I have to start by saying I am not a great user of Photoshop nor am I a great believer in it either. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate work that has been ‘shopped’, I guess it stems from frustrations that I’ve encountered previously, resulting in a lack of confidence with it. Generally, I use Photoshop for image resizing and other simple functions. I saw this exercise and had a feeling of mild dread at the thought of completing it.
I’m into action sports and over the years have seen sequence composites in magazines such as Thrasher (skateboarding), Surfer and Dirt (mountain biking) and have always been impressed with the technique but also the way it conveys a passage of time. I thought I’d use this technique to create a metaphor to highlight the passage of time from child to teenager, by using my son as the subject.
Regarding the technical aspect, it wasn’t as hard as I had envisioned. I took a series of images in sequence with my camera mounted on a tripod. Selecting four images, I then opened these in Photoshop. Selecting a background image, I then created three extra layers and copied the remaining images into these respectively. Next, I used the auto-alignment function and cropped any un-aligned areas. Finally, I used the layer mask function and on respective layers I painted on the figure/figures from the previous layer, resulting in the final image below.
I have to say that I’m pleased with the results and the exercise has given me confidence to use and experiment with Photoshop in future. I also think that it has successfully conveyed the passage of time and has fulfilled the brief in creating a documentary photograph that could never actually be.
Context and Narrative 