Just loaded up gimp and started playing around, slowly this design emerged. I like it but there just seems something not quite right that I can't put my finger on at the moment, Any ideas much appreciated.



After some good suggestions here is my new version

Beautiful work he4rty.

Wow; hints? Cool stuff he4rty.

Wow very pretttttty!!!

I think the problem lies in the text and Ubuntu logo.

They blend in too much, I'd try and arrange it different, or maybe make sth on the black part.
Not sure exactly how to make it better it's just an idea. :>

Cool!

I think for more realistic northern lights, though, the blurry part should be a bit longer, and the front a bit blurrier.

im getting a wow-effect as well

very nice, he4rty !

They may not look like realistic northern lights, but that doesn't make it less pretty! Very beautiful he4rty!
I agree with mokonafan about the text&logo though

Thanks for the Lovely comments, have played around some more (see first post).

As to some hints, I'll try and get the enthusiasm to create a paired down tutorial.

he4rty: it's lovely!!! but to be honest i don't like the reworked one at all. the first one is like a party, it looks magical. the colours died when they were blurred together and i understand the issue of readability but i think the text looks a bit glued on now - in the first picture it looked more like an integrated part of the composition.
but of course, tastes differ and so do people's impressions of the northern light .

I like them both, but I think the first one has the edge.
I may be reading this wrong but I see the black on the bottom of the image as a mountain range or the slope of hills, so from a personal point of view I think the lights should be bleeding over the tops of the hills/mountains. The cut of from the lights looks to abrupt. A gentle cascade of the lights over the foreground before fading into the black would look more realistic.
Nothing more than my opinion.

I like the new one too!
It's much easier to see the logo/text.
I do think some reflecting lights would be nice on the black, but that's a matter of taste.

Nice work!

Again thanks for all your comments, I do like both in different ways. As to the light on the mountains, most pictures I viewed didn't seem to show any light reflection on the silouhettes, so thats why its the way it is.

Beautiful!
I would like to know something about the technique you used