Composite Photography: What to Know & How to Nail It

Artistic composite photography

For all the artists out there, this is your moment to shine. Composite photography allows artists to craft an image rather than simply capture what is before them.

Stitching together multiple images, we can create all sorts of fantastical scenes, from a little girl having a conversation with three of herself, to all the hours of a day stretched across the canvas to a swan swimming in a teacup.

The possibilities are as endless as your imagination. 

How to do it, in a word

Start with the photo that will serve as the background of the final image. Then add new layers for each element you want in the photo — from people to animals, to locomotives, and beyond. Using the Magic Wand tool, draw a selection around the element. 

Click on the “Mask” button below, and remove the background from the element you are adding by painting the mask square white. Next, click the “Mask” button below the layers, or put the selection onto a new layer.

By choosing a Layer Mask, you can add or delete parts of the original photo by coloring the mask layer. White to reveal and black to hide. 

How to do it, with more nuance

Begin with a plan for the image. Sketch it on paper if you can — it needn’t be more than a quick outline. Will the image take place indoors, at night, in a city park, on the moon?

Consider how the lighting will play across the scene, and keep this in mind when photographing the other elements you will introduce to the image to ensure it looks as realistic as possible. 

Create a mood board to help plan

Utilizing a mood board can be a great way to help build ideas for your image, including color schemes, textures, perspectives, and other details you may want to include. Putting them all in one place will make it easier to see what works and what you want to change. You can also use this moment to gather important references.

For example, if you’re planning a wintery morning scene, find real images of the snow in the morning light, to see how the light plays on the snow, what the texture is like, etc. 

Create a narrative

The more you work with an image, the more you will naturally start to build a narrative around the characters in the scene, and this will add enormous depth to your final photo. If there is a girl holding a balloon, out of which is bursting an eagle, for example, then how did the girl get the balloon?

Was she expecting the eagle? What is her reaction? Does the eagle have wings fully out-stretched, or are they still unfurling? What time of day is it? Why is that significant? Did the girl steal the balloon from a witch? Is the witch watching? All of these sorts of questions will help you build a compelling image. 

Tweak your sketch

With so much work having gone into your image at this point, you’ve probably come up with some new ideas. This is the moment to adjust your initial sketch or maybe even draw a new one entirely.

Get a good idea of how you’ll be bringing each element to life, and now it’s time to get started! 

Shoot on a green screen

Shooting on a green screen is one of the easiest ways to ensure you’ll have no trouble cutting out your subject matter.

After all, that’s what it’s for! Especially if your image is featured around a low-contrast background, this will ensure that no details are lost.

Get shooting

With each element carefully planned, it’s time to go into the studio — or wherever you’ll be working — and begin creating your photograph.

Composite photography is all about faking real life and affords incredible ability to experiment and play, creating unbelievable collage images that defy reality. 

Use the ‘Mask Tool’

As we mentioned before, the Mask Tool is your best friend for composite photography. The advantage of using masks is that you can go back later and reveal more of the image or erase them as you desire. You can also adjust the opacity of a mask, refine the borders, or invert the mask as you see fit.

In fact, a full tutorial on Mask Layers could keep us occupied for a long time! Use Masks to your advantage, and the world of composite photography is your oyster. 

Using the ‘Smudge Tool’ to hide the edge

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, there are little imperfections. Especially along the edge of the elements you are adding into the scene, you might find that these jump out at you in a jarring way, bringing you out of the scene entirely.

Using the Smudge Tool in Photoshop — or another editing software — will help soften these abrupt edges and make the image feel more real. 

Keep your artistic skills sharp by learning all about surrealism photography next!