PHOTOSHOP WORK

These are graphics that were created as personal projects, using Adobe Photoshop. The works were created using multiple images.

ORIGINAL IMAGES USED TO CREATE THIS GRAPHIC

SQUIRREL - THE STORY

I am definitely nowhere near a professional photographer, but I really love taking photos of nature. Sometimes I might see a squirrel in my backyard and run out to take some photos. As a matter of fact, that's exactly how this project started. After a short session of stalking this poor animal, I was taking a look at the original photo I took of that squirrel, and really wanted to share it on Instagram until I realized how bad the background looked. It was late in the fall (or perhaps early in the winter) when I took the photo, so of course all the green that's usually in our backyard was gone. I decided to use some photos from the past and proceed with image compositing on Photoshop.

When I started working on this personal project, I was apprehensive about how it would turn out. Frankly, I didn't think I had the skills to turn the photo of the squirrel in the dead winter background, into a beautiful and vibrant image in a seamless way. I did one thing after another, playing with color adjustments and other effects until I finally managed to create a colorful scene. I then took the edit into Lightroom and further touched it up until I created this, and honestly, I am very happy with how it turned out. When I finally shared the image on Instagram, a lot of my friends expressed that they hadn't even realized it was a completely made up image at first.

ORIGINAL IMAGES USED TO CREATE THIS GRAPHIC

MOSQUE - THE STORY

I like to think that I am a fairly religious person, in the way that my life almost entirely revolves around Islam. When I created this image, one thing I had in mind was my love for my religion, and the concept that staying in touch with our faith and our creator will ultimately lead us to Paradise in all its beauty. I was rummaging through some older photos to avoid "stealing" any images from online, and had the idea to create this image depicting a mosque almost floating above the clouds, with the moon above it. The mosque is actually Sura Mosque, or Sura Masjid, in Ghoraghat, Dinajpur in Bangladesh. My family and I were passing through some towns on our way somewhere, when this beautiful mosque suddenly caught my eye. Me being me, I quickly asked to have our driver stop so that I could capture some photos. The details and intricacy on the outside were simply amazing; I wish I could have explored the inside, but unfortunately it had been locked. There was no particular reason for me to use this exact mosque to create the image; simply that it was the only mosque I had personally taken good enough photos to manipulate in Photoshop. Again, I didn't want to use any images from online that weren't my own. The main intention with this manipulated image was to depict the holiness of a mosque, and to amplify the importance and beauty of the Afterlife. I don't expect everyone to have the same beliefs as I do, but I hope that everyone respects them.

ORIGINAL IMAGES USED TO CREATE THIS GRAPHIC

 DOVES - THE STORY

I partially created this image as a joke, referring to something I had shared on my Instagram quite some time prior to its creation. There were a group of doves that frequently visited my mother's backyard, that I decided were friends or perhaps even family. Months before creating this image, I made a joke that I would create a "mixtape" cover, or some kind of album art using the original photo I took of the birds sitting on our roof. Soon enough, I sat down and looked through some old photos for the background as well as the foreground and voila, I created this masterpiece of a work featuring four majestic birds overlooking the city from my mother's roof. This is absolutely one of my favorite edits/image compositing projects, because I really think it came out so well. I am especially happy with the way I managed to get rid of so many of the disrupting elements in the background and foreground, such as the cables and the leaves from our cherry tree. Another thing that bothered me about the original photo was the fact that one of the doves (in the far right) was especially distant from the rest of the birds. I was determined to bring it closer to the rest of the group, and seamlessly portray the four doves sitting together. When I shared this image on Instagram, so many people were delighted to see how I manipulated the images to create this final product, and I was happy to hear plenty of positive feedback on this edit.

ORIGINAL IMAGES USED TO CREATE THIS GRAPHIC

TORONTO - THE STORY

The ideation and process behind this work is simple: it was created for an Instagram challenge. I happen to follow quite a few talented artists and designers on Instagram, and one of them just so happened to share a challenge that someone shared. They shared a folder of images and asked (whoever edited them) to create something using those specific images. With the help of Photoshop and Lightroom, I was able to come up with this image in the end. I was quite surprised at the positive feedback I received from the designer that started the challenge, as well as many of my followers. It seemed people really enjoyed seeing this image compositing work. As a matter of fact, I think it was this particular work that suddenly struck something in me and motivated me to continue working in image manipulation, and that's how I went on to create the other works that I've done.

ORIGINAL IMAGES USED TO CREATE THIS GRAPHIC

ESCAPE - THE STORY

This is yet another work created as a sort of an homage to nature. I seem to say it quite often, but I absolutely love nature and being surrounded by nature. When I created this work I was imagining a beautiful land where I'd want to escape, and in this case, it was Nilgiri, Bandarban in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The first photo I used to create this image was taken on a cool morning on the Wayne State University campus. I thought I had a wonderful opportunity when I noticed this student running towards Second Ave, where there was a thick and heavy fog. Right then and there, in that moment, I imagined creating an image that depicted some sort of dark, mysterious theme, especially with the thick fog. However, eventually, I thought I had a great opportunity to create something to reflect an inner thought. If I could, I would live in a place where I'd be surrounded by nature, green, foliage and all. Since it was out of my hands at the time, I decided to do a visual depiction instead. I chose to composite the photo with the photo I'd taken in Bangladesh, because Nilgiri just so happened to be my absolute favorite of all the places I'd visited when I last went to Bangladesh (in 2016). Frankly, it was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever had the chance to see and explore. Without hesitation, I combined the photo of the beautiful mountains with the photo of the student running on campus, and created one magical image.