whats

inside

Nick Pedersen

The Forest of Thorns

By Jared Smith

All PHOTOs COPYRIGHT NICk PedeRseN

Nick Pedersens The Forest of Thorns is only one of dozens of stunning images from his book-length series Sumeru, and its a great example with which to demonstrate his art-making process. The image is also rich in symbolism, conveying another stage in the truth-seekers search for understanding, and it holds great meaning for Pedersen: The forest of trees as well as the herd of deer are used in [Buddhist] literature to represent the monastery or a group of Zen practitioners. Due to the complexity of the composition and the intricate details involved, The Forest of Thorns was one of Pedersens most difficult images. Warning: this type of work is not for the impatient or unfocused. He began the process like always, compositing raw materials into a single HDR image in Photoshop. By using the Photomatix Tone-Mapping plug-in filter, he was able to have total control over the blending of the layers, and with the Imagenomic Noiseware plug-in, he reduced noise, improving the overall quality of the piece. The next phase involved compositing other photographs in Photoshop, arranging the landscape piece by piece to imbue it with the desired illustrative look. After determining the basic scene and composition, Pedersen prefers to work from the background to the foreground. This time, the background of gray, deciduous trees came from his own backyardthe Brooklyn botanic gardenand the grass was added bit by bit. The dark mid- and foreground trunks were photographed individually and added to the scene one at a time. The pen tool was essential for making selections to cut out elements and merge them seamlessly, he says. Another plug-in filter that

was very useful for resizing elements so they fit into the imagery without a loss in quality was Genuine Fractals. When he reaches the mid-ground Pedersen typically places the light source. Here, its as if a white light, refracted through the morning fog, is creeping down toward the forest floor from an opening in the trees. Photoshops soft light mode helped achieve this effect, while special light elementslightning, stars, fireflieswere rendered using Autodesk Maya. Once the landscape had been painstakingly composed, Pedersen turned his attention toward the characters and details. The deer in The Forest of Thorns are eerily still, and thats because they came from the Museum of Natural History, where leaping and darting is frowned upon. Lastly, the truth seeker was photographed in the studio using two strobe lights with softboxes, set up to match the lighting in each scene. To account for the many different types of lighting in his source material, Pedersen used the Topaz Adjust plug-in filter. Finally, details such as the leaves and grass were added and embellished using the Multiply and Screen blend modes in Photoshop. The forest canopy in this image provides a natural vignetting, which quiets the scene and gives it an air of solemn dignity. Because without a place of solace for reflection, how could one ever comprehend the secrets of the universe?
Jared Smith is the former Senior Editor for Rangefinder and AfterCapture magazines. He is an editorial associate for the los Angeles Review of Books and is currently pursuing a masters and doctorate in English literature.

Reproduction with permission from the After Capture October/November 2011 issue.