Gender Merging Photography

To start with, I took photographs of my subject both in a masculine and a feminine appearance. I did this upon a white background, both with the same light and aperture settings so that they would look like they were part of the same image when I merged them in photoshop. 

Next, I imported two of the images into photoshop. I made sure that they were both as similar to each other as possible in terms of lighting, posture and proximity from the lens of the camera. I cut out half of the more feminine image and aligned them before readjusting levels to bring out the colours within the composition. This also created more variation in shade and tone which makes the image look more interesting.

My next step was to adjust the contrast and brightness settings. This makes the skin as well as the background slightly paler as well as contrasting with the darker tones and the brighter colours as well as bringing out the colours in the hair, makeup and clothing. 

After changing the contrast and brightness settings, I increased the saturation so that the reds and blues were more eye-catching and erased the parts of the saturation layer I didn't need. Not only this, but I also edited the shadows and highlights to make the colours pop out more as well as the create more tone and form within the image such as in the creases of the shirt.

Finally, I created a new layer and made a vignette so that the image looked more refined and finished. I also did this so that the attention would be drawn more to the centre of the composition where the main focus should be.

Contact Sheets:

Final Image:

Plan For Merging Photography

For my final piece, I am going to take photographs of my model in both masculine and feminine attire as well as with and without makeup. I am also going to use a plain background as opposed to bricks so that the textured layer I add on will show up better when changing the blending mode on photoshop. This will also create a more aesthetically pleasing piece and make it look more refined. 

The background I use will be a plain white so that the texture will be clearer and I will also experiment with different textures such as tree bark, leaves, wool etc. This will enable me to determine which textures will create the most interesting shapes within the composition. 

In photoshop, I plan to combine the images I take to create a portrait symbolising that we as humans can embody more than one gender which is a topic that has become more talked about and less taboo as opposed to five or ten years ago. 

In terms of colour, I will use brighter colours that stand out more so that they catch the eye of the viewer and grab attention. This will also contrast with the white of the background and I plan to adjust the colours in photoshop to make them seem more vibrant and bold which will lend to it being an eye-catching composition.

Analogue Photos - Double Exposure

To fix my double exposure photographs that I took with the film camera, I scanned the images into photoshop and first edited the levels. This allowed the darker elements to stand out more against the paler, lighter tones. I also changed brightness, contrast, shadows and highlights to add more depth to my photographs as well as to make the tones stand out more. I then proceeded to rotate and crop them so that they looked more like portraits and much more refined. 

Contact Sheets:

Film Contact Sheet

Uncropped Edits Contact Sheet

Cropped Edits Contact Sheet

Best Images:

HDR Experimentation - Process

To create my HDR photos, I started off by taking sets of three photographs; one too dark, one too bright, and one where the lighting was in the middle. I made sure I had plenty of photographs then imported them onto my computer and went through them all to find the ones I thought worked out best. I then proceeded to open up photoshop and click on the File drop down menu and clicking the Merge to HDR option on the Automate section

I then selected a dark, bright, and normally lit photo and merged them together to create a more detailed image.

After I did this, I started editing levels. I edited the brightness and the contrast. I did this as I wanted to bring out the pale tones in the skin and create more contrast within the eyes. I added a second layer with just the eyes so that I could make the eyes the main focus and remove the layer if my experiment didn't work. 

My next step was to adjust the layers. This helped to add more detail to both the subject and the background of the photograph. Not only this, but it also helped to boost the contrast and the changes to brightness I'd made. 

One of the final steps I made was to edit the highlights and shadows so that I could add more darkness and light where it was needed and make the eyes stand out.

My last step was to change the blending on the layer that was just the eyes. I tried different effects such as linear and colour dodge and overlays. For this particular image, I also lowered the opacity so that the irises looked much paler and stood out more but in my other two photographs I used the colour and linear dodge to bring out the blues and golds of the iris.

HDR Experimentation - Results

Steve McCurry - My Photos

When looking through different photographers to emulate the technique of, I immediately thought of Steve McCurry. I find his work to be something that wows the viewer with the amount of detail in his compositions and the way he gets the eyes to stand out. So, I chose to try and recreate this sort of look. 

To do this, I took photographs of my brother in natural light. This is because sunlight brings out the colours in his eyes and makes them stand out which was what I wanted in my images. The natural light also creates contrast and is one of the elements that McCurry uses in portraits such as Afghan Girl. I took a variety of photos of my brother from different angles to capture different parts of the face with different lighting as well as getting him to stand in different places too so that the light would be shining on him from different angles. 

Once I'd taken my photos, I imported the two that I liked the most into photoshop and edited them so that the eyes would stand out the most. I changed the brightness and contrast in order to add more detail as well as the levels and exposure. I also increased how vivid the colour in the eyes was and erased the layer around the eyes so that it was just the eyes that were vivid, therefore making them stand out. 

Contact Sheet: