Nader Sabahi

Stephen Harper Photo Challenge

Posted: October 1, 2013 in Uncategorized

This background was quite interesting. I chose it because it contrasts with his own personality physically and mentally. For example, Stephen Harper is obviously not this well built nor would he be seen or pose shirtless and advertise for Calvin Klein so its interesting to see his head on this new body. It puts him in a position that’s out of his comfort zone. Another reason was because there is a tattoo on this body (David Beckham) with the name “Harper”. Its also funny to see his head on an iconic soccer player. Also all the tattoos contrast with Stephen Harper’s personality, he of course, not having tattoos. I hope. Especially the tattoo of himself, it can make him seem as selfish and thinking a lot of himself. A lot of his decisions, he did not consider the public and the countries opinion. So adding the tattoo of him self shows him thinking much of himself as a strong character with the cigar.
To begin I used the quick select tool and selected Stephen Harpers head, then separated it from the rest of his body and copied it to the Beckham background. For his face to match the background I brought down the saturation to be black and white like the background. Then I used the free transform and resized and rotated his head to overlay Beckham’s with the correct sizing and again using the clone stamp to cover any parts of Beckham’s face that were sticking out. Once I was please with that I looked at the chin and used the burn tool to darken some parts of Harper’s chin to match the shadows beneath it and the same with Beckham’s neck, I added some shadows to be able to match the position of Harper’s head. This allowed the picture to be more believable, feeling the shadows and the head properly matched together. I then slightly darkened some parts of Harpers head to match the lighting so the picture seemed in more unity. Also I went on the picture of cowboy Stephen Harper selected his face with the clone stamp then returned to the body of Beckham and clicked on the area of his chest under the black and white with a 60 opacity and it added the tattoo effect. Finally I played with the brightness and contrast to and unity to the colour and brightness of the different photos.

This cowboy background can be interpreted differently by everyone, not that the other ones can’t. Cowboys are very symbolic and can represent something different in everyone’s eyes. Likewise Stephen Harper is very much the same, some may see him as a good guy, other not so much, some people don’t even care about politics or who he is. Also Stephen Harper is a man that is normally in a suit and wouldn’t be seen in public in these worn out clothes so its a bit of a contrast to who we see him as. The cigar also adds to the effects and adds to this character of him being a big shot. It portrays him as being a sort of punk and in a sense a rebel which isn’t exactly his real personality. This also goes against his political stance going for good health since he is smoking and a new law that prohibits smoking in many places. This portrays him as a hypocrite and not the best leader which many people believe to be true
First, I selected Stephen Harpers face and copied it to the selected background. Then I brought down the saturation to resemble the black and white picture. I placed his head in the desired placement using the free transform tool and erased parts of his neck to resemble that its inside the scarfs. To add to that I used the burn tool and darkened the lower parts of Harper’s neck to create the dark and shadows that would have been cast inside the scarf. Them I created a layer mask starting at Harper’s forehead and going up to make it seem like his head was going inside the hat. The I used the clone stamp to get rid of unwanted parts of the cowboy’s head. To make it more convincing, I quick selected the cowboy’s cigarette and moved it to a new layer then covered up where it used to be with the clone stamp. I them moved it and used the free transform to place it in Harper’s mouth and erased unnecessary parts of the end. The I moved around the brightness and contrast and provided a picture that was much more united and the illusion was complete.

I chose to use this background because I thought it would be interesting to relate Mr. Harper to Adam and his mistakes. As Adam made the mistake of eating the apple off the forbidden tree, he made a mistake. Many also think that Stephen Harper has made several mistakes and is not the right person to be leading Canada. It is an interesting way of putting a visualization of what many think of Mr. Harper. Along with that a shows that he is/should be punished whether by God or by other for several of his decisions and laws, this addresses how many dislike him.
I used the quick select tool to select only Stephen Harper’s face from the original photo. The I copied it to the new background, with Adam. I resized it with free transform and placed it over Adam’s face in the desired position. If any parts of Adam’s face were sticking out, I used the clone stamp and selected the area around and close to his face, then covered up any part of his face the wasn’t needed. After, I used a light yellow brush with 15 opacity and painted over Harper’s face to match his face with the Adam’s skin tone. Then I used two photo filters to add a sense of unison using a colour filter to merge the colours of the different pictures. Following that I played around with the brightness contrast and saturation to add to the illusion of this being one picture.

This background shows Stephen Harper pointing at Adam as he was punished. This portrays Stephen Harper in the powerful position he believes to be in. And in this position he is punishing different people and even making many mistakes as Adam did.
To create this image I first quick selected Harper’s from the original and copied it to the new background. Then I used the clone stamp and covered up the area on the right with God and the angles. After that was covered I placed Stephen Harpers body in place on the right side and connected his finger to Adam’s. Then I added a Photo Filter and some brightness to unify the picture and make it resemble to be one picture.

Elements and Principles of design

Posted: September 27, 2013 in Uncategorized

Color – refers to specific hues and has 3 properties, Chroma, Intensity and Value. The color wheel is a way of showing the chromatic scale in a circle using all the colors made with the primary triad. Complimentary pairs can produce dull and neutral color. Black and white can be added to produce tints (add white), shades (add black) and tones (add gray).
This picture shows the the primary colors (Red Yellow and Blue) along with other complimentary colors. Also the colors are being emphasized with the rest of the colours in black and white. An the first thing you notice in the picture is the color rather than texture.

Form is any three dimensional object. It can be measured, from top to bottom (height), side to side (width), and from back to front (depth). Form is also defined by light and dark. There are two types of form, geometric (man-made) and natural (organic form). Form may be created by the combining of two or more shapes. It may be enhanced by tone, texture and color. It can be illustrated or constructed.
This picture shows mainly the three dimensions of the subject in the picture. Looking at the difference in colour value you can see the depth of the object. Also it is a geometric object because all the objects are unifrom and there are little flaws in the curve and direction of the line. The shadows also allow the viewer to immediately recognize the three dimensions of the objects in the picture.

A shape is defined as an area that stands out from the space next to or around it due to a defined or implied boundary, or because of differences of value, color, or texture. All objects are composed of shapes and all other ‘Elements of Design’ are shapes in some way.
In this picture the viewer immediately notices the distinct shape of the heart in the picture. The white heart stands out from its red outline. They create implied lines around the white area revealing the shape of the heart.

Texture is about surface quality either tactile or visual. Texture can be real or implied by different uses of media. It is the degree of roughness or smoothness in objects.
This image illustrates close up the texture and feel of a snakes skin. It shows the quality of the skin adding the feel that it is a smooth quilted texture. With the image so close to the subject, the viewer can immediately feel or imagine how the subject feels and its distinct texture.

Value is the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and white. Contrast is the extreme changes between values.
Within this image, the black and white form a sort of gradient. From a a dark black at the bottom gradually lightening as it gets to the white sky. As value represents the different tones in between two colors, like a gradient, this image shows different tones of grey between the extremes of black and white.

In design, space is concerned with the area deep within the moment of designated design, the design will take place on. For a two-dimensional design space concerns creating the illusion of a third dimension on a flat surface.
This image creates a feel of depth with the blurred background making it seem three dimmensional. Also the focus is on the subject on the right with the rest of the image as negative space.

A line is a mark on a surface that describes a shape or outline. It can create texture and can be thick and thin. Types of line can include actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal and contour lines.
This picture contains series of parallel curved lines on a track. They are actual lines and are not implied and set boundaries in the picture and define the outline of the track. Also the main attention of the picture are hte lines so peoples eyes are pulled toward them.

Balance is a feeling of visual equality in shape, form, value, color, etc. Balance can be symmetrical or evenly balanced or asymmetrical and un-evenly balanced. Objects, values, colors, textures, shapes, forms, etc., can be used in creating a balance in a composition.
When viewing this picture, the viewer feels a sense of equilibrium on both sides of the pictures. The man in the middle and on both sides with flags and cars. This represents balance as it is generally symmetrical. The photographer meant to add balance in this picture by adding a vertical middle and on either sides, the objects are symmetric.

Emphasis is an area that first attracts attention in a composition. This area is more important when compared to the other objects or elements in a composition. This can be by contrast of values, more colors, and placement in the format.
In this picture your attention is immediately attracted to the red lit candle to the left of the image. This shows emphasis by making that candle stand out from the other unlit candles. It is the only one lit and is red opposed to the other grey ones. The way it attracts your attention to that specific point is emphasis.

Contrast offers some change in value creating a visual discord in a composition. Contrast shows the difference between shapes and can be used as a background to bring objects out and forward in a design. It can also be used to create an area of emphasis.
This image contrasts two different colored flowers. It uses complementary colors of light blue and orange on the color wheel. The way the two opposing colors are next to each other in the image, contrasts the darker color from the light colored flower.

Directional movement is a visual flow through the composition. It can be the suggestion of motion in a design as you move from object to object by way of placement and position. Directional movement can be created with a value pattern. It is with the placement of dark and light areas that you can move your attention through the format.
When looking at this image, the eye begins at the bottom of the stairs and works its way around and to the center. As th image consists mainly of curved lines, it encourages the eye to move along with the lines in the photo. This way it creates a sense of movement for the viewer.

Rhythm is a movement in which some elements recurs regularly. Like a dance it will have a flow of objects that will seem to be like the beat of music.
This image consists of several columns recurring in the same distance from one another. It creates a steady rhythm for the pillars as they are regulated in a uniform manner. The rhythm is like the beat at which the pillars appear.

Pattern is the repetition of shape or form. It can also reflect the underlying structure of a design by organizing the surfaces or objects in the composition.
This image shows the repetition in the way the lines flow, to the left and to the right diagonally. Also the shapes in between them are repeated in a uniform manner. This image has several repeating elements that repeat in a grid-like manner.

Unity brings together a composition with similar units. If your composition was using wavy lines and organic shapes you would stay with those types of lines and not put in just one geometric shape.
First this image uses the same color throughout. It uses blue slightly altering the tone, this unifies the picture with color. Also, the texture of this painting is similar throughout. The strokes and flow of the image is also similar, for example the radial shape in the center and the way the roots curve up to the trunks. The way these elements work together creates a sense of unity and harmony in the image.