When all was done i moved to the compositing phase.
Starting from the RGB pass I began to balance the image values and colors, changed the sky and opted for the second ground I rendered before. Since I was unsatisfied by the trees, I decided to add them in the post production phase as well the snow stacks near the windows and at the building base.
Then I added people and the deer in the foreground. The idea of an animal “character” was in my head since the beginning, and the inspiration comes from some photos made by a friend of mine, showing a family of deers that from time to time wander around her house in Stockholm. This particular presence is emphasised, in my work, by the look of the little girl in the midground, staring at the animal with surprise, the only one aware of its appearance.
With all elements at their place and balanced in their values, I applied some atmospheric fog using the inverted ZDepth pass, and finally applied some final color correction using Camera Raw filter and Google Nik Color EFEX.
It was a pleasure to take part of the challenge, as it gave me the chance to try something new as a snow scene, and experiment with SnowFlow plugin as well as Quixel Megascans assets. In fact the most interesting element for me, the snow, was also the one I struggled with the most, and I think I’ll going on tweaking it in the next future, as I want to produce more exterior and interior shots.
I wish to tank Tomorrow and Ronen Bekerman for the chance to compete, and for giving me the opportunity to experiment, pushing my skillset forward.