Photomanipulation is any process in which we use traditional or digital tools to transform an original photograph. Even adjusting color balance and contrast may be considered photomanipulation, but serious photomanips are actually works where one combines few images into a composite. We manipulate images to get results we cannot get in real life. Results of heavy manipulations may be your friend’s head on a body of a famous model, or a creepy creature from fantasy stories, fairies, Pegasus, Minotaur… anything you can imagine.
In order to create quality photomanipulations, you should be familiar with all the skills required for making blends http://www.lombergar.com/tutorials/blending_your_own_cd_cover.html. But, those will not be enough — you will rarely find just the photo you are looking for and probably you will have to recreate some pieces.
I must note that this is not a complete “how to” guide, for there is a lot more for me to learn, but I will show you how I do it with the knowledge I currently have.
Theme
Does this sound familiar? It should. You cannot create anything without knowing at least what you want to accomplish. Sometimes you’ll go for one theme and then in the middle turn in a completely different direction — it’s perfectly okay, but you must have a direction at all times. You may experiment, sometimes it can give good results, but it does not work for all people. Turn on your music player. Get some chocholate, cookies or snacks, and plenty of drink. Sit comfortably, for you will probably stay in this position for hours. Now let your mind work.
