I love atomic fireballs. I love that burning sensation of cinnamon. Inevitably you have to take them out of your mouth unless you’re a total sadomasochist. That little break lets you recover from the burn for a few seconds before taking the plunge again. During one of these breaks, I noticed the red had faded a little and as I squinted to thought “kinda looks like Mars…” Then it hit me: it will be Mars. Rather it will be made to look similar to it, at least.
First I removed some of the red with some water and let it dry. I then photographed it with the lighting I wanted:
After that, I took it into Photoshop and got to work. Removed the background. Feathered the edge slightly. Added a “haze” to simulate the atmosphere. Also added an “ice cap”. Granted anyone that is familiar with the topography of Mars will immediately see right through this. The idea was that it would have the look of an Earth-based large telescope. I’m almost sure I could post this on the internet and pass it off as Mars for quite some time. That is until Neil DeGrasse Tyson eventually called me out on it. 😉
Total project time was maybe half an hour. It was just for fun and to see if it would work. It worked out pretty well I think.
