This small bridge really added to the tranquil atmosphere of the Japanese garden. I loved how the late afternoon sun started casting all of these shadows across the walkway and I knew I had to capture this view. I decided to make it even more dramatic and added in some contrasting hues effect. This created a scene that was even more magical and enchanting. The pastel aqua, turquoise and purple colors started coming to life.
The skyscrapers, water, hills, and bridges start to show their true colors.
I decided to capture a closeup view of this building to really capture the magnificent, contemporary composition.
The crystal clear waters of the lake makes for stunning reflections of the trees, sky colors, and more. Every picture, every hour, you get a completely different take of this!
The darkness of the interior and the effervescent digital art creations flowing through the room creates an amazing contrast, really allowing the colors to pop.
I love this view of the waves crashing into the shore in the later afternoon, where you see the sunlight directly reflecting on the water, creating these cool textures and effects, making it look 3D almost.
I wanted to give this a soft, pastel feel where it feels light and airy like summer and in the comforting light turquoise and pinkish beige hues, so I adjusted the colors a bit giving it a more warmer tone.
I really liked how this image looked and was amazed by the texture and the variety of hues within all the green--so I decided to alter the image a bit giving it a more green-blue glow and adding some light purple colors to the sky. It has this nice glow in the dark look and feel while still letting the specific parts of the mountain park stand out on its own.
A completely different vibe in Chinatown when you compare day vs night. As the sun begins to set, the lights in the buildings and the lanterns slowly turn on, glowing across all the streets on the touristy, ever-famous Grant Ave.
Stepping in, you enter into a dark room and are immediately immersed into this bright, exotic world of abstract art, flowers, butterflies, crows, fishes, and flashes of light transforming every single second, creating moments that cannot be replicated. Visitors get to interact with the digital art directly and also influence it through their actions, creating a truly interactive, immersive experience.
I particularly loved this magnificent pergola walkway. Captured from this angle, you get glimpses of the amphitheater garden, colorful roses from afar, snapshots of the trees + sky in the background, and the design of the pergola (including its sharp, clear shadows.)
We went on a sunny stroll through parts of the Golden Gate Park, eventually stumbling upon Lily Pond.
From afar, the water looks quite murky, but from an artistic perspective, the details in the water here sort of reminds me of a Van Gogh painting, especially when you compare it to the textures and patterns of the water reflections.
I decided to make this into a vertical photo to try something new and unique and give the palm trees a chance to shine on their own (with an added turquoise hue filter).
The beauty of this structure really shines through, from the architectural design of the building to the glass skylight in the atrium.
Once the wind calmed down, I managed to quickly capture this shot--a batch of sakura cherry blossom flowers all bundled up together!
I loved looking down from the hill into the city head on--seeing the houses, parks, and countless amount of trees across different spans of neighborhoods. The shadows coming from the mid-afternoon sun on the rocks was an extra bonus perk!
As always, I love Little Twin Stars and am obsessed with their pastel colors, gradient backgrounds, and celestial stars and moon artwork. I was inspired recently to create imagery around this. I made the moon the main focus point for this and sprinkled stars and sparkle effects throughout the background.
In general, to keep images from looking too 2D or falling flat, I like to add in other effects to bring in some type of texture to the backgrounds, especially after adding in a gradient. For this piece, after adding in the pink to blue gradient in the background (with mixes of pastels and brights), I also used a couple special effects to include other types of patterns to it.
This building worked wonders from this angle - I love how the glass looked, right next to the water and the ocean colors surrounding it in all directions.