Bies-Texture+Final

====To achieve my final image I edited the individual pictures to make the final image appear more realistic. The first picture I took was the one of the tree I used as the scene for my final image. I took the picture on the first photoshoot and changed the lighting of the image to make it brighter because originally the picture was a little too dark. I also increased the contrast to make the dark branches appear more dramatic than the light sky. The next picture I took was the one of the street sign because this image was taken in the sunlight but in my final image it is under a tree branch so I made it darker by changing the lighting to make it realistic. I took out the background of all of the gravestones, sign, and lady so I could add them to the picture of the tree branches. For the three headstones I added I made each one darker to mimic shade by the tree. I adjusted the size of each and tilted them to follow the curves of the branches. I also blurred the edges so they weren't so harsh. For the statue of the women I increased the contrast so she would look more dramatic and I also darkened her because I wanted her to match the color of the rest of the picture and if I hadn't changed her she would have looked out of place. There was also a tool on photoshop that matched the colors of the pasted image to help match the background which I applied to all my pasted images to help make it look more realistic.====

====For my concept I wanted to take a tree which is a natural part of life and associate it with death which is also a natural part of life. I wanted to show that we come and go but nature and trees last lifetimes and that eventually we all end up a part of the nature. I put the one way sign because we all end up going one way and we don't have any choice in the matter. I added the lady to represent something watching over us whether that be good or bad is up for interpretation. I like the multiple interpretations it can have depending on your beliefs and how you perceive the world.====

====There are a lot of different texture in my piece. The most prominent is the one the evergreen tree has. The texture of the branches really stands out against the plain sky and the barks texture is highlighted by the spots of sun shining through. The other major area of texture is the woman. She had lots of chips in her and there was moss growing on her adding bumpy rough textures. Each one of the headstones had texture as well with different bumps and smooth areas on them. My piece incorporated lots of different textures that all combined into one unified picture.====

====Some composition techniques I used was rule of thirds, leading lines, and framing. I used rule of thirds with the women. She is positioned to the right side of the picture and not in the center. This adds interest and more appeal the image instead of just placing her in the middle. Even when I was shooting the pictures I tried to take all my pictures with the rule of thirds in mind. For the image of the tree I put the trunk on one side and not just in the middle and did the same for the stone statue. I used leading lines with the tree branches. Your eye follows them and draws them to the headstones placed on them. This helps them be noticeable because they are small compared to the tree and women in the picture. Finally I used framing by placing the headstones in the middle of the branches. They were framing them and helping draw your eye to them. It also added context to my picture to help the concept be easier to understand.====

====One thing I think I did well on was taking the pictures. I learned quickly about how to use the camera and didn't struggle with taking my pictures. I used manual focus for all my images and made sure I had the right aperture and shutter speed setting. One thing I think I could improve on was using photoshop. There are a lot of things you can edit and I struggled a little bit with knowing what effects to apply in order to get the final product I was looking for. One example of this is the edges of my statue. They look sharp and I blurred them but I wish I could have done more to make it look more natural and not so out of place. Overall I am proud of this piece for being the first one of the year and I am excited to improve and learn more about the capabilities of photoshop.====