Antarctica Travels: Gallery Wall

These images are not my own. They belong to Kristi.

Arguably, I had the best of the arrangement: my friend traveled to Antarctica, where she wore the coats, saw the still and majestic wonders, plunged herself intentionally into frigid waters, and camped overnight on pitch-black ice(!). From the second-hand camera we had sourced in preparation, Kristi brought me raw images to edit in the comfort of my home, where I have an assortment of blankets and, oh yeah, a thermostat.

So, what in the world did I do?

First, I combed through and selected images which exuded the most personality, storytelling, and artistry.

Second, I applied crops. This is my favorite part, because I took Kristi’s existing compositions, and highlighted their balance and creativity. The last image here, of penguins on rocks in silhouette, is a good example: I took what was there and cropped in to showcase what I think tells an interesting story.

Third, I applied edits for light exposure, color richness, contrast, sharpness, and “noise” control (to reduce fuzziness, especially in close crops). Where penguins were involved, I reduced highlights and increased texture so we could really see details in those feathers!

Lastly, and this is the most exciting part, I worked with Kristi to configure a 9-foot wide gallery wall for her home! We’ve joked that she’ll be able to reduce her A/C power, because anyone who walks into the room will feel a little cooler. We narrowed down her top-favorite images, configured them for visual balance (Kristi prefers more organic, less rectangular, as an overall impact), and ordered them from a professional lab as high-gloss metal photographs. These “float” off the wall, no frame or protective glass required.

In a very real way, Antarctica will remain close to Kristi. I’m so glad I got to be part of this epic project!