The Concepts That Make Photo Composites Feel Real (And Why Most Fail Before They Start)

Every composite I’ve ever abandoned failed at the same moment. Not in Photoshop. Not during the color grade. It failed on the paper sketch, when I realized I didn’t actually know what story I was trying to tell. I’d have a cool image in my head, maybe a figure standing in a flooded city street at dusk, and I’d start pulling stock assets before I’d answered the only question that actually matters: why is this scene happening, and what should the viewer feel in the first three seconds of looking at it?