Picture 291 | The Mirror Project...

So....it's time for a new series.
I wanted to continue with the boost of momentum that last week's picture gave me.
But, I wanted to do something new and experimental.
Thus, I started the Mirror Project.

I have only done mirroring twice, Picture 21 and 23, using an iMac at my local library.
Well, that was cool...but it was 200 pictures ago and it's time to step it up...
I did want to go through my old pictures and remix them with mirroring and crazy coloring.
Maybe I still will.
Anyways, this idea just hit me a few hours ago and now it's 1:30 AM and I'm still working on it.
And it's also Wednesday...So, I have to have the BTS video done and the pictures.
Yes, I said pictures.
This is part one of a three part series.
But that's not all.
I'm still working on more.
I just had to stop at the first three because the BTS video was getting long.
Wait a second....I just said I don't want to do the same thing over and over.
Yet, the project with pictures that kind-of look the same.
And I also want to continue longer than three weeks.
Hmmm....
Moving on.
Let's talk about the picture.
I also explored more settings on my camera to see what I can really get out of it.
I found the color setting called Cyanotype.
It was amazing.
I liked it so much that I used it again for the Part Three.
It made everything....purple.
I knew that my camera had these settings, but I never played with them.
I also found out that I can record a video in the selected color type!
I thought it was just for the picture for some reason.
I'll have to use it for a video project sometime.
I first used it at night when I was getting pictures of the moon.
I turned it on and it looked EPIC!
THE MOON WAS PURPLE!
So, I had to make a picture.
I haven't done a night time since Picture 271.
Picture 276 doesn't count because that was an old picture that used my old camera.
So, I had what I wanted in mind and tried to make it.
Then...I remembered why I don't do night stuff with my new camera....it's was grainy.
I thought it failed.
However, fast forward to today, I needed pictures for my new project.
I had this one and two others already made.
I decided to try to make it work.
I worked on the three pictures back to back, this one was the starter one.
And then, I would try to make the next one a little different and the same for the next one.
Since this one was so grainy, I knew I needed to do noise reduction.
That makes everything smooth and dream like.
So, I continued with that concept.
In most of my pictures, I boost clarity all the way up to get this sharp contrast look.
Well, if you bring it down, it makes everything smooth and dream like.
So, I did that with the noise reduction and it made it look...interesting.
Lastly, I boosted the saturation to make it more...purple.
It's not the most appealing picture, but it'll do.
Now, I had to mirror it with Photoshop.
You can't just make a copy and flip it around and BOOM! Done.
It has to be PERFECTLY balanced.
This one was easy.
I wanted the moon to be the center.
So, I made a copy of the picture, flipped it and lined up the moon.
Simple...for now.
The other pictures in the project were more complex.
The last thing was to crop it because the picture a bit too wide.
I also erased the part hidden part of the flipped layer.
The pictures overlap, so the picture underneath would have more than the top layer.
So, I got rid of that extra stuff to make the file size smaller.
And BOOM! After 15 minutes...I think....I was done.
Let's compare the results!

Hover your mouse (the computer one :-P) over the original picture to see the after editing one.
If you're on a touchscreen device, just tap on the picture. You may have to tap more than once.

Now compare the mirroring.
Not like it matters, there isn't really complex change.
I just made a copy of the original and flipped it. :-D

AMAZING!!
I'd say that's a good start to the series.
It turned out nice.
I'm happy.
AND NOW! It's BTS video time.
I made all three pictures at one time in one LONG BTS video.
It's 30 minutes long that covers the shooting and the editing of all the pictures.
All the pictures meaning for this first three week part.
So, next week, you'll see this BTS video again....and the next week too.
There are also extra tid-bits of awesomeness in the video as well.
You can CLICK HERE to see the video or watch it below. 

THAT WAS FUN!
COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOR PART TWO!!!