Digital Manipulation

Each MTSU Research Magazine cover contains an “Easter egg.” The outline of the state of Tennessee worked into the image.

Disclaimer: The images of the grapes, swallowtail butterfly, and bee below are stock photography and not my original work. These are included only to showcase the digital manipulation techniques.

Slide left and right on the image to see the original and edited versions.

This edition went to press with an alternate cover option.

For Love of the Game

“Void Winnower” by artist Chase Stone
Trademark and Copyright: Wizards of the Coast

I combined my own photograph of the Great Smoky Mountains with Stone’s art, which is featured on this Magic: The Gathering Card, to create the composite below.

For love of the game, not for commercial use.

An Eldrazi taking a stroll through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cosby, TN Photograph by Darby Campbell-Firkus, Art by Chase Stone

Time Travel

Inspired by the opening sequence of the “What We Do in the Shadows” television series, I created a series of images featuring my husband and me traveling through time. Who wouldn’t want to witness the first flights at Kitty Hawk or check out Woodstock?

All of the ones included here were created using Photoshop without the aid of AI. I then printed, aged, and painted images to resemble historic processes.

Andy Warhol, *Ed Wallowitch*, 1958, Polaroid Type 42, 4 ¼ × 3 ¼ inches (10.8 × 8.3 cm), The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh

*Andy Campbell-Firkus*, Santa Cruz, California, 2019

The series also included a few images that combined digital manipulation in Photoshop, some AI-generated imagery, painting, and other physical aging processes.