This post is something I have been wanting to share with you for a very long time… really since immediately after shooting the images for the Green Rider book soundtrack artwork. When I packed up the last costume and drove away from the shoot that late September afternoon, all I wanted to do was to dive into all the incredible images and let you see everything that was created.

But sometimes images (and life) have a mind of their own, and so I’ve been very (im)patiently working towards the day when I could finally write up this post and share with you what I’ve been creating. Without further ado, the very first image for the Green Rider book soundtrack artwork!

 

 

Now, I could just leave it at that, say “here’s the image!” and be off on my merry way, but I really enjoy talking about my process.  So instead, I thought I would walk you through how I took this image from just a picture, to the final creation.

To begin… here is where it all started:

 

 

The first thing I always do with my images is the minor cosmetic fixes, in this case swapping out Dulci’s closed eye and her ear for something that made her look a little more awake and alert. I also removed all the wrinkles from Katie’s uniform so that it would look more form fitting- and therefore more like a member of the His Majesty’s Messenger Service.

Second, there was quite a bit of work I needed to do with the lighting, given the conditions we had to shoot with. The day of the shoot, we had to work in the middle of the day, and so the noonday sun created lighting that was very flat and had a lot of unflattering contrast. That’s not something I typically enjoy working with, as I find it can be a lot harder to get that “fantasy look” I like my images to have. To combat this, I essentially lightened the shadows in the image and darkened the highlights so I had a more even “canvas” to work with.

I also did some minor edits, like removing some of the more distracting branches from the background, and changing the color of Katie’s shirt from black to white.

 

The third thing I did was to add a few of the things we didn’t have in the shot, like the saddle, the saber, and the winged horse brooch. (To be honest, not sure why these things weren’t in the original image, as we had all of these props the day of. Sometimes there are so many pieces to an image, that you can forget things sometimes. Luckily we have photoshop for these situations!)

 

With all of that basic retouching done, I then turned my attention to the color and lighting adjustments. In this next step, I darkened the background, leaving Katie much lighter in order to draw the eye straight to her. In addition, given that the lighting was so flat in the original image, I also added some dimension to Katie and Dulci by painting in extra shadows, mostly on their left side. This provided some direction to the lighting, creating more visual interest.

 

 

With the color adjustments, I pulled back the green and added some reds and yellows to warm the image up. Of course, I make this all sound quick, but this was actually a fairly lengthy process. Attention to details are what really help the image come to life, so in addition to making color adjustments to the overall tone of the image, I made sure to also pay attention to even the most minute of details (like the particular shade of red in her cheeks and the amount of shadow in the horse’s mane). All the details can really add up to create a believable image, so while this process may take time, it is always worth it in the end.

 

 

With the color and the lighting finished, I moved on to my favorite part of photoshopping an image: light painting. This step is really just a matter of painting brighter highlights over the existing highlights, and darker shadows over the existing shadows. This helps to accentuate the subject, while taking the image from a simple photograph to something that looks a little bit more like a painting or a traditional piece of art.

Next, I added a bit of blur to the background with a subtle “zoomed in” effect so that it drew the eye directly to Katie and Dulci in the center of the frame. This also helped to give the image a subtle sense of movement and urgency (rather than giving the impression that the Rider is standing in the middle of the field raising her hand for no reason).

 

 

Which brings me to the next edit… and answers the question, “why is she randomly raising her hand, Madeline?”

 

I’m sure you’ve guessed it…. to use her magical ability! And since magic, unfortunately, doesn’t exist in the real world, this is where photoshop truly helped bring this character to life.

 

The first thing I did was add a magical force field/shield just in front of Katie’s upraised hand. I then added the arrows (and their splintered remains from smacking against her shield).

 

 

Now, a small disclaimer is needed here. You might now be thinking “wait… there definitely IS NOT a character who fits this description with this magical ability in the book! What’s going on here?”

 

 

I know, I know. Alton D’Yer is the Rider with the shielding ability. However, when you’re doing a large scale shoot as big as this one, there are a lot of moving parts: finding the models, finding the horses, making sure the location is set up the way it needs to be, finding a date that works for everyone, creating the costumes, and (most importantly) making sure everyone is fed. The logistics of it all is hard enough for an entire team to keep straight. Now remove the team and have just a couple people doing all this work.

 

Needless to say, for anything that wasn’t absolutely crucial to get 100% literarily correct (such as finding the right horse for Condor, or the right person to play the part of Karigan), we had to work with what we were capable of arranging.

Kristina and I knew we wanted an image of a group of Green Riders, but we decided it didn’t have to be a particular scene from the book. So I took some artistic liberties. The way I see it… there must have been a Rider at some point in time who had this ability before or after Alton D’Yer had it.

So perhaps think of this image as a historical rendering of a long ago Rider (if cameras existed back then)!

 

And now is the time to give credit where credit is due: thank you first and foremost to Kristen, without whom none of this would even exist. I’m sure I speak for every fan when I say (in the only way I can think to describe it)  how grateful I am for the “home” you have created within the pages of this wonderful series. Your stories bring comfort, happiness and relief, and make me feel that even when I’m as far from home as possible, I still have a little bit of it with me whenever I read Karigan’s story.

Also, a thank you is in order for Kristina, both for deciding to pursue your passion in a way that can allow us all to feel more immersed in this world Kristen has created, as well as for allowing me to be a part of this project! It’s been a blast so far, and I can’t wait to see what else lies ahead!

Third, my friend Katie is hugely deserving of mine and all Green Rider fans’ thanks for her help in coordinating the location and the use of all the horses. Regrettably I do not ride and my knowledge of all things horse related is sorely lacking. And while I absolutely love all things horse related, to say I felt completely in over my head when trying to figure out how I would arrange this many horses and the location, was a complete understatement. Even though I was determined to figure it out, when she stepped in and offered to coordinate I felt so much relief. Thank you for taking that off my shoulders and for making this such a wonderful experience.

 

(Of course, now that I’ve admitted my lack of experience, I think I need to start taking riding lessons so I can be a true Green Rider!)

 

Finally, thank you to all the models, the make-up artist, and everyone who contributed their work for these photos. All of the puzzle pieces came together beautifully, thanks to everyone’s hard work and the results have been incredible so far.

 

Now on to the next image!