Wild Soul

For the eyes, are the windows of the soul...

This is, to put it mildly, a masterpiece. It is as perfect a personification as I can imagine of the spirit of the arctic wilderness that lies in the heart of any animal who dwells or is descended from dwellers of the great North. The symbolism of the northern lights and the lonely trees is fantastic.

However, this is only the surface. We have the "frame within a frame" technique going on here and it is an example of how it should be done. Yes, I realize this was created with Photoshop but there is absolutely no sign of it to spoil the view. A lot of effort must have gone into this to get these kind of results.

The framing device for the northern lights is superb - enough of the face is shown to indicate a gaze focused far-away and yet deep within at the same time. The reflection is not overdone and blends in seamlessly with the whole.

The absolute detail of the eyes and the individual hairs is another nice touch. Here we have the balance between the distance of the vision and the nearness of the subject. The narrow depth of field only adds to this. The eye of the viewer is drawn to the center, as it should be, but it doesn't make it an unstable experience.

The colors are well employed. I do not know if the color of the animal fur and body is the original or in monochrome (I suspect it is the original). It makes a very good balance with the subtle shadings in the inner photo.

All in all, as I stated before, an awesome piece of work.