Discovering Denial: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Nicholas Coleman (2015)

One of the biggest aspects of my photo is the background I used. The reason I why I chose the flowers, was to put emphasis on the meditation in my concept statement. This contrasting with the fire burning the incense, created a barrier and made the theme of denial even more visible. I shot with the angle I chose in order to create symmetry with the triangle created by the incense and stand, and the ledge it was placed on. I chose to make use of outdoor lighting to give the piece a mellow feeling interrupted by the flame. All of these in conjunction create the emotion of denial, within the tranquility of meditation.

I learned the ins and out of Photoshop while working on this project. The most important tool I learned was the pen tool, which was crucial to me making selections in not only Photoshop, but many Adobe applications. I specifically edited the moon and stars on the incense stand, because without it, I felt the meditation aspect of my photo was lacking.