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A Digital Photography Journey
Preface
Preface
Towards the end of July in 2022, I visited my college roommate in Toronto, Canada, the location of his summer internship. I had been to Canada a few times before, but never to as cool of a city as Toronto (...sorry Saskatoon). I didn't have any expectations, just let my friend guide me through his temporary home. I fell in love with the sights and sounds, and the (mostly) kind people that graced the city's clean streets.
Overview
Overview
This page is to highlight one of my favorite digital art projects posts ever.
The finished album is to the right.
This album contains 5 slides, with each one being a merge of 2 pictures. I started off wanting to post 10 separate 16:9 pictures, but I changed my mind during the process as I started to imagine how it would appear on Instagram. For those of you who don't know... square pictures look real nice on Instagram, especially since all posts have square thumbnails on a profile view.
So, the merge aspect of the photos was a happy accident, as I tried to figure out how to format multiple pictures on a slide at once. Luckily for me, each picture had a rightful companion picture that worked well for the merging.
All photos taken on an iPhone 12 mini.
Color Correction
Color Correction
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For this series of images I wanted it to be very saturated and vibrant, as it was like my summer vacation. However, certain colors needed more saturation than others. In the second picture with the flowery tree, I had to specifically target the magentas of the flowers so they would pop out. I also adjusted the hue of certain elements, such as the water in nearly every picture. I really liked the look of it having more of a green tint, to make it look more aqua rather than a dull, mellow blue. The skylines and forests above the horizon line were also targeted to have more shadows, and in certain pictures it helped establish a silhouette effect that allowed for a significant contrast with the subject. The subjects, particularly the human ones, were masked and brightened as they had significant shadows in the original pictures. Playing with lighting and saturation gradients leading to the horizon line took up a lot of the experimentation process. Coincidentally, this helped make the merges look very compelling.
Merging
Merging
I didn't know what to expect from this first blur attempt, but it turned out much better than I imagined. The small layer of trees in the top picture allow a smooth transition, but I had to give the flowery tree more room to pop out from the bottom. The title helped fill it out, and naturally this became the first slide.
I was very worried about if this one would end up working, but it only took adjusting the size and position of the top image to make it fit. The low clouds through the trees help pull off a smoky, ambiguous effect so that you don't need to see the lower parts of the trees of the top image.
The separation of time between these two shots is a lot more significant than it seems. This is due to my consistency in the color correction and framing, even before I decided to collage them. Having the subject pop out more through the fade gives off helps the smooth transition in the background.
This mirrored sunset shot is pretty different from the rest given the more parallel and symmetrical formatting, yet the colors and textures are still distinguishable. I really liked this one since it's a look that I have done a lot and never get tired of. I love the sun's reflection on the water especially.
For this one I flipped the top image both vertically and horizontally, as I didn't like the mirrored effect from just flipping vertically. Clearly these pictures were taken around the same time, but the scaling is substantially different. The small moon to the left of the image is the cherry on top for me.
"hiding behind the horizon lines"
"hiding behind the horizon lines"
I am fascinated by horizon lines, which I mentioned to one of my friends on this trip, even before brainstorming the theme of this post. During my adventures and exploration of the city, it was always in the back of my mind. I think this line also reflects on my personality as well. Especially recently, I have a tendency to be distant, and it usually takes another person making the effort to reach out to me. During a drinking game, my roommates came to the consensus that I am the most mysterious. The truth is, I am not intentionally running from their perspective or understanding, but I am actively trying to seek out what's behind the horizon line myself. I am always drifting that direction, leading me to seem evasive, but really I am just laser-focused and independently satisfying my unrelenting curiosity.
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