2006 Adobe Design Achievement Awards

Digital Photography: Finalist

Kyley Hellhake

Kutztown University

 

Photobooth: Animal Kingdom Collection #0016

 

Biography: Kyley Hellhake has been interested in photography and creating art based on nature and wildlife for as long as she can remember. Kyley is an avid equestrian and loves to create work based on her own horses and pets. You could also call her a "digital" nut, because she would be more than happy to throw out her old film camera for a digital SLR and Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 any day. Kyley hopes to someday open her own "new age" custom framing shop and gallery near her hometown. Until then, she is happy just photographing the world around her.

Objectives: I have always been fascinated by photo booths. That little strip of paper with four tiny photos seems to exude so much of the personality of its subjects. I have chosen to push our familiarity with these conventional photos by inserting animals into the picture space. Portraiture need not be limited to humans; why not give animals the chance to show a part of themselves by showcasing their portraits through the means of photo booth art? I find this method and approach to animal portraiture to be both humorous and potentially fascinating.

Tools used: To capture this variety of portraiture, I began by digitally photographing each animal. I then took the photos back to my "digital darkroom," where I used Adobe Photoshop CS to cut the animals out of their backgrounds. I enhanced the photos by adjusting lighting effects as well as other means available through Photoshop. I then created my own photo booth strip by splicing together my animal portraits with photo booth backgrounds. The entire process could not have been completed without the use of Photoshop.

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