Work Diary - Overlay

Shoot Evaluation:
This technique is simply another method to conduct the multiple exposure technique; I much prefer this technique to the official multiple exposure method because you have the freedom to edit the different layers, whereas with multiple exposure, the image is flattened straight away which means any editing you do will effect the whole image. Using the overlay technique is really interesting because it gives you the freedom to add as many different layers to the original image as you want, building up different textures, colours and patterns to create a really interesting piece. To conduct the technique, you take on photo of an object such as a person/model and then a picture of a pattern or texture for example. Then in Photoshop you open the two images, drag one on top of the other and alter the opacities until you find a nice balance between the two. Using the eraser tool, you can then remove selections of one of the layers to create the desired effect. This shoot was considerably easy especially in comparison to the multiple exposure shoot, and I thoroughly enjoyed it because I could make the image look exactly how I wanted it to.

Although I liked all of the images I produced from this technique, this is my least favourite. Essentially, I like how the texture fit's in with my models face and I like the smooth finish, but, I wish I had experimented more with the levels and curves of just the leaf layer as I feel it looks too pale and wishy-washy, instead, the layer could have been a lot more vibrant to enhance the colour and especially the dark sections which would have made the image look bolder and almost 3-dimensional.

I am really happy with the outcome of this image because I think it works well with the selective colour technique. I started with just the normal, colour overlay image, but because the leopard print pattern is highly reflective of fashion and beauty, I thought it would be interesting to also combine it with the selective colour of the lips to make it stand out more. I also really like the composition of the shot - it's tight enough to mainly focus on the face, but the slight background also helps to break up the image. This could have been even better if I had have cropped it even more around her face, but then the image may have looked to over-powering to the viewers' eye.






How could I apply this to my personal project?
I like the idea of taking two completely different pictures with different meanings and overlaying them together to show contrast. For example, the idea that comes to mind is perhaps photographing someone who represents poverty - such as a model dressed up like a homeless person on the street. Then I could take something completely different such as money, jewels etc and overlay it on the models' face to contrast the poor and the rich and vice versa.