Blog Assignment #8 Digital Manipulation

 I altered my photo using the picnik.com website. I did not expect it to be so easy to alter my photo. The software allowed me to use tons of applications for free and I began experimenting with different effects. First, I used the insta-thin application on the software and it added a small weight loss appearance. A small change that could go unnoticed was that I whitened my teeth. This biggest alteration of my photo was the sketch effect, which made it look somewhat like a cartoon or a picture that could be added to a comic strip. There was an option to add more strength and I increased it to the maximum, which was 200% and I also increased the fade. I added rounded corners and a before and after caption at the bottom of each photo. I did not have to adjust any blemishes on my face or arms because when I changed it to a pencil sketch, the actual colors of the photo disappeared. Finally, I added a white butterfly design on the upper left hand corner to add some contrast. Overall, the effect I was trying to produce was to take away all the colors so that people could focus on other aspects than immediately what colors their eyes were drawn to initially. I also wanted my eyes to stand out in the photo. I also added the weight loss effect so that I could look thinner because I always seem to be unsatisfied with pictures because it does not flatter me at a certain angle. I understand that the media has its effects on me because I wanted to alter the picture so that others would think I looked prettier in the picture when in real life looking like this would be impossible. It also avoided looking too altered or put together by taking the colors out. If I would have added the touch-up effect to the photos, people may have been able to tell. Having pictures in the public and out there for people to judge allows for society to push people to only want to put photos up on social networking sites that are visually appealing. I tried to create that exact effect by altering aspects of my photo (such as my teeth or the weight loss effect) to fit into what society or my peers believe is beautiful.