Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Photoshop Frenzy!

*CLICK*

And you've got yourself a very nice picture. But this need not be the case all the time. Ever had a picture taken of yourself on those bad hair days? Or one where that nasty zit decided to show up? Or those long hours of work or studying that's left its mark under your eyes, so well projected in the picture your annoying friend decided to take?


These days it is so easy to change ones look by simply photoshopping the image! And I'm not talking about minor changes. With Photoshop, you can really make the person look like someone totally different. One such incident happened to me.


I was talking to a good friend of mine on Y! messenger. He happened to notice my display picture, and had words of praise for the photographer! This was a picture that many others happened to like as well. To get a closer look, I sent him the file that contained the picture. Now I know that all you readers are curious to see the picture, so here it is:


Note: This is the original picture.

Now he excused himself for a few minutes and got to work on the picture. He then sent it back to me asking if I noticed something different in it. One look was all I needed to see how perfect the skin looked. Completely flawless! Something you would see on the cover of a magazine, or during the photo shoot of 'Next Top Model', where you know the pictures have been air brushed to perfection. Though I'm not saying this picture was perfect, but it was the first time I'd seen myself like that! And I was impressed!

Note: If you compare the skin with the one above, you'll see what I'm talking about.

But just when I thought that he was done altering the picture, he suggested I get the bags under my eyes taken care of. Now we've all had days when our eyes just seemed a little too puffy and no amounts of concealer would cover up those raccoon rings! So if he could get rid of them, I was all game! So he got to work again. While fixing the eyes, he mentioned he'd be making changes to my lips as well. I never had a problem with my lips. But sure, anyone would love to have fuller, more sensual lips. So why protest? After a good 30 minutes or so, he passed the file back to me. And I was speechless!

Note: The bags have been air brushed and the lips look fuller.

Thought that was the last of changes? Nope. Since I looked so serious and a little too sad (emotionally), he suggested a smile to the lips, a twinkle to the eye and a whole lot of other changes I was beginning to lose track of! But hey, how bad could it be? Or so I thought...

Note: My first reaction was 'WTF :|'.

There was something off about the picture. Something that I could not pin point. I knew I didn't look like that when I smiled, so that could be one reason. Then again, the person staring back at me, wasn't really me. Sure, it could have been my evil twin (who doesn't really exist) or someone related to me. But it wasn't me. My friend was a little disappointed that I wasn't quite as excited about this one as I was for the others. But then it hit me! The left cheek of the picture! The little crease was a little too defined. So I asked him if he could soften it up a little.

Note: The laugh line on left cheek is more soft.

Still not me, but when compared to the previous picture, this one was a lot better. He lifted the right eye brow, curved the lips, brought laugh lines along the cheeks and in short created an image so very different from the original one!

It was a fun experience. I got to see myself with so many changes! And I'm glad he didn't make me bald! But he did make one last change =) ......

Note: Yes, this is the last of the lot.


Special thanks to Arka, for spending hours of his precious time on this picture. XoXo.



Wednesday, April 2, 2008

All in the mind.

According to wikipedia, Aquaphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of water that can affect about one in fifty people.

I've been aquaphobic for as long as I can remember.

As a kid I had more trouble dealing with it. I blame it on all the shark documentaries I used to watch. This may sound funny, but at the age of four, I used to have trouble drinking coke
(be it in a can, bottle or a glass). Something about the dark color used to disturb me so much that I would get my sister to take the first sip (to make sure there was no shark in it!) and only then would I be confident enough to drink it.

To make bath time a little more exciting, my mom used to fill the tub with water and add bubble bath liquid so that my sister and I could enjoy ourselves. But I would never go near the tub. The bubbles used to make it impossible to see the bottom and hence I was never sure of what was in the water. I always feared that the moment I stepped in, a shark would just pop out and eat me up. Sounds silly, doesn't it?

I'm 20 years old now and though I do not have any trouble with bubble baths
(I find them quite relaxing), I still wont dare to go near a pool. I experience the same uneasy feeling. Though I can see right through the water, I don't trust it enough to jump in. I love going to the beach with friends. Playing volleyball, getting tans, meeting cute guys! Everything except the water! I like looking but I wouldn't ever want to be in the middle of it! So when my friends go swimming, I stay on shore taking pictures or just watching and wondering how they can enjoy being in the water!

I don't know if I'll ever get over this fear. There was a time when I was embarrassed to let my friends know about it. But now that has changed. We all fear something or the other. And everyone I've talked to have the same thing to say about it.

That it's all in the mind.