This was the second assignment in our 2-D Imaging class which made us ultilize more of the features in Photoshop that
our professor taught us. The overall goal of this project was to make postcards that represented a fantasy
in Cleveland. During out Spring Break, we were supposed to take pictures and then work with them when we got
back. Since I was in Las Vegas for my Spring Break, I was allowed to use images from Las Vegas for my postcard
project. Besides teaching me more about Photoshop, I figured it would also be a good souvenir. The full
details of the assignment can be viewed in
this word document.
It was actually hard deciding on two pictures for my postcard project since I had so many pictures from Las Vegas.
However I finally decided on two - one from Las Vegas and the other from Hoover Dam. This page explains the
process for the Las Vegas postcard and the Hoover Dam postcard is on
page two.
For the Las Vegas postcard, I chose a picture of the Bellagio since the hotel/casino would be the center of focus
and there was lots of open space around it to incorporate other images of Las Vegas. The first thing I needed to
do was to split the image up into pieces.
Splitting The Image Up
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In order to get closer to my final image, I needed to split the image into three different
layers. I created a layer of just the Bellagio building, a layer for the sky, and a layer
for the water. This way, I would be able to manipulate each piece without affecting
the other.
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| Accomplished by:
Using the Lasso Tool |
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Now that I had my picture split into different layers, the next thing I wanted to do was make the Bellagio look amazing in a
fantasy type of way. Everyone knows that Las Vegas is the "City of Lights" so I couldn't think of a better way than showing
that by giving the Bellagio a neon glow.
Giving the Bellagio a "Neon Glow"
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I remembered when previously playing around with different filters
in Photoshop, that one of the filters made the image look like it was glowing full of neon lights. What a perfect idea
to describe the theme of Las Vegas!
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| Accomplished by:
Filter - Stylize - Glowing Edges
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Well, now that I had focus of the image completed, it was time to move around the picture. I first started with the sky
and thought that a pattern of lights would help it stand out. I searched through all my pictures and found this one that
I took of New York New York which was a buch of lights underneath the part where the taxis drop people off.
Making a Pattern of Lights
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This was the piece that I took off the original picture
to use as a pattern. |
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I took the piece I cut out from the original,
flipped it to the left, then copied the entire new image, and flipped it down. Now I had the background
for my postcard.
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Edit - Transform Path - Flip (Horizontal/Vertical)
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Since I had the background completed, it was now time to work on the bottom section. At this point, I still
needed to use the Liquify tool, incorporate a gradient in my picture, and make a custom brush since the assignment
required us to use different tools in Photoshop. I wasn't sure where I was going to use a gradient because
I didn't want the gradient to be too obvious in the picture but still wanted it to be noticeable. While
thinking of what I was going to do after I finished the bottom, I came up with the idea of adding other
hotels/casinos on the sides of the Bellagio. One hotel that came to mind was Bally's because of its colorful
lights at night. In fact, the lights acted as a gradient going from blue on the bottom of the building to red on
the top. If I could use that gradient in my picture, it would accent Bally's and have a purpose instead of just
being a gradient that I added to the picture. I ended up using the gradient on the walkway leading up to the
Bellagio.
Next, I had to use the Liquify tool. Again, I knew that the Liquify tool was a neat tool but using it could destroy
my picture if I used it too much. Since my theme was "Las Vegas - the City of Lights" I thought it would be good
to accent the lights reflecting in the water. Therefore, I used the Liquify tool to pull the light reflections out of
the water and to make them more noticeable. I was very pleased with the final water scene.
The last thing I had to incorporate in my picture was the use of a custom brush. With this, I had to use something
that would be repeated in one color throughout the picture. Like before, I didn't want this to stand out too much
as I thought it would take away from the overall impression of the picture. After much thought, I came up with the
idea that I would grab the tips of Bellagio fountains and make that a custom brush. Then, I could lightly paint on
the surface of the water to make it look like the fountains had just ended since the water from the tops of the fountains
would hit the water and give little ripples/splashes.
The pictures below show the progress of the bottom section and using all the tools I described above.
Fixing Up The Bottom
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This is a picture of the original bottom, before I altered
it in anyway.
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I added a gradient (red to blue) across the walkway on the left
and liquified the water to accent the reflections of the lights.
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The picture I used to make my custom brush.
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After cropping the top of the fountain, I zoomed in and selected the
tips of the water by using the Lasso tool. I then defined my custom brush by selecting 'Edit - Define Brush Preset'
and then giving a name to my brush.
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By painting on the picture with my custom brush, I figured it would make
the water look like the fountains had just ended and the water from the tops of the fountains is just hitting
the water - almost like a sprinkle.
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| Accomplished by: |
Gradient Tool |
Liquify Tool |
Paint Brush |
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My first postcard was almost complete. All I wanted to do now was to fill in the sides with some other images from Vegas.
I ended up putting Bally's and Paris on the left side of Bellagio since those were the only other good night shot pictures I had
of the casinos on the strip. I put the large guitar outside of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino off to the right side since it
would give depth and dimension to my picture, being that it was closer to the viewer than the rest of the picture. One of the last
things I did was to put the Paris balloons on top of the Bellagio, adding more to the fantasy part of the project and going
with my theme of lights.
Overall, I was very pleased with my final picture. Besides being an assignment, I also looked at this as a souvenir from Las Vegas,
and in fact, I have this 11x17 picture framed and hanging from my wall right now. I'm sure next time I go back to Las Vegas, I'll
try to do a similar project and maybe I can start a collection of computer enhanced images from Las Vegas!
My second postcard deals with the Hoover Dam; I wanted to do something
else besides Las Vegas.
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| Original Picture(257 kb) |
Finished Product (353 kb) |
