Deep Blue Skies at Dawn: The Magic of Fairbanks

Otherworldly magic. Nature is truly beautiful when you venture away from the city lights.

On a super clear, freezing day, we ventured outside and had to capture this view of the igloos at dawn, marveling at the stark beauty surrounding us.

Tropical Paradise: Shining, Dancing Colors on Leaves

Conservatory of Flowers Night Bloom Part IV: One of the coolest light exhibits ever...on plants!

Had to take a close up photo of these super cool green leaves. The sparkly colors shine so brightly on these, and it looks like a million magnificent lights from afar.

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Enchanting Night Dreams: Sparkly Trees In the Light

Conservatory of Flowers Night Bloom Part III: Such cool plants all lit up with vibrant colors that look like fancy fans from far away. So dreamy, colorful, sparkly and magical that serves as inspiration forever.

Glimmering Green-Blue Sparkles and Enchanted Tree Imagery

Conservatory of Flowers Night Bloom Part I: Enchanting colors.

Went to Conservatory of Flower's Night Bloom event and it was spectacular seeing all of the beautiful plants in an entirely different light. Set with colorful lights all over the conservatory, rooms with wide-ranging temperatures, and calming, enchanting music playing in the background, we felt like we were in a whole new world with a new perspective on...everything.

I loved the effects in the various rooms and decided to lighten this image a little more, enhancing the glow and adding a soft mixture of pastel blue-green sparkles sprinkled throughout the backdrop for a more otherworldly, mystical feel.

Magic Star Dust: Aurora and Fireflies Imagery

Fireflies Imagery Part III: A mashup of past work with aurora, stars, mountains, and fireflies all mixed together.

I looked back at my previous multimedia projects and was inspired to create one with all of the unique elements merged together. First, I chose two mountain photos and then began designing the background with a mix of a blue-green gradient. Then, I mixed in pink and white hues to the sky and sprinkled star dust all over (with a slight blur effect) to give it a nice night-time glow and a subtle aurora vibe. After adding in the fireflies art and some human aspect to the photo, I enhanced the brightness, saturation, and contrast to make the image even more striking and intriguing.

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Radiating Light and Sunset Colored Clouds Imagery

We all need a little extra light in our lives.

While flying for a couple hours, I watched the sunny afternoon sky slowly transition into sunset and then darkness as we jumped through different time zones.

When I looked outside the plane, I noticed the clear, yellow-orange sunset and soft clouds across the sky and had to capture it immediately. It resembled the colors and natural aspects of the anime Your Name. Your Name has some of the best visual imagery of clouds and streams of radiating lights and I was inspired to use those same colorful effects here. While creating this image, I used the sunset photo as the backdrop and added in various layers to show streams of light (inspired by Perfume's Tokyo Girl MV), sunlight, clouds, sparkles and other reflections. I also added in some human aspects to this by having multiple versions of myself stepping on clouds and creating sharp reflections on the clouds.

Enchanting Night Imagery: Glowing Fireflies Light Effect

Fireflies Imagery Part II: The dream: walking into a beautiful garden with glowing firefly lights along with jewel-toned colored plants and trees surrounding the area.

Nights like these are so rare...and often cannot be seen in city-like spaces. I decided to create my own magical, endearing scene to capture that moment. I darkened this garden, enhanced the contrast, hue and saturation and made other color adjustments to give the bright glow-in-the-dark look. I added in some firefly lights in the near distance to further elevate the fascinating scene.

The Magical Tree: The Secrets of Enlightenment

Future's Past art sculpture image Part II: This art display created by Kate Raudenbush at Patricia Green Park is filled with intricacies inside and out, starting with a defining auburn-colored bodhi tree at the top. Special twist? This exceptional pyramid also glows at night (with a glow-in-the-dark green color) and can be seen far into the distance.

Entrancing Streams of Cascading Lights

Cascading Lights Part I: Thousands and thousands of cascading lights stream down from the ceiling at the Hyatt Regency Hotel during the holidays, creating a dazzling, glorious view awed by locals and visitors alike. Riding the elevator up and down gives extra perspective into these streams of lights....including a hint at how these were put together!

The Star Wand Sparkles Effect

I've had this wand for the longest time and was inspired to create a layout filled with some sun-flare and sparkles on top of a blue-green and bold orange gradient background.