Why Your Composites Look Fake (And It's Not the Lighting)

I once finished a composite I was genuinely proud of. The color grade was tight, the light wrap felt natural, and the subject integrated into the environment better than anything I’d done up to that point. I sent the file to a client, got approval, and moved on. Three weeks later I was looking at the final printed piece and felt my stomach drop. The figure’s feet were planted on a floor that, by every rule of geometry, could not have existed at that angle.