Editing

When editing my final image I only had a slight idea of the look I was going for. The majority of it was trial and error seeing what worked and what didn't. Too my dismay I used images I found online due to not having access to the parts I wanted. I decided to replace my models leg with a coilover suspension unit from a car. This is an aftermarket part found on racing cars as it lets you adjust the height of the suspension as well as the dampening rate. I thought this would be a great asset to a footballer letting you jump higher and run faster!

This was pretty much the only object I wanted to replace I had always wanted to focus on subtle changes rather than creating a fully mechanical person. While searching for components to use I came across 'technical drawings'. I thought these would be perfect background elements to bring a little more to my images. They are like mechanical blueprints for objects and show the breakdown of parts needed to create them and the order they are used. They are a very visual element to the engineering process and I thought they would be a nice addition to my image.

I decided to try and give my final a 'prototype' feel. This idea was inspired by the inclusion of the technical drawing. I thought it might be nice to create an image that looked as if it were a computer render of an 'improved athlete'. When I had placed the technical drawings in I was happy with the image but it looked quite bare on either side of the model and I found the background was a little overpowering. I decided that I was going to add to the render/future element by creating hologram versions of my model.

After completing all my manipulation I focused my efforts on editing the photo so that I was happy with the colour, exposure contrast etc. Anything that needed changing was done so using adjustment layers so that I could edit and tweak along the way as adjustment layers and masks are non destructive so if I decided I didn't like it I could easily remove it and revert to the original image.