One of the largest tasks of this project is the post-production aspects, both for the still and moving image sections. Using software such as Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom I am able to take the images I have captured edit them how I see fit with the theme and topic of my project.
Due to not having the greatest understanding of Photoshop, I am choosing to keep the editing to a minimum, doing only the necessary jobs like removing blemishes (as seen in the images below) from the photos or adjusting positioning. The majority of the changes are made in Lightroom CC where I adjust the lighting and colours, as well as the crop and more advanced aspects of the photos, such as sharpening and noise reduction.
The process above shows an example of the blemish removal tool in Photoshop. The far left image has a mark on the backdrop that I wish to remove. By using the blemish tool, highlighted in the middle image, I am able to remove this. Selecting the area I want to adjust will replace the area highlighted with an appropriate copy from the closely surrounding area; just one of the quick and easy tricks of Photoshop editing.
The is particularly useful in facial adjustments, which is a controversial practice used in commercial photo editing like those by fashion and beauty companies and influencers. The reason being is that it changes someone appearance and can be used to adapt an individuals features to "fit the ideal", creating unhealthy body images online. However that is a deeper ongoing debate in the world of social media. Therefore I only intend to remove hairs that overlap facial features, or blemishes that the model has requested I adjust.
Similar to the blemish removal feature, you can also blur a selected area, although this isn't as simple as selecting a tool and highlighting the desired area. To do this, I had to create a selection area around the desired object in the photo. In this case, that area is a numberplate on a car.
(area selected using the selection tool)
The next step is to modify the selected area. This allows me to create edits to that specific place on the image that doesn't affect the rest of the photo.
(options available upon selecting to modify the highlighted area)
Once at this stage, I was able to select a range of options that would change the appearance of the selected area including pixelate or gaussian blur. Either of these options would work so I tried out both to see which looked better. I was able to return to a previous state of the image by stepping back using the CMD + Z keys.
In the end I chose to use a gaussian blur, combined with some slight feathering of the effect to ensure a smooth edge to the selection. Whilst pixelating gave me a similar effect to the blur, I felt it was too obstructive of the image which ruined the flow of its appearance.
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