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Camera Raw Settings Used:
- I lightened the photo by decreasing the shadows and the blacks and by reducing the highlights.
- I reduced the luminance and color noise and then sharpened up the image.
- I increased the hue, saturation, and luminance of all the colors in order to brighten them.
Photo Shop Settings Used:
- I created a black and white adjustment layer, and then I used a brush with black to remove that layer on the brightly colored creatures in the pool. I used a grey brush on the hat, the shirt, and the water areas to lighten their color intensity.
- I created a regular layer and quick selected the background behind the pool and the boy and then filled it in with a dark grey.
- I created one last regular layer and quick selected the pants and filled it in with a dark grey, but I decreased the opacity to 35% so the pant outlines would be visible.
Design Thoughts:
Font:
- The original photo had some images in the background (a lady and a stool) that distracted from the main focus of the photo (the boy and the sea creatures), so those background items were covered with black. On the first version the pants were also covered in grey to match the top grey, but they didn't look natural, so I made a layer just for them so I could reduce the opacity and let the pants show through.
- On the first version the rocks and the boy's face and arms were made greyscale in order to further highlight the colors in the pool and on the boy's shirt and hat. The skin color was kept on the second version but was lightened.
- The boy's hat and shirt were a little too bright and became the focal point, so I toned them down a little.
- On the second version text was added in the empty black space to give the image balance and a caption. I added a style to the text but adjusted the colors. The style had a drop shadow, a gradient overlay, and a bevel/emboss. I aligned the text left.
- I kept the upper pool in the second version.
Font:
- Tabarra Shadow: http://www.1001fonts.com/tabarra-shadow-font.html