Altered Photography

Presented here is mostly photography that was altered/manipulated using Photoshop 7 and Photoshop CS. I experiment with a variety of textures, lighting, layering, gradients, composition, coloration and more to achieve an aesthetically pleasing completed piece. Sometimes I create with the specific intention of a desktop wallpaper, and other times I simply create graphics with no other real intention other than the enjoyment of making them. These spare time pieces allow me to sharpen my skill set and also get new ideas that I can use professionally.

This was originally a digital color photograph that I shot of a fountain in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, which I then desaturated except for the child in red, and changed brightness and contrast levels to achieve a sharp look with a hint of color.

This interesting sculpture was located just beyond the Cleveland Browns Stadium and I have to assume is alluding to the nearby Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Originally a digital color photograph, I desaturated it except for figure of the lady on the guitar who, and changed brightness and contrast levels to achieve a sharp look with a hint of color.

This was a 35mm photograph I did of my guitar several years ago. I recently dug it out and wanted to add a grungy feel to it. I decided on an intrusive yellow since I rarely work with the color. I manipulated a default Photoshop texture and some default Photoshop brushes, along with some various layering styles, to achieve the look. For the final touch, I added a line of text from the band Guster's "Come Downstairs & Say Hello". I wanted the text to be small and quiet, but complete the feel of the piece at the same time.

I never really did figure out what the purpose or meaning of this very random and very enormous giant stamp sculpture was but I found it interesting and made sure I would remember it by taking its picture. This was especially difficult to desaturate everything except for the stamp, since I had to painstakingly make sure I selected everything around all of the tiny tree limbs and not include them in the coloring selection.

Cleveland was an incredibly clean city and had a lot of beautiful sculptures and architecture scattered throughout to keep your eye wandering. However, there were lots of sculptures - such as these - that I couldn't really figure out the intended purpose or meaning of. Regardless, these worked very well to desaturate except for the dollar sign; this is because the dollar sign itself was brown and green from the elements, so its apparent coloration is very subtle.

I made this wallpaper for my own personal use, as I was getting used to my new widescreen laptop with its 1280x800 resolution. I used textures, brushes, and a variety of photographs of my fiancee and I. I played with layer overlaying, blending modes, gradients, and other techniques to achieve a bright yet nostalgic effect.

I had found an old 35MM darkroom-developed photo I had done years ago of a very small photo of my friends resting on my bedroom dresser. After scanning it in, I experimented with texture and gradient overlays and various sharpening and blurring methods to get the desired result.

After a Buffalo Bills vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game we attended in September 2005, I found some photos my fiancee's brother had taken using the reflection on the car window. I added textures and different filtering effects, along with experimenting with very high levels of contrast to get this over-brightened, almost washed-out yet very sharp look.

As the base image, I desaturated a close-up photograph I had taken of my fiancee at a football tailgate party, and left only his sunglasses in color. Within each of the lenses, I took two separate photos of the two of us together and used airbrush erasing, filtering, and blending modes to make it appear as though our time spent together is being reflected in his eyes.

This photograph was done with a tripod and a self-timer in which I pre-arranged how I wanted the composition of my fiancee and I walking through the woods to look. Afterwards, I used some lighting, color alteration and blending modes to achieve this somewhat dreamy atmosphere.

Our family Collie, Quest, passed away in October 2005 and I made this 1024x768 wallpaper for my mother who was missing him very much. I used a 35MM, darkroom-developed photograph I had taken of him several years ago and incorporated it into a background filled with textures, brushes, some simple shapes, and text. I wanted to use a calming color scheme of pink, peach, ivory and mint.

Piece composed of various floral photographs that I shot in May 2005 at LaDew Gardens in Monkton, Maryland. I experimented with fragmented borders, textures, text overlays and brushes.