Digital Photography & Imaging - Week 4

Ruchira Nowreen || 0347111
Major: Bachelor of Software Engineering || Minor: Creative Media Design || Taylor's University
Digital Photography & Imaging GCD 61204
WEEK 4: LECTURE. TUTORIAL, PRACTICAL || 18.9.2023

---

LECTURE

During this week, Mr. Fauzi provided insights into adjustment layers in Photoshop, emphasizing their significance as powerful and non-destructive tools for image editing. These layers allow users to apply color and tone adjustments without permanently altering the underlying pixels, enhancing flexibility and efficiency in the Photoshop workflow. Mastering adjustment layers is considered essential for users, providing a must-know skillset for effective image manipulation.

Adjustment layers encompass various techniques, including Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, and Levels. These tools empower users to precisely control and enhance different aspects of an image, ensuring a nuanced approach to editing. The non-destructive nature of adjustment layers preserves the original image data, granting the freedom to experiment and iterate without compromising the integrity of the source material. This week's lessons lay a foundational understanding of adjustment layers, setting the stage for more advanced image editing techniques and contributing to the overall improvement of Photoshop proficiency.

Figure 1: Lecture's Slide

---

TUTORIAL

In the tutorial section, Mr. Fauzi presented three demo videos, guiding us through the use of various Photoshop tools for our digital collage projects. The demos covered essential techniques, including matching lighting, utilizing adjustment layers, applying filters, and mastering the pen tool. These instructional videos aimed to enhance our proficiency in Photoshop, equipping us with the skills needed to create visually compelling and well-executed digital collages.

Figure 2: Demo video 1

Figure 3: Demo video 2

Figure 4: Demo video 3

---

PRACTICAL

This week, we delved into Photoshop 3, focusing on adjustment layers and filters. Adjustment layers are crucial tools in Photoshop that enable non-destructive editing by adding color and tone adjustments to images without permanently altering their pixels. Our task for the week involved selecting our best composition from the Week 3 digital collage exercise and applying tone adjustments, accompanied by a detailed explanation of the changes made. This exercise aimed to reinforce our understanding of adjustment layers and their practical application in enhancing digital collages.

WEEK 4: ADJUSTMENT LAYERS & FILTERS 

The subsequent step involved refining the collage in Photoshop, incorporating adjustments to elements like brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and curves through the application of adjustment layers. Mr. Fauzi suggested minor tweaks, expressing that the composition was already well-executed and didn't necessitate substantial alterations. Adhering to his guidance, I implemented the specified adjustments, yielding the edited version of the collage displayed below.

Figure 5: The adjustment layers

Figure 6: Final outcome with adjustment layers

Following that, we were given the option to choose the best digital collage composition in .jpg format, with the choice of including or excluding the adjustment layers. Following the advice of my lecturer, I selected the edited version of my collage, as it appeared more balanced in its overall composition.

---

REFLECTION

Week 4 brought a valuable exploration into the intricacies of adjustment layers and filters in Photoshop. Understanding these tools as potent and non-destructive resources opened new avenues for precise image editing. The tutorial demos further solidified this knowledge, covering crucial techniques for our ongoing digital collage projects, such as matching lighting, leveraging adjustment layers, applying filters, and mastering the pen tool.

For my Week 4 task, the practical application of adjustment layers became evident as I refined a digital collage. This process allowed for nuanced adjustments in brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and curves, showcasing the power of non-destructive editing. The exercise was enlightening, offering a firsthand understanding of how these tools contribute to polished and visually impactful digital collages.

In reflection, the week's focus on adjustment layers and filters not only expanded our technical skills but also provided a tangible experience that significantly elevated the quality of our digital collage projects. It underscored the importance of non-destructive editing, empowering us to experiment and iterate while preserving the integrity of the original image data.