Background:
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Whether in the darkroom or in the computer, many photographers have created excited synthetic images out of pieces of separate images. This dates back to the dawn of photography. Often these images were composed of well-defined objects such as bottles, fruit, vases, leaves, or whatever.
If you use film photography, there is a time-honored way of doing this. Print a picture of each object sized according to your vision of the final composition. Cut around each object. You can even cut “holes” in one or more of them. Then paste the cut-out objects onto, say, a dark background arranging them to make a pleasing composition. Then re-photograph your composition and print it out. There are other ways, too, using multiple exposures in the darkroom.
If you use digital photography, obviously you will want to arrange your objects using image processing software such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. This is a great opportunity for you to learn how to use layers to advantage, so that you can easily re-arrange and resize the objects. For those of you who use Photoshop, this is also a great exercise for learning how to use Layer Masking (you can even make “holes” in some of the objects) and to use different blending techniques with different opacities.
Either way, the objective to select each object image and arrange them together into a single, pleasing composition. It may be best to photograph each object in a consistent light (approximately the same time of day, same angle), preferably somewhat lighter objects against a dark background (to make it easier to separate them from the background).
Use your imagination! Stretch it to the fullest! Lie on a couch and visualize your final creation before you even start!
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