Assignment 11 - Plugins

I used Extract plugin from the Adobe website to take the zebra from a photo I took at the Oakland Zoo. I like that you can trace part of the image and have the freedom to stop, erase, and start adding to the 'selection' more easily than with other selection tools because it is simply highlighting parts of the image you want to include. It feels a lot like using a paintbrush/fill tool in a mask but allows you to skip the actual masking process. For this assignment, I also attempted to download other plugins from the internet. The one I chose (http://www.cybia.co.uk/theworks.html) had an .exe installer (which I wasn't thrilled about) but it passed my antivirus software and everything seems to work great. To finish my graphic, I adjusted the levels, used the burn and dodge tools, and made some other adjustments. I painted the grass in with one of the brushes.

Assignment 10 - Surreal

This is an image I made in an attempt at creating something surreal. My original stars had wings, and I even tried putting wings on my frog but in the end I liked the way it came out this way. I used the pen tool to trace my frog, and created a custom shape out of him. I also created the original star using the pen tool and defining it as a custom shape.

Here is my original photo that I traced with the pen tool:

Assignment 8 - Photo Retouch

This is a picture of my girls from 2009. The quality and lighting of the photo weren't very good, so I adjusted the levels, used the burn, dodge, sponge, red eye and heal tools, and painted a little.