Using ICM and multiple exposure photography to recreate a Van Gogh masterpiece.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved and been inspired by Van Gogh’s work. The impressionistic style has influenced my photography in the last seven years, emerging in my Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) work. Moving the camera whilst making the image adds movement to the static photos, much like Van Gogh and his compatriots did with their paint brushes onto canvas.
Whilst I love ICM for the opportunities it offers me to create something unique, something that resembles what I see and feel from a location, I am also just a bit envious that painters get to see, imagine, and then add elements in that maybe don’t even exist (only in their imagination) to create the masterpiece that represents their interpretation of a location.
It was with much excitement that this year’s family holiday was to Provence. A bit of digging led me to Arles as the location of Van Gogh’s famed ‘Starry Night over the Rhone’. So, of course, I booked a night, in the hope of exploring the city and some of the locations of his paintings.
This is a screenshot of Van Gogh's painting - available to view in Paris. For more info on the painting, check out this link
The really tricky bit of going to a location that is famous, or that you have seen depicted in photos or paintings that you love, is how to put your own stamp on it, rather than looking as if you are copying. Whether you are inspired by another artist or photographer, it’s always easy to think you need to make your image look similar for it to stand up to its inspiring counterpart.
So, imagine my luck when it was drizzling and there was not a star in the sky! When I arrived at the location, there wasn’t even a light reflection either! The wind was blowing, and it all looked flat and grey (sad emoji) It took some patience, determination and hope that it would all come good! And it did!
As night fell, the blue colour developed, still no stars, but the lights came on, the wind dropped and the reflections appeared. I knew that a straight photo would not make this image, so I started moving the camera with ICM movements to try and add some movement and shimmering to the lights.
Below are some examples of how ICM can add some beautiful detail to the reflections, depending on the direction of movement. A sideways movement on the left and a vertical movement on the right. I made the first two of the lights from a pier behind me up the river, at the same time as I was making the wider shots. The second two are zoomed-in shots of the images I eventually used to create the end image.
It was really tricky to create the light detail without turning the landscape to mush. So, I quickly realised that I would combine ICM images and add a sharp one to realise what I wanted to create.
Below you see the two ICM images I used, which offered varied light movement and detail, which when combined, added interest and detail. As you can see, there was no detail in the buildings, and the images were very dark. So, I also made a sharp image and increased the exposure in post-production before combining.
The end result 'No stars shine over the Rhone on a damp night' below. After layering these three above images in Photoshop, and adjusting the temperature and hue of the sky and water, I was delighted with my end image. My own personal interpretation of the location, and the setting of a very special painting.
‘No stars shine over the Rhone on a damp night’
Although I was happy with my end result, I wondered if I could create a starry night in some way! I like to work with my own images at all times. I’m not an early adopter of AI! I also have very limited Photoshop skills! All these things set aside, I did have an idea. It just so happened that our holiday home was in a very rural area. One night when we were sitting out on the deck, I set up my tripod and made a few photos of the night sky above us. It’s fair to say I’d had a few glasses of wine (I was on holiday) so rather a lot weren’t in focus….but a few were! I decided to play with one of the star sky images in a couple of different ways.
The first thing I did was to run the night sky image through Topaz Impression with the Van Gogh setting for some unique and fitting results.
I loved the way the stars became daubs of paint. I overlaid the image onto the image above, then used a mask to remove the paint daubs from areas I felt were too dominant. I liked the result, and the image that is the header for this blog post is the end image I created from this process.
However, I was now into the swing of playing and decided to see what might happen if I created a start trails effect in the sky above the water. I did this in Photoshop, by using the blur filters, then once again laying them over the image I was already happy with. The result was another completely different version, and I rather like this one as well.
I spent rather a few too many happy hours playing with this creative process, but I enjoyed it immensely and I hope you enjoy the look behind the scenes of the way I work and experiment.
Which is your favourite?
During my trip to Provence, I indulged in a bit of lavender photography. I fell in love with this area of France and can't wait to go back again in 2025, when I lead a Light and Land tour there. Here is a link to my lavender photography blog.
