Creating Composite Imagery- RESEARCH

PART A

Photographers or Advertising campagnes

1. Tom Chambers

2. McDonalds

3. Julia Fullerton-Batten

4. Peter Coulson

ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTS USED

1. Tom Chambers

Tom Chambers likes to explore the relationship between nature and people particularly young people as well as animals. His composite work is done meticulously. I love his work. In the first shot is probably 3 elements: the background, the house and the dingy with dog.

The second one is the background, the mountain made small, the boy and the boat (could have been shot together or separately), and the birds.

The third one is more weird. The background is a tunnel – probably made from a stone wall. The grid at the back is added & possibely a bit of ‘mist’ as well. The arms are all shot separately & of course the girl on her knees. The lighting is done well – all back lit.

2. McDonalds

Advertising campaigns of McDonalds are generally clever. They tend to use composite images that make the consumer look twice. Something doesn’t look quite right. The 1^st ad below for Real milkshakes is of a cow on the trampoline. It is 2 or 3 images put together depending on whether the trampoline was in the field or not. The cow was certainly added.

The 2^nd one is several photos: the sign, the model probably holding a tray, the food, the skis and the artificial snow on a sky background.

The 3^rd is a German ad for McDonalds is more complicated. There are at least 3 images there and maybe four. There is the bloke with the newspaper; the ad for Maccas on the back of the newspaper; the image of the bloke eating his Maccas in the newspaper mirroring him behind the newspaper; and maybe even the newspaper itself was separate. Put together it is eye catching and clever. It doesn’t look stupid or too crazy and would certainly make the consumer look twice even if they don’t buy McDonalds.

3. Julia Fullerton-Batten

Julia Fullerton-Batten is a Sydney photographer and has won numerous prestigious awards for her photography. She has exhibited in exhibitions worldwide and has agents selling her work throughout the world. She has taken portraits of many well known people but it is her composite work that is so eye catching. On her website she refers to it as her ‘teenage’ images and her ‘school play’ images.

Julie was born in Germany. It was her growing up in the US and Germany that inspired her Teenage Stories. Her model in the images far outsize the landscape giving it an Alice in Wonderland’ feeling.

The 1^st three of the four images below are not complicated composites. There is generally only two images combined (1^st & 3^rd). The 2^nd one has 3 images combined. She has just shrunk the backgrounds (or made her girls much bigger 7 combined them. She has added a few shadows to make the girls stick to the ground.

4. Peter Coulson – he is a Victoria based photographer who specilises in beautiful fashion that is a bit outrageous. Most of Peter’s work is done in the studio but he does from time to time do composite images. He will take a perfect photograph in the studio & drop it into an interesting background. These two images below were for an underclothes company.

In the first image Peter’s client thought that peter could go into the museum with all his gear & set up to take the photograph with the model. He explained to his client that it would not be possible as he had 2 generators plus all his lights & cameras. Nevertheless she asked the owner if it was possible & was surprised to get the knock back. Then Peter went & asked the owner if he just take some photos inside & he said he would give the owner some prints. That was OK. So it is a composite.

The 2^nd one is also a composite. He took the flag blowing in the wind; rephotographed the photograph to get texture. He took the photo of the model separately on a dark background which he turned black & dropped her in – he put a screen bland. The hair was perfect.