What Would U(tata) Do? #1

David Wilkinson

For the Utata What Would Utata Do? Project

Original photo by Ryan Brenizer.

OK, so I don't know if this is really what I would have done, but it did encourage me to experiment more. I really didn't like the cluttered background, so my main objective was to remove/disguise it as much as possible.

Here's what I did:

- Some basic exposure tweaking in the RAW file
- Open in Photoshop
- Use pen tool to isolate statue from background
- Apply Lens Blur filter to background
- Convert to Black and White
- Decide I don't like the Black and White version and discard it
- Rotate and Crop
- Apply vignetting via Lens Correction filter, to force attention to the centre and away from what is left of the background.
- Add severe curves adjustment to exaggerate colours/contrast. I wanted to boost the contours of the faces. I like the blue/green cast that this gives the statue, but I'm far less sure about the red/orange of the bricks. Perhaps I should tone them down a little...

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