Week 3

Assignment:
-The assignment was to create a portrait of Abraham Lincoln using two photos, one new and one old.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-Before beginning any meshing of photos it was necessary to come to a conclusion about what the overall message of the final product is going to be. After having that figured out it was time to search the contact sheet for photographs that would convey that message in a clear manner. The photo that was picked for the background was "Friend Christmas." Having the background picked it was time to pick a photo of Abraham Lincoln that would be used to create the portrait; in the end the photograph that was decided on was the "Lincoln in Chair." Now that the starting photos were picked out it was time to move on to photoshop. The two photos that are going to be used to create the draft were dragged into the photoshop program and photo editing can begin. First the dimensions of the page were setup then the background image was pasted on the page. Using the corners of the image to increase the size of the image so it fits the over blank screen; increasing the image dimensions was done while holding the shift button because this way the image proportions remained the same, and after the desired size was reached I hit enter and the image was set. Now it was time to remove any color from the image. To do this I selected the "image" function and under "image" opened the adjustment functions which allowed me to select the hue/saturation function. Using this function all the color was removed from the image. Now the image was black and white, and ready for further editing. Now I turned my attention to the photo of Lincoln; using the lasso tool a rough cut-out was made around his head. To make the picture more realistic the rough edges needed to be cleaned up. Using the "magic wand tool" I selected the pixels that I wanted to keep and deleted the other pixels. Lincoln's head was a little to small for the picture so adjusting the scale of the picture was necessary. This option was found under "edit" and "transformation." After getting the right scale the head was superimposed on the individual's head in the background picture. Once the position of the head was just right the image was saved. Before printing the image out the page was setup. The height was set to 8.5 inches and width was set to be 11 inches; now it was ready to be printed.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-When someone looks at this picture the first things that probably jumps out at them is the Christmas Tree, and the second thing that jumps out is Abraham Lincoln himself. Finally, the last object in the picture that stands out is the chair. It does not look like the picture has any areas where there is a lack of information and the picture is also not cluttered with information. The most important information that is going to help convey the message across to others is in the middle of the photo.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using photoshop program and a couple of pictures to create a Lincoln portrait there is one thing that I am trying to say. Using this image I am trying to say that Abraham Lincoln is a regular Joe who likes to spend time with his family and celebrate holidays amongst them. This image also shows the other side of him; the side that is not all about business.