Photographer Laura Williams takes some amazing photos. A few are linked to in the box on the right.
Some of the photos are amazing, but, when you know how, they're surprisingly easy to recreate.
Many of Laura Williams' photos are made using layers. In other words, you cut out a section of the top photo and allow the bottom photo to show through. With that technique I can replace your head with flowers, or leave you hanging in mid air because I've erased your ladder.
The hard part is deciding what to shoot. You need a background, such as a room, or field, or something or something like that. You also need a foreground, something to go on top.
The foreground should have a part that you're going to cut out, such as a chair or ladder, a window, a mirror or something like that.
You will probably need to work on this with someone else. Each of you should create your own project, but you'll probably need help to take the photos.
What to do
- Pick your scene. You are going to take two pictures.
- You need a background.
- Since you're doing something like Laura Williams, your background should be the same as your foreground.
- You also need a foreground.
- You have to decide what part you're taking out of the foreground.
- Who will be in your foreground?
- What props will you need to help?
- Start up the GIMP picturing editing software.
- Under the File menu pick Open and pick the photo you want as the background.
- Then under the File menu pick Open as Layers and open your foreground on open of the background.
- Under the Layer menu pick Transparency and then Add Alpha Channel.
- Using the Toolbox dock, pick the rectangle of oval in the top left.
- Highlight the section you want to remove.
- Under the Edit menu pick Cut. Or pick Delete on the keyboard. Or try Control-X.
- You should have a portion of the top picture cut out to reveal the bottom picture.
- Under the File menu pick Save As.
- You should be give the option to change the name of your file, and to Save File Type By Extension. You want to do that. Make your extension a PNG.
- Save your file, and hopefully you have a new and cool picture.
Evaluation
| Two layers are put on top of each other. | /1 |
| Top layer has a part cut out to noticeably reveal the bottom layer. | /1 |
| Image is exported as a PNG file and handed in. | /1 |
| Combined image creates something impossible, yet believable. | /1 |
Originality. Is your idea unique, unusual, different? Or did you just grab someone else's idea? Is it aesthetically pleasing?
| /3 |
| Total | /7 |
