PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT: Edit My Photo

Sorry folks, this project is over and done. The good news is that you can see the results at “28 Ways To Interpret A Photo“. Stay tuned for the next project!

The last project (overexposure) was focused on YOUR photos. But this time around, the focus is on MY photo. I have to give credit to my Grandfather (Ron McCoy) for the project topic — he suggested it after I asked for ideas following the last project. I want you to edit my photo and show off what you can do in the digital darkroom, and to remove the subject variation we'll all be using the same photo. Here it is:

It's not the perfect image, nor is it extremely awe inspiring, but it has some potential if placed in the right hands. I think it will be very interesting and inspiring to see how many different interpretations of the same image we turn up. Everybody sees things differently, and I'm sure we all see varying potentials for a photo. There are no wrong answers and you don't need to be a Photoshop expert to participate in this project/experiment. I want to see this photo the way you see it.

If you need a little inspiration take a look at yesterday's article on Photoshop techniques, and if you need some technical guidance on post-processing head over to my Photoshop Tips archive. You can use whatever software you want, and you can do anything you'd like to (not with) the image. So if you're interested, here's how to enter the project:

1. Send me an email and request the JPEG and/or RAW files (tell me which one or I'll just send the JPEG).
2. I'll send you the full resolution image you requested (the JPEG is 2MB and the RAW is 9MB, so make sure your email can handle it).
3. Process my photo until you're satisfied.
4. Publish a low-resolution version of the image (600 pixels max) to:
   • Your own blog or website
   • A photo sharing site like Flickr or Zooomr
   • My blog (I'll explain below)
5. Email me again and let me know where you posted it (or email a 600px image back to me if you have nowhere else to publish).
6. Don't forget to write about how you processed it, and make sure you give credit to the photographer for his photo 😉
7. Watch for the results on October 9th.
8. Vote for the results on October 10th.

• DEADLINE: October 15th, 2007

So to recap, I need you to email me so I have somewhere to send the full resolution photo — don't try to edit the photo posted on this page, it's really not a good starting place. When you're done processing it, publish the image with a description of the work done. If you don't have anywhere to publish to, email me a 600px image with your write-up and I'll publish it as soon as I get a chance.

Also, when I say publish I only mean for the sake of the project. The photo is not yours to use for any other purpose than this project. I retain the copyright on the image, and all rights to sell my work. I DON'T have the right to take your post-processing work as my own, so don't worry — I'm not planning on stealing anything from you. I've already done the post-processing on this photo and I'll be publishing the results on Friday, so I'm not planning on stealing ideas either — those are also yours.

The deadline for the project is end of day Monday, October 15th. I'll publish the final results at the wee hours of October 16th (central time since that's what my server is on), so don't cut things close — you have almost 4 weeks to do less than 4 hours of work. We'll also be voting for the winners as soon as it's posted. In addition to the voting, you can also publish links on your own sites back to your favorite project entries.

Any prizes for getting first place? I'd love to be able to give out a decent prize for added “inspiration”, but the site isn't exactly rolling in cash yet. Anybody else have some ideas for a sub-$50 prize? I was thinking of keeping it with the theme, like a piece of editing software or Photoshop plugins, but that stuff is a bit more than $50. Maybe a Photoshop or photo editing book? Any ideas? Whatever it is, I'll do something.