Before I had my Photography Class this Quarter, I didn’t know much about photography. I didn’t know about off-center focus, color, let alone layer masks or texture layers. Now, I always bring out colors, alter contrast, and I’m addicted to using layer masks. Thanks to my Photography class (and the power of Photoshop), I can use my tiny digital camera, a Canon PowerShot A2300 to be exact, to take amazing pictures.

I always take Interesting pictures, or I use Photoshop to make them interesting. If the picture isn’t interesting, it gets deleted. Layer Masks are my personal favorite tool in Photoshop; you can up saturation here, then go in with the brush tool so it’s only in that one spot. Without layer masks, I wouldn’t have as many good pictures. My favorite thing to do with layer masks is Photoshopping in an object that doesn’t belong in that picture/setting. A good example of this would be when I Photoshopped laser pointers over my eyes so I looked like a cyborg, or when I Photoshopped my hands in my mouth and eyes to create something out of a nightmare.

Photoshop is a very fun program (maybe a bit too fun). But, sometimes a picture is interesting enough that it needs little or no retouching, and that’s fine because the subject matter is more important to me than the Photoshop skills it demonstrates. I value interesting pictures above all else, and if they’re boring to edit in Photoshop, then so be it. “Interestingness” is what I strive to produce; every time I upload a picture, I try to bring in something new, unique, and most importantly interesting in the world.

-Tom