"Cactus head" [Week 9 - image manipulation] iPhone photography, edited in Photoshop. Took separate photos of my face, hand, and the potted succulent. I then used the quick selection and lasso tools to isolate each object, changed the brightness, contrast, and saturation, and used the spot healing brush tool and clone stamp to edit the face. I used a picture of the water at the beach as the background to create a subtle texture. I don't really know where the idea for this image came from - it just popped into my head. I was interested in images which remove or isolate objects, and I liked the idea of something unexpected coming out of a person's head. I also thought this would represent my world well since sometimes it's almost as if I do have a plant for a head, instead of a brain, and it represents my more quirky side. Originally the image only included the face, plant, and background, but I later added the hand so that the head wasn't aimlessly floating, and because I liked how it added to the pot plant image. I also added the cityscape to make it look more surreal, and also to link it more with the theme of 'my own world', since the picture was taken from my house. Since I didn't have a model, I was forced to take selfies on my iPhone camera. I tried using the self timer on a DSLR but it proved too difficult to get exactly what I wanted without seeing the images as they were being taken, since I had a very clear image of what I wanted in my head. I think that the iPhone photos turned out high enough quality though. Another challenge was trying to make the fingers seem as if they were gripping the face. I think in this respect it could be improved - I think the thumb has the best realistic quality. Overall, I really like the aesthetic of this image, and I'm happy with how clearly it looks as if the head is a pot plant. #oneperday2017