Change Humans Impact on Nature
My photo is intended for an audience of college aged students and people in their early twenties who have a feeling for nature or the environment. This audience most likely includes those who are bothered by the sight of industrial smoke in the air or garbage lying on the grass everywhere they go. The purpose of this image is to inform the audience of the pollution that is produced from industrial, man-made creations and how this pollution negatively impacts the beautiful nature we are surrounded by. The purpose is also to invoke emotion and encourage action to be taken towards changing the world into an environmentally friendly atmosphere. Maybe even changing it into a world that fights harder to benefit nature and help it grow rather than destroy it. After all, the earth provides us with more than we deserve with its beauty, shelter, oxygen, and so much more.
Some key features of this image include the vibrant flowers, the dark, black smoke, the silhouette of a person, and the faded sky in the back. Firstly, the vibrancy of the flowers is meant to demonstrate natures beauty. The flowers are also placed in the front of the image to emphasize that they are the main idea, and they are what is good in the world. The smoke is dark to convey how its pollution is so dense with negativity and waste. The silhouette of the person in the middle of the smoke is meant to show that people are the source of that smoke and pollution. They are the source of why so much of nature is suffering and being negatively impacted every single day.
To create this photo edited image, I first layered an image of industrial smoke with an image of a person’s silhouette. I played around with the layering filters until it was to my liking. Then, I altered the lighting of the image, inverted it, and colored over the smoke using the dodge and burn tools. This helped to make the smoke a couple of shades darker to emphasize its negativity. I then cut out the flowers from another image using the magic wand and layered them on top of the silhouette and smoke image. Again, I played with the layering filters as well as the blur tools until I was pleased with the way it looked.
From this project, I learned a lot about Photoshop and how fun it really is to take the product of others work and create something new that contains a whole different meaning by using the various tools provided. I also learned that communication does not only come in the form of writing. A message can be efficiently communicated through the creation of images. The emotions and feelings that different filters can evoke through an image or the thoughts that can be related to the image work together to convey a message. I also learned that I may have a newfound appreciation for the environment and how beautiful it really is. Through this project, I had conducted research to help me find the right photos and filters that would work to convey my message. Through this research, I realized that I care a lot for the topic and would love to learn more.
For the next project, I will try to talk more with other people about my topic to help me brainstorm and bounce ideas off them. I will take more time to think about what I actually want to say and ask my professor about the best way to go about conveying that message. I think this will allow me to be more efficient with my time management and allow me to be more productive with the time and effort I put into the project.