The Northern Lights - Photo Manipulation

by Monica A. Lazar 21:41 1 comentarii crystals ice icebergs North Pole northern lights origami paper boats photo manipulation

"The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound fiery crimson like the fires of Hell, they swung and shimmered loosely with more grace than the most skillful dancer." Philip Pullman - The Golden Compass

My first try of a photo manipulation was what I could call a failure. I tried to vandalize a kitchen having in mind an apocalyptic setting. I found out that I'm not that keen on depicting disasters, so I decided to change the background. As I have always been so fascinated by the Northern Lights (especially because I know there is little chance to actually see them in the foreseeable future), I decided to focus on them in my scene. 

[During one of my holidays, I attended to a photography exhibition hold by students and I remember that one had just came back from Alaska and he took truly majestic photos of the Northern Lights. The thing that really struck me was ]

This is the original photography, taken by Jason Row:



I wanted something simple, that might allow me to play a little more in the scenery. I found this picture very appealing, as the close-up is not different from the background and I could make striking differences.

Every time I am looking for photos with the North Pole, Alaska or Greenland, I expect to see massive shots with Aurora Borealis, which this is not the case. I decided to meet my own expectations by adding some beautiful sky lights. The support picture for that was this one, taken by James Percy:

I selected the most important part of the sky, copied and pasted it on my layer, I reduced its opacity by 25% and chose 'Hard Light' as its blend mode. Eventually, I selected Image>Adjustments >Brightness/Contrast and played with the values until everything seemed alright to me (I especially set a high contrast value, around 90%, I believe). I did the exact same thing with photo's Levels (Image>Adjustments>Levels), as I really wanted to emphasize the sky as much as possible. I came out with this:

I thought that it would be a great idea to keep the mountains in the horizon from the original photo, as they bring some kind of personality to my landscape. I also increased the contrast's value of the original picture, because the discrepancy between it and the sky was way too obvious.

The next step was to bring in some fantasy-like assets. As I have large areas of water, my mind sets on the idea of a boat. It seemed a little too boring at the beginning, but I managed to pull it out of ordinary by putting the boat in a glass bottle. Both of the layers were set to 'Hard Light' in the blend mode. 

Following this concept, some origami written boats were added on the water. The fact that they are written is closely related to the cliche of a message in a bottle, which was replaced with a ship in a bottle. As there was no important note in there, I decided it should be on the origami boats. They were duplicated and suffered a change of perspective (Ctrl+T>Right Click>Perspective) and their layers were also set on 'Hard Light'.

Soon, the need for something that would be in harmony with the lights and glass was needed. It should have been a perfect asset to the concept and have had a glossy surface. My first thought was about crystals, as they could also emphasize the idea of fantasy, of a hidden place that only the most adventurous of us could find (taking into account that there are on crystals on the surface of the Earth, they need to be dug for). It was a real struggle to find something that fits in, but the result comforts me.

 The final touch was the addition of two polar bears on the iceberg on the right side. They add a touch of life in the whole scenery and I managed not to make them capture the eye, as the intention is to focus on the Northern Lights. At first, I intended to add some polar bears from The Golden Compass film because they still remain one of the most stunning creatures I have seen, but their armor is based on golden tones and they would have come in the spotlight, as I focused on blue and silvery tones...but I guess regular polar bears make a good asset too!


As a little comparison, I end this post with both the initial photo and the manipulation:

P.S: I really really really enjoyed this! :D
P.P.S: Sorry for not posting this earlier!