Composite Portraits with a Mythical Creature

Photography Tips  •  Portrait Photography

Composite photography—layering together multiple images to make one—has long been used in the world of commercial photography as a way to produce perfectly composed photographs that would be too difficult to create in one shot. As more and more people are beginning to see the benefits of composite photography, the technique is finding its way into other styles of photography, including portraiture. Composite photography opens up the door to creativity for many photographers, including this one who went so far as to build his own mythical creature to add to a young boy’s portraits. Take a look:

Bakster, the friendly mythical creature featured in the photo shoot was built using spray foam and faux fur. In real life, Bakster is only three feet tall; however, thanks to composite photography, Bakster appears to be much, much larger. In the video we see him towering over a building, an effect made possible by photographing him in studio then layering that image into the alley scene.

Capturing Bakster the Mythical Creature

The doors that composite photography open up in terms of set decoration and surrealism are incredible. If Bakster isn’t enough to convince you, you may want to check out this wild west themed composite shoot and this mystifying portrait session. Once you are ready to try some composite yourself, be sure to read this instructional crash course!