't know if I did this one right. I had my brother slowdown when he got to the camera, so does it still count if I told him what to do? I don't know. It took us like a million tries to get this though. I have all the photos to prove it :P

1. All A Blur
2. This photo was taken in Chandler, Arizona.
3. This photo demonstrates blurred movement. I had my brother jump and do a roll and then he helped me layer all of the photos together. It was SOOO difficult :P