Skills for Creating Composite Imagery ~ Blog
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” ~ Carl Sagan
Creative freedom!
Creative freedom is one of the benefits of composite imagery. Combining elements from old photos that will normally not see the light of day, finding a stock photo of a magical location, putting your subject in a location you could never travel to, or even creating places or creatures that don’t exist, is possible with composite photography. Creating composite images can be a slow journey at first. When you start to experiment, you will realise the amount of attention this process needs to make the image successful, like anything you have to play and practice, practice.
Have you wanted to try creating composite images? But not sure where/how to start? If you are wanting to learn the BASIC PHOTOSHOP SKILLS have a look at my Composites Basics Bundle Tutorials where I demonstrate the main skills to start the Composite Journey - Selections, Masking, Cutting Out, Colour Matching Elements, Blending elements and adding Light and Shadows.
Here are 3 KEY TIPS to get you started for your first or next composite image, remember to have fun on the journey.
It starts with an idea
In composite imagery, having a concept is a start, and you are only limited by what your mind can think of. The hardest thing will be managing what you have in your head and translating it to an image and your skillset in Photoshop (or other programs that you can create composites with). “Imagination vs Skillset” is the biggest hurdle when creating composites.
The easiest way to do this is to separate your vision into a few categories:
◼ the background
◼ the subject
◼ the extras
◼ the atmosphere
The most important things to think about before you start are the subject and the background.
Most of the time I choose my background first either a Landscape or a Digital Texture (Fine Art Texture) other times I will have an element in mind I want to use, so I have to find the right background to use.
Once you have your idea, you can build in other things that add to this idea. (Watch Me Edit Tutorials to see how I create some of my composite work)
Choose your elements
Collecting photos for a composite is not as simple as choosing the best photographs. There are a few things you need to take into consideration:
File Sizes and Resolution
Make sure that the background is big enough to zoom into the picture and work on the elements inside without the image pixelating.
This also goes for the subject image you are choosing. Can it be scaled up to fit in the background without it pixelating? Particularly if you are printing your image.
Perspective
Perspective is an important consideration in making a composite image. For instance, if you’re photographing someone as if they have shrunk into the palm of a hand, you will most likely be looking down on them. So get up on a ladder or shoot out of a window to try and mimic this angle.
When sourcing images, you will want to ensure that all the elements are taken with a similar perspective. The further the element is away the smaller and hazier it will look in real life, the closer the bigger.
Lighting
Lighting is the one of the common ways that you will be able to spot a “composite image”. Being careful in determining the direction of light you use in your composite photography will help the finished image. Of course, you will be able to get away with lighting not being 100% perfect or you can add light using various techniques in Photoshop.
The beginner mistake is choosing elements that have different lighting angles, brightness etc. I know I did! I never considered lighting, it was more about choosing the elements that I liked or thought would go together. Never picked it up when I was creating the image. Lesson learnt for the future.
Build up your skills
Simple composite images are a great way to start your Composite Journey and that way you can build up your Photoshop Skills.
Start with an achievable idea, such as the lavender field image. I was lucky to photograph the lavender rows with the sunrise sky in this stunning colour, all I did was add 2 elements, I had to work on colour grading and blending elements and it was a learning curve. But it was a simple composite image to practice and learn from.
The more you create, play and experiment you gradually build up your confidence and skillset in Photoshop.
That magic moment comes together when you can let your imagination lead you in the direction you want, as you have worked on your skills.
Begin your journey into the world of composites with the Composites Basic Bundle Photoshop Videos and acquire the skills you need. With four videos included, you'll be taken from novice to expert in no time, learning how to create a basic composite image using Photoshop. In addition to sharing my personal techniques, I'll also walk you through my thought process and the key concepts behind composite creation. Best of all, you can learn at your own pace!
