Toy Soldiers

Here, go feel like a giant...

(Timelapse video of a monster truck rally from gizmodo by Keith Loutit)

Pretty cool eh? Remember, those monster trucks are rather large, my friend. They certainly don't call them monsters for nothing. Well the main thing I want to highlight here is the cool technique used called tilt-shift photography. The effect achieved through this technique is to produce an image that makes anything a scene look like a miniature model. Jump on wikipedia for more information if you'd like. It has a sample image which really captures the desired effect.

(lol, the big red blur at the back is actually the blood from the audience tearing each other apart)

The monster truck images were done by Keith Loutit, who just absolutely loves to produce these tile-shift images. You can check him out here.

So, this really sweet piece of photographic magic that got me wondering, could i photoshop that? After all, it looks like you just gotta blur some stuff.

(Now that it looks like toy cars, we can be definitely sure they're made in china)

Here we have the massive celebration of the PRC's anniversary. A grand display of China's finest parading past the forbidden city. I gotta say, i've seen parades but the Chinese really know how to parade. I bet you could feel the ground tremble as they marched.

The original image was obtained from the boston.com website. Here's the image before, and after.

I found that the best images to use to produce this tilt-shift-miniaturization effect are those with objects or people that stand behind a building or structure. (for example, a bunch of cars or people standing in a field with a clear sky as backdrop wouldn't work) Here's another image I tilt-shift-shrinkerized, personally I think the effect is more pronounced in this one.

(image originally obtained from Juliana Loh) Here's the image before, and after.

Last note, here's another cool website that has totally tilt-shift-microsized practically the entire city of tokyo, the uniqlo calendar.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS.

Alright, now that we've gone through that quick photoshop lesson (if you haven't you should watch it) so let's try it out! Basically it teaches the ol distort tool, the ultimate tool that lets you place any flat object on any other flat object realistically*.

So lets take a looksee at a photo shall we? What image should we use for this exercise, well i want something that has a vehicle in it, and so what better source can we get for vehicles than, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS.

Here we have baddass Vin Diesel. Look at him, lookin all cool and shit. He's all like "hey dude, you checkin out my ride? well get lost retard, coz me n my biceps are too cool for the likes of you, i'm gonna take off now in my all American gas guzzler, see ya sucka!"

Well, now i don't know about you but i've about had it up to here with his attitude, so let's photoshop his ass. Let's place a little something something all over his windows.

Apparently these are stickers that you can buy online. I tried looking around where i could buy them, but had no such luck. I guess they're no longer in production. So let's get to work and plaster these babies all over his hot rod. That oughta put him in his place.

Well well well, not so high and mighty now are you Vin? Now he just looks like a douchebag trying to figure out how to parallel park on the wrong side of the street. (Some might argue he looked like a douchebag from the beginning, but that's besides the point) Anyway, photoshop done!

*not really that realistic, really.

Photoshop lesson

So it should be pretty evident by now, i'm not an expert at photoshop. So i thought it'd be helpful to show you a good tutorial on some basic photoshop!

Ok, so maybe it's a little old, but hey it's relevant to the material.

photoshop... lol!

Modern old photos

You remember how they colorize old movies? well some dudes thought it would be a cool idea to colorize some old photos from the 40s. Check these out!

1940s photos that look totally modern (from www.thechive.com)

They look pretty cool, and i thought maybe i'd try it out myself! i mean, how hard could it be right?? And what better picture to try it on, than the photo i just posted earlier!

Ford Strikers Riot... in full technicolor!!

Well, it turns out, it's pretty darned hard. Anyway i tried my hand at it, maybe this wasn't the best picture to try on. but oh well, here it is. I gave it the old college try, tried my best. I never said i was an expert. Did i mention it was hard to do?

Ok so it kinda stinks. i blame it on the photo.

1942 Pulitzer Prize Winner - Photography

What better way to start than from the beginning... sorta, below is the photograph that won the very first Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1942.

Ford Strikers Riot

Taken by Milton Brooks in 1941 during the workers' strike at a Ford manufacturing plant. You can jump onto wikipedia to get a brief description of whats going on, but basically it just describes what you can plainly see in the photo, people kicking the shit out of some poor helpless man. Apparently the guys throwing the punches are strikebreakers, so maybe they're like security or something. But the guy on the left looks like he's having too much fun though.

If you want to get some interesting facts and more story behind the photo, check out ktxnbi's blog which has almost every Pulitzer prize winning photo and descriptions of them.

http://blog.ktnxbi.com/2008/10/

First Post!

Well not exactly the first, but the first that has actual content and meaning anway... Welcome to all, to my blog, Photographysis (it's pronounced sorta like photosynthesis, replace the synth with graph) This is going to be all about photographs, photography, and everything in between. Ah! but that's not all!

-it's not!?

Indeed my friend, this is going to be about everything relevant to images and imagery, everything that stimulates the retinas. Especially crazy ass computer imaging techniques, hell yes, i'm talking photoshop and everything like it. So hopefully the internet will keep providing me with material to post and perhaps even try out myself!

Marcus Tullius Cicero

[1] Non eram nescius, Brute, cum, quae summis ingeniis exquisitaque doctrina philosophi Graeco sermone tractavissent, ea Latinis litteris mandaremus, fore ut hic noster labor in varias reprehensiones incurreret. nam quibusdam, et iis quidem non admodum indoctis, totum hoc displicet philosophari. quidam autem non tam id reprehendunt, si remissius agatur, sed tantum studium tamque multam operam ponendam in eo non arbitrantur. erunt etiam, et ii quidem eruditi Graecis litteris, contemnentes Latinas, qui se dicant in Graecis legendis operam malle consumere. postremo aliquos futuros suspicor, qui me ad alias litteras vocent, genus hoc scribendi, etsi sit elegans, personae tamen et dignitatis esse negent.