Composite image making

Definition

Composite image making is where a photograph is completely manipulated and changed into a different image.

Is composite image making right?

I personally don't agree with composite image making, this is because it isn't natural, and therefore you can't correctly analyse and understand the photograph. I also don't think its fair, this is because people on the front of a magazine, are idols to people who aren't happy with themselves, as manipulating with photographs takes away individuality, therefore everyone expects that they need to look a specific way, however the person who is on the front of the magazine doesn't look exactly like that in reality.

Additionally if photographs are able to be manipulated into a specific way, and gets put on the news, this wouldn't be the original photograph, therefore it can cause problems. problems can be caused as if someone went missing and a photograph of themselves had been manipulated and com positioned to somewhere they haven't been, could cause issues as no one will have any idea where they are, as composite image making is based on lies.

Although some composite image making can be acceptable, for example removing something in the image, that is unable to be cropped out.

Although, there is an image editing software, which is often used to manipulate the captured image to an extent determined by the artist/retoucher. There are 3 different levels of editing on photoshop. The first level is a basic level, which is colour balancing, this is where you edit the colours in the image, then there is contrast, which is where you edit the different colours that effect each other, then finally there is cropping, this is when something is in the image that isn't meant to be there, it can get removed from the photograph. This extent of editing is acceptable as it isn't completely manipulating someones image. Furthermore there is the next level which consists of retouching and airbrushing, this is where you edit little features of the photograph, for example removing spots of someones face, or making someone slightly slimmer. this can be acceptable however only if its only little parts that have been edited. Then finally there is the final level, which is compositing, this is where you can completely change the image, by replacing someones face to another persons and steal their complete identity. I don't agree with this level of editing as it takes away peoples individuality and confidence within themselves.


Here is an example that I produced using photoshop. 

To create this image, I started off with two separate images, which were

a duck and the photograph of tower bridge

I then, cleared the white background on the duck and selected the whole object, however the left eye didn't get selected, this meant that I had to mask the eye, which meant it was able to get selected. After i done this, i copied and pasted the duck onto the image of tower bridge. I then positioned the duck where i wanted it to be, and changed the size, then I applied the change to the photograph. then I duplicated the image of the duck and went through the same procedure. after the ducks where positioned in the way I wanted them to be, I then added a mask layer, and mask the bottom off the duck black with the opacity and flow being 30%, this then gave the ducks the effect that they look like they were swimming.