RLJ 12/9/12

12/9/12 Understanding New Mediaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 1

I remember this morning feeling extremely nervous about today, because today would be our first full day with just the New Media students and I wasn’t sure what I thought of them from the past two days, whether I will get on with them and whether they will be good friend material.

The Second year New Media students were sharing the room today, and probably will for our lectures with Neil Brewis. One of them gave me the nickname Happy, which isn’t really a bad nickname at all really, even though I think he called me this because I apparently didn’t look too happy when I first got to college today. This was probably due to nerves.

I also mentioned to Jane, who supported me yesterday how, if possible, I would try and sit as close to the door as possible, so if I did get upset and had to leave the room for whatever reason, I wouldn’t distract the other students or draw too much attention to myself, and today when I sat down in between two of the first year New Media students, Neil asked me to sit at the computer next to the door because there was “more room” there. Maybe Jane told Lisa or Peter, the man supporting me for today and tomorrow about this. I’m not sure, but it was where I ideally wanted to sit anyway, despite having to sit away from the first years and sitting next to the second years. 

Had lesson today with Neil Brewis, which was a mixed group between the first and second years of the New Media course. Today Neil was going through a few exercises on Photoshop, to freshen up our Photoshop skills.

Firstly, we had to edit a cityscape in Dubai in photoshop, where I was reminded of the Clone Stamp and Marquee tools. I actually found this a very simple exercise that eased me into using Photoshop again. Hopefully these skills will improve over time.The Clone Stamp tool allows you to copy one part of an image and paint it on another part, and the Marquee tool allows you to select a part of an image, which you can then copy onto a new layer, so you don't disrupt the original image. Speaking of layers, it is also crucial if you are doing any major work on Photoshop to duplicate the background or original image so if you make an error on the layer you're working on, you always have a backup. You should also do this regularly and also save regularly so that you can go back to work if things go wrong. This also shows progress in your work.

Original Dubai cityscape image

The Dubai cityscape image after I edited it in Photoshop using various tools, as well as copying and pasting some areas.

Next, we had to edit an image of the Taj Mahal in India, getting rid of every human being in that photo, and then we were supposed to create a reflection of the Taj Mahal in the water outside of it. It was difficult to know where to start with removing the people in this image, but soon got into it. By the end of the exercise, which I think brought us up to Lunch time, I didn't get around to creating the reflection of the Taj Mahal in the water, and I did feel like I was working quite slowly and I feel like I will need to learn to erase elements I don't want in a photo in Photoshop a lot quicker. As I said, hopefully these skills will improve with time.

Original image of Taj Mahal with tourists

How far I got with erasing all the tourists. We were also supposed to get the Taj Mahal to reflect in the water, but I ran out of time to do that.

I have however used Photoshop before on my previous course. I was good at using Photoshop on my previous course, and did enjoy using it, but I didn't specialise in using Photoshop, so I'm not a super pro at Photoshop.

After lunch, we then had to 'restore' a painting, the "Ecce Homo" which was unsuccessfully attempted by an old lady in a news story. I was also unsuccessful, and found this really difficult and confusing, as I have not been on Photoshop for a while before today,  and I can't remember ever having to "restore" something, especially an incredibly old painting using Photoshop. I was struggling to know what were the ideal tools to use and I feel I will need to get more used to and get more confident with the tools in Photoshop again.

Aged Ecce Homo painting, alongside a failed attempt at restoring it, by an old lady

A less worn and torn Ecce Homo image, that I used for reference.

How far I got with this nightmare task. Used clone stamp and colour copy tools a lot with trying to restore the painting.

I think when "restoring" the Ecce Homo, I did remember feeling a familiar feeling that I often felt during my previous course, which was that everybody seemed to be learning things a lot quicker than me, hence making them seem better than me, which can be quite upsetting. I think this also comes down to a lack of confidence, something I've always struggled with, and often get embarrassed when other students ask to see my work because of this. Because I'm worried if they'll lose respect for me if they think my work is poor.