The grandaddy of all projects - combining images to make a virtual world scene. This assignment had so much freedom, I almost didn't know where to begin. Got some inspiration from my mum when she volunteered at Nan Tien temple, so I drew a quick, very ugly mockup.

Went to a nearby temple to grab a couple of shots, then travelled to the city to grab some scenery shots from the Chinese Gardens. Also, waterfalls aren't exactly common in Sydney, so I had to be creative and snap all the water features near Darling Harbour.

Before I started fixing them up in photoshop, I used the Camera Raw plugin to get the colours I wanted. With the temple, I wanted to emphasise it's vibrant colours. With the water, I wanted a blue tinge, and I darkened the background so I could easily remove it and change its blending mode to something like Screen.

Then came the deep-etching. Oh, God, the deep-etching. So much zooming in. So much eye strain. I had to deep-etch rocks which would become the mountains. I had to deep-etch the temples and pagodas. I had to deep-etch the model.

Next, I had to enlarge the rock so it would look like a mountain, as well as duplicate it to make the background. And I had to duplicate it in such a way as to be different each time. And the rock was oddly shaped too, which added to my woes. Clone Stamp was a huge help.

The sky was in (and I made it extremely blue on purpose), the moutains were in. Now I had to put in the temples, pagodas, and waterfalls. Putting in the temple was hard. I had to burn in some shadows to make it look like it was built on the mountain and not just stuck in by some media student. I also erased some bits with a soft-edged eraser, and changed the lighting dramatically on the pagodas to make them look semi-natural. I made the lighting in the foreground brighter than the background.

I looked at some references to see how mist and fog settles around mountains, then I brushed them into the background and foreground with a medium brush set onto white and 35% opacity, changing the brush shapes to vary the look of the fog.

Next, I used the field from the temple picture, but manipulated the photo with Puppet Warp to turn it into a hill. Then I placed the deep-etched model onto the hill, burnt in some shadows and changed her lighting so that she look like she was in the foreground and closer to the audience than the rest of the image.

Well, this project was sort of fun - merging two faces together to create a new but slightly recognisable face. When I was younger, I always though there was some magic program that people used to do this, but it was just photoshop. Go figure.

Merging me and a classmate.

A lot of colour and lighting correction had to go into this. My skin's yellow and her skin's pink. I used my skin as the base and started to mess about with her skin using colour balance and a little bit of Hue/Saturation. As you can see in the photo above, she ended up looking even more yellow than me. I used levels to add more light to the photos.

I put her photo into a layer above mine, masked it, then started brushing in the bits I wanted to use. I also marquee tool'd her fringe and pasted it over my forehead.

Next, I did some small colour correcting with Colour Balance to make the different skin colours more harmonious. And so we ended up with this.

So here it is, my first project along with the finished product.

Fairly straightforward. Got rid of all the rips and damage to the picture with Clone Stamp, then marquee tool'd the left ear onto the right ear, forgetting to check the shadow of the right ear so I could fix it up later. RARGH.

Then because I'm extremely picky, I got rid of all the spots in the background that were bugging me, as well as High Passed to make the image sharper.

Fixed up the lighting using Levels and Curves, though I might have gone a little crazy with the Levels. The colours turned out really sharp, which I didn't realise till now. Eh well. Melded in the ear too, because it doesn't do to leave a subject with a dodgily photoshop'd ear.

Finally, masks and colours. Put on a solid colour fill layer, masked it, then started brushing in the bits I wanted. Changed the colour blend to 'Colour' so the layer sat naturally over the image instead of covering anything.

So annoyed at myself for having forgotten to use the dodge and burn tool in my assessment. I've known about it for years, and I didn't even think to use it. What is wrong with me?!

In an attempt to hammer it back into my head, I've been messing about with both tools.

Original

Sorry I ruined your face.

Yes, I'm well aware I destroyed the effect of the photo, but it was never my intention to 'fix' it. It's just a demo of how the tools can lighten and darken certain areas in an image.

I've finally managed to understand masks after all these years! I can’t believe how simple it actually was after Alexia explained it to me. Didn’t even know inverted masks existed.

Inverted

'Normal'

And I learnt this just in time too. I'm definitely going to need masks in the assessment if I'm going to put some colour back into a black and white photo.

I just hope I don't fail, or at least don't fail spectacularly.

I've actually dealt with curves and levels before back in high school, although the teacher didn't go into too much depth because she wasn't particularly brilliant at ps. So curves and levels are just adjustments that I've messed about with, without really caring how they could really fix up a photo.

Now I know I have to adjust it so there's some input at the ends of the 'Input Levels'.

Like so.

Curves I still don't think I've gotten the hang of, but I'm pretty sure if I keep experimenting with it, I'll get how it's used.

Hooray for messing with settings to darken photos.

I know I'm going to need these two, especially levels, when it comes to the assessment. I'm just hoping I don't go crazy with the settings and ruin the picture.

Learnt about the Colour Sampler tool. Now I can cross it off my list of 'Photoshop Tools I Haven't A Clue How To Use'.

Original

Balanced

I know my tutor said it's a slower way of fixing up the colour, but it's such an awesome technique that I've been using it to fix random images on the internet just because I can.

I have a bad habit of just leaving layers the way they are. Renaming is for people who have time to do mundane things like that.

I am a neat media student.

Oh, how wrong I was. I am a media student, and not renaming is a cardinal sin in ps. Time I started organising the layers properly.

Set up my workspace the way a 'pro' should. I never bothered with preferences before, which is pretty stupid considering it fixed up so many complaints I had about ps.

OMG, I can control the memory hogging of this beast.

And huzzah! Workspaces! No longer are the windows in ridiculously hard-to-click places. And all of my settings are saved, which is damn convenient.

Also, colour profiles. I didn't even know colour profiles existed before Digital Composite. Damn, they're important.

Adobe RGB (1998): Forever hammered into my mind by tutor and lecturer alike.

Hate being such a novice with stuff like this, especially when it comes to such a big program like ps. Got a long way to go before I even think I'm becoming a professional.

Note to reader: This is no snarky post on politics or religion. This is pure, unadulterated raging on the events of this day, the 24th of June 2010.

My friends know I'm a centrist, leaning towards the left. But a few of them consider me to be a conservative too, because they think I hate change. And it's true. I hate change but only if it's unnecessary. For example, the idiotic P&C at Hurlstone Agricultural High School (that's right, I'm OUTING you bastards) has removed the rule which stated that seniors could wear whatever type of uniform they wanted, regardless of which term we were in. It has always been this way. No one complained. No one is being helped by changing it to winter ONLY in Terms 2 and 3. I personally do not plan to follow this rule, or any other stupid rule the P&C comes up with next. They've already taken our jersey days, what more can they do to us now?!

Another unnecessary move? Kicking out Kevin Rudd for Julia Gillard. It has barely been one term and he has dropped from 70% popularity to 40%. Rudd didn't listen to his party and he was seen as arrogant but that is no reason to kick anyone out. How fucking childish. People seem to have forgotten all the good things he has done for this country. And those who do remember hate him for it.

As an example, I will talk about a certain idiotic classmate of mine. He was complaining about the fact that Kevin Rudd was an idiot for:

1. Giving away $900 to all eligible people to save us from recession
2. Taxing ciggies
3. Taxing miners

As he was a boarder, fair point about the miners thing, although I personally do not agree. However, he complained about the $900 because he didn't understand why Rudd would waste his money doing such a thing. Uh, hello?! He fucking saved us from a bloody recession. A lot of poor people, including my family, needed that money, you fucking half-wit! So next time you hate a politician's decision, ask yourself why they made it in the first place! Fuck you, you bloody rich, spoilt brat. Don't make political statements when you know nothing about politics. Foolish idiot.

So the half-wit goes on to say, "And [Rudd] says, 'You know what we haven't taxed? Mining and smoking! Let's do that too!'" Hmm, taxing smokers. I wonder why that's getting up his jacksie so much. As for mining, same thing. If you aren't smart enough to make a statement on that, shut yer trap. Even some of my friends whom I respect for their political positions are like that. I can understand if someone votes Liberal, but bring up why they'd vote Tony Abbott and they just go quiet.

C'mon, people! Stop voting for a fucking party if you know the leader's shit. Don't say it's the party you traditionally vote for either. Get out there and research! Then see which party and policies you like. Don't fucking tell me, "But I always vote for them!" 'cause that's my respect for you going down the drain there.

Like I've been telling people. If Tony Abbott gets his arse into the position of Prime Minister, I'm outta here. And I ain't coming back. Australian politics is dirty and I'm having none of it until we sort ourselves out and stop going down the American path.

EDIT: Just read an article detailing Rudd's declining popularity and I guess I forgot to mention the reasons why he lost, in my post. I knew he was losing ground after backflipping left, right and centre (esp. the emissions trading scheme) but wow, never knew it would get this bad.

Since I post so many political and religion-based articles over at my LJ, which is meant for fandom and RL posts, I've decided to get a new platform where I won't be boring or offending my friends. Instead, I shall bore and offend you, my dear non-existent audience.

My first post is about the proposal to stop the trial ethics classes in NSW, and the Easter attacks on atheism. I swear it must be in vogue now for Christian leaders to be attacking atheists. We all saw how it was during Easter in Australia - church leaders attacking atheists left, right and centre. Is it to draw attention away from the child abuse scandal that is currently plaguing the Church? Who knows. The point is that their arguments are flawed in every single way possible. I guess it's not the question of religion that is bothering me, more the fact that they think they can make those kind of arguments and get away with it. God The Devil Truth is in the details. I despise anyone who makes wrongful or misinformed arguments and thinks that they're right. Let's get down to the sporking, shall we?

Dr Jensen told the congregation that atheism is as much of a religion as Christianity.
Eh! Wrong! What makes religion a religion? You can't really answer that question but to paraphrase: It is a set of beliefs that explain what life is all about, who we are, and the most important things that human beings should spend their time doing. Heh, atheism is none of those things. It is just a lack of belief in a god. Sure you could argue that all atheists believe in the same thing, that is, there is no God, but why don't we make belief in Santa into a religion? What about all the anti-vaccers? Since they all believe that vaccination doesn't do jack, should that be a religion? Simply because you believe in something doesn't mean it's a religion.

"What we're really seeing, once more [is] an example of the contest between human beings and God over who rules the world."
Eh! Wrong again! Atheists don't want to rule the world. I don't know about anyone else, but there is no way I want to get close to ruling the world. I just want people to leave me alone. And I'd like to think no one is lording it over me either. Certainly not someone like God.

"Last century we tried godlessness on a grand scale and the effects were devastating: Nazism, Stalinism, Pol Pot-ery, mass murder, abortion and broken relationships - all promoted by state-imposed atheism," [Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher] said.
Oh boy, the grandaddy of all stupid arguments. This makes me want to simultaneously laugh my arse off while banging my head against a wall. This is a rebuttal against the argument that a lot of wars have been fought in the name of religion, specifically Christianity in this case. Mr Fisher, that argument is wrong. Plain wrong. You know why? The point of wars like the Crusades was to fight in the name of Christianity. Nazism was not fought in the name of atheism, it was fought for Nazi Germany and the Aryans. In fact, Hitler was a Catholic. Just on a side note, Pol Pot-ery? When was this new type of pottery discovered? Anyway, the Khmer Rouge did not wipe out millions of people in the name of atheism. Sure, they had commie ideals and they wanted to quash religious expression, but at the same time, they wanted to quash intellectuals, people with nice hands, people who wore glasses etc. Do you want to tell me how many atheists were killed in the process? Also, abortion as a devastating effect? Get over yourself.

I am an atheist and proud of it. To be accused of being a communist in the same breath as calling me an atheist makes me want to hit something. Being called a commie is the most insulting thing someone can do to me, and it insults not only me but my family and heritage. I cannot stand people like that.

It's not mentioned in that article, but there are those who are criticising atheists for not doing charity work. Those people can go DIAF. OK, maybe not, but I hope they can take their heads out of their arses and actually, you know, verify that? Plenty of atheists I've met do plenty of charity work - they just don't go trumpeting on the streets that they do it in the name of anything except helping those in need. Hell, there are plenty of atheists who help religious charities. Just remember that next time you go using that argument, mmk?

Now onto the ethics trials! I'm quoting out of an article that I read in the SMH Weekend edition here.

Historically, government policy had prevented students who opted out of religious education from having any instruction...
That doesn't seem very fair, does it? Now let us move on to the wonderful Archbishop Peter Jensen, who had...

privately lobbied the Premier, Kristina Keneally, against the permanent introduction of secular ethics classes in public schools, saying they would jeopardise the future of religious education.
OMFG! OMFG! Someone wants an alternative to religious education! That's going to jeopardise religion in public schools! ONE, notice the words "public schools"? I'm pretty sure that means it's not a religious school i.e. there should be a choice for the non-religious students to study stuff that's actually not religion-based. TWO, studies of religion is the 5th most popular subject in the state. Furthermore, religion has survived for thousands of years. Surely one tiny ethics subject is not going to derail all religious education FOREVER. I believe they can coexist. Hell, I'm taking studies of religion now and if they'd had an ethics class when I was younger, I would've taken that too. There is nothing wrong with studying religion purely from an academic point of view, or even from personal interest. Point I'm trying to make is that this is blown out of proportion. Take it from me, religious studies will not just drop off the face of the NSW education system. You just have to look at this calmly and logically. Oh crud, I'm starting to sound like Miles Edgeworth.