The three days at NUS' Student Union's Committee of Information & Technology (NUSSU commIT)'s Cyberia 2020 has been the most rewarding. The student camp included an 8-hour Photoshop workshop conducted by Adobe-certified trainers from Acadia Training Pte Ltd; as well as peer-led activities.
I was introduced to Photoshop tools, the use of masks and layers and some of the effects gallery. This new skills were immediately put to the test when we were told to take up a 2-hour Photoshop challenge, themed, "Our Experience at Cyberia." At every half an hour mark, we were given yet another element to include in our design. The eventual list included: 1) a cartoon character; 2) a globe/Earth; and 3) a Christmas theme.
In addition, Student Facilitators introduced us to the use of Adjustment tools and clipping masks to accomplish more sophisticated picture manipulations. My attempts at following through resulted in the following two attempts.
Areas for Improvement
What stood out most for me was the eye to detail required for adjusting the different lighting angles. This is especially since different sources of pictures were taken with different lighting conditions. It was through the process that I realised that there was a lot more exposure, practice and theory (behind choices to fonts and colours) to actually mastering Photoshop. This workshop is merely an entry into a powerful software and an intricate discipline of digital art.
While I was fortunate enough to be loaned the Adobe Photoshop software by the school, I was made aware at how expensive a subscription to Photoshop actually is. Given this context, it is bewildering that many entry positions expect new hires or fresh graduates to be well-versed with such a software. It is my hope that companies and employers recognise the amount of skills and cost are borne in the journey to mastering Photoshop.