Artifact Photography – Photoshop Deathmatch

I’m trying to fix some photos for an upcoming publication, and one of the most crucial photos, that of a clear glass “blade,” was photographed…let’s just say non-optimally.

I worked with the photo, but I just couldn’t make it come out very well.  Lots of the detail is lost, the jpg compression is bad, etc.  So I enlisted a few of my friends to help.

One of them went for a cut-out approach, but I think that it looks like the blade isn’t clear, so it’s confusing.

This one manages to get a lot of the detail that I missed, but it’s still really hard to see.

Jesse, my graphic designer friend, wins.  I guess it pays to leave some things to the professionals!

Author: colleenmorgan

Dr. Colleen Morgan (ORCID 0000-0001-6907-5535) is the Lecturer in Digital Archaeology and Heritage in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. She conducts research on digital media and archaeology, with a special focus on embodiment, avatars, genetics and bioarchaeology. She is interested in building archaeological narratives with emerging technology, including photography, video, mobile and locative devices. Through archaeological making she explores past lifeways and our current understanding of heritage, especially regarding issues of authority, authenticity, and identity. View all posts by colleenmorgan