Creating a Conceptual Photo of the Full Moon Getting Swapped In
Conceptual photographer Erik Johansson created this beautiful and surreal image titled “Full Moon Service,” showing a couple of workers swapping in a full moon to maintain the lunar phases. Johansson has also released a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the project was done, from concept to final shot.
The project was done in the late summer of 2016. It all started with a sketch of what Johansson wanted to create.
After creating many of the props used in the shoot (e.g. spray painting a black moon symbol onto one of the worker’s hats), Johansson brought a number of rice paper lamps, light bulbs, an electric generator, a van, and two models out into a field in Sweden.
Johansson shot the base photos using a Hasselblad H6D-50c and did his composite work in Photoshop CC 2017. Every part of the scene except for the free moon textures was shot and retouched by Johansson.
Last year we shared a photo of his that required 17 square meters of mirrors to create. You can find more of Johansson’s work on his website. You can also find a large collection of his work and behind-the-scenes videos here.
