houses of Svalbard

[Nancy Bell]

I recently returned from a fabulous adventure on a boat heading north of Norway to the pack ice for polar bears and walrus. It is the first time "tourists" have been taken this far north in the winter and it took a year for the company to get special permission from the Norwegian Government. We started from the small far northern community of Longyearbyen on the island of Svalbard in the Spitzbergen Archipelago. Truthfully I have no idea why people would live this far north, plus very far removed from the mainland of Norway. Here is a row of colorful houses in an otherwise black and white landscape of snow and gravel.

A layer of buz sim from Topaz Simplify, a layer of Fractalius, and a texture; all at reduced opacities and PS tweaks.

[Nancy Bell]

Not sure how I posted this twice. But I "closed" the thread to the first one so we don't have folks posting on one image or the other. This is the "real" one!

[Rachel Hollander]

Nancy - I took care of deleting the other thread for you. Nice look at those houses and I like the treatment here. Did you see much wildlife this time of year? If so, I hope you'll share some over in Wildlife.

TFS,
Rachel

[Dennis Bishop]

Well, I've given up trying to find the right superlative. This is good on so many fronts. You took these from a great perspective and somehow managed to get all the roof peaks lined up. Those colors against the background are wonderful. I love the combination of horizontals and verticals with all the curves in the snow and sky. The texture you used is perfect for this.

Which version of Fractalius did you use? (I've been frustrated that I haven't been able to duplicate in the new 16-bit versions what I'm able to do in the older 8-bit one.)

[Hazel Grant]

Who would think that such bare buildings in such a barren land could be so beautiful? The verticals of the wood, the colors , stand out against that snow so well. Like you, I can't understand why people would live so far north but I guess it if it's all you know, then it's ok. And so it is home. You've made home beautiful. the only critique I'd make is that it's too bad you couldn't have some bare snow on the right to match the left, but then Im a structural person, so centered is probably not what you were going for.

[Steve Kaluski]

Truthfully I have no idea why people would live this far north

Did you not see & read about the mining??? I trust you went to the fabulous new museum Nancy?

Nice graphic image.

[Anita Bower]

Great graphic image! Wonderful colors. Love the repetition. Excellent composition. Love the sameness of the structures, roofs, chimneys. As Dennis wrote, good job lining up the rooftops, but creating a diagonal with the houses themselves. Beautiful sculptural look to the snow in front. The lines of the sky/snow texture clash a bit with the stark graphic look of the house and the snowbank. Excellent work.

[Nancy Bell]

Anita, you thoughts echo mine on the texture I used. I really couldn't find exactly what I wanted but I didn't want the gravel slopes showing behind the houses.
Steve, yes I did know & see the mining stuff, but it has been scaled way back. Now it seems that tourism, lots of snowmobile stuff, is the main event there. There is a terrific coffee house/restaurant, "Fruene", up there. I still would not live that far north!
Hazel, there was no snow to the right of these houses, just a pile of junk.
Dennis, I don't care for the newer versions of Fractalius either. I use an older version. Not sure which anymore. I really liked the original one but lost it when transferring computers some time in the past.
Rachel, thank you so much for deleting the duplicate post for me. I did see polar bears and walrus and will be over to Wildlife soon! Thanks for asking.

[Anita Bower]

Sometimes I have the same issue--wanting to hide something in the image but not finding exactly the right texture.

[Judy Howle]

This is a stunning image. The colors really give it a great graphic look. I absolutely love it! Amazing how they all line up. Nice work on the textures!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Nancy, this is so cool - it reminds me of a box of Crayons I love the graphic look and the bit of fractalius. I kept PS5 on my computer so I can use the old version of Fractalius - I don't care so much for the newer version. But then, I forget it's there and forget to use it - I love tweaking the settings especially for architectural images. You've inspired me to remember to use it again.

[Mitch Carucci]

A wow image. A row of candy cottages! Sounds light a fantastic trip. Hope you write more about it.

[Wendy Kates]

Nancy, this is a fantastic image. The colors and repetition of the elements of the image are both totally compelling. You positioned yourself perfectly to take this photo...did you have to wade through several feet of snow to do so? The texture complements the image well. Just excellent, and very inspiring!