Even Pizza gets Photoshopped.

Did you know that pizza is a great way to teach layers in Adobe Photoshop? Our next assignment for our Digital Imagery class not only made us hungry for a delicious pizza pie, but it also allowed us to show off our layering and organization skills.

The pizza pie project asked us to place a pie crust on the background of our choice, and add pizza sauce, cheese and seven ingredients on top of the pizza crust using our choice of brushes, selection tools and other tools of our choice.

I chose a checkerboard tablecloth that reminds me of old pizzerias I enjoyed as a child. On top of that in a new layer titled pizza crust, I placed the bare pizza crust. Next, in a new layer labeled sauce, I used a brush to create the red sauce on the middle of the pizza. Next, I used the grass like brush to lay down the multiple colors of cheese in new layers named cheese. To maintain organization of layers, I added these two cheese layers into in a folder titled cheese.

Then came the toppings – pepperoni, bacon, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, sausage and olives. For each topping, I first chose to delete the background of the image using the magic wand selection tool leaving a transparent background. Next, I used the quick selection tool to select each individual topping. I copied and pasted that individual topping to the pizza, putting each one into an appropriately named layer. I also rotated and resized the toppings as necessary for a more authentic look. Once I had all the pieces of that particular topping added, I grouped all those layers into one layer folder with the same name. The most difficult topping was the olives because they were grouped together in a bowl. However, there was a random olive off to the side of the dish. I used that olive as my topping, and simply resized and rotated the olive layers on top of the pizza.

For fun and authenticity, I added a brush of garlic butter to the crust so that when my fake pizza is baked, it would have a golden, delicious crust. I’ve worked in a pizza shop, and the garlic butter is quickly brushed on so I tried not to worry about the butter being too perfect. I did try to be careful not to let the brush paint butter on the table and pizza plate. I had to use the eraser tool a few times for that. I also labeled that layer in the Photoshop file as well.

Now, who’s ready for pizza?

Go the Extra Mile.

As our first assignment for our Digital Imagery class, we have been asked to create an 800 x 800 pixel image using a filter, shape and a text quote.

I first chose the quote since it would determine the image that I would use. I tried a much longer quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, but the length of the quote seemed to take away from the power of the image, so the first draft was scrapped.

I came across the quote, “Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded.” while searching Pinterest. I instantly loved it. Motivation is so important in success, and as I pursue my master’s degree it is important to always go the extra mile in everything I do. I balance my schooling with working a full-time job that I am passionate about, and I also must be sure to go the extra mile for my employer. I cannot let either work or school suffer because I am busy.

Having found a quote that was as meaningful to me as I felt it would be to others, I chose an image that embodied the imagery of going the extra mile: a hiker on a precipice staring off into the horizon. The sky is the limit in this photo, and the hiker is all alone, just as the quote describes. You can imagine that not many people have stood where that hiker is standing, and it’s because he put in the extra effort.

As part of our assignment, we were required to add a filter to our image. I chose “Crosshatch” because it softened the image while maintaining the integrity of the photo. Viewers could still imagine the photo in its original format, but it added an artistic touch to the image.

I added the box next and included a subtle drop shadow to make the box slightly pop off the page. I also changed the color of the box, which I matched up to some of the colors in the photo, to a 45% opacity so that the image of the photo could also be seen behind the box. For the box color, I had originally picked a orange color from the sunset but changed it to a blue from the sky because the color popped more while being 45% opaque. I also carried the box the full width of the image because I felt it appeared more modern that way. I put the box in the bottom of the image because the hiker has his eyes into the distance, and not at the ground. The ground slips away as the least important part of the image. The meaning of the quote and the power of the image is what’s off in the distance, where we are going, where are motivation will take us.

For the text of the quote, I used two versions of the Segoe font – a script bold and a UI bold. I chose the script for the “action” line because I felt that is where the emphasis should be placed. I increased the font of the Segoe UI bold (bottom) line so that both lines would span the same distance. I chose to do this from a design perspective and to lend importance to both lines.

Let’s explore together.

Hey y’all!

Welcome to my little part of this

social, digital, beautiful world! 

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My name is Tara Whiteley, and I’m a second semester graduate student at the University of Florida. I’m studying web design and online communication.

I’m on a journey toward my goal of gaining expertise in the area of social and digital technical arts. It’s a world that requires fluency in written, and visual, communication. And, it is my passion.

Please join me as I explore digital imagery this semester. This class focuses its attention on one of my favorite programs, Adobe Photoshop.

I’m hoping to learn even more about Photoshop this semester and truly become an expert. I am primarily self-taught in photo editing, so I am excited to increase my formal knowledge of this software.

Want to know more about me? Check this out!

Want to contact me? Do that here!