This image just shows the power of modern AI processing tools. This was shot in a large dog pool in my backyard. We had a light on a boom directly behind the model to create the backlit effect on the dress while the key light is a 72" Octabox. We also had a ton of flagging set up control sunlight. (Which was a giant nightmare because the day was windier than I would have liked)
The rest was composited using Photoshop. In the past adding a model into a stock image of a mountain range like this really wouldn't have been very hard so long as you can find a mountain range taken at the right angle with the right focal length but blending the flowing submerged dress into that shot in a realistic way while keeping the caustic reflections realistic would be an utter nightmare. I'd have spent days on it for a worse result. These days gen fill helps me build those transitions quickly and super accurately.
PS: Yes, I know the sword is the Witch King's from Lord of the Rings. ;) All I had lying around the studio was it and Sting.
When you just happen to have a few swords lying around ...you gotta use them
Exactly! ;) Its funny, that sword was a present when I was like 16 from my parents just because I loved Lord of the Rings so much and here we are more than 20 years later and it has shown up in more than a few of my shoots. ;)