Workshop Details
Introduction to Composite Photography – Heather Burns
Composite photography blends the skills of a photographer with the vision of an artist. Whether you’re creating a fantasy scene, enhancing a portrait, or designing a powerful visual for a brand, mastering composites opens up endless possibilities in creative expression.
Key Elements of the workshop:
- The foundations of a composite Image.
- The background or main subject.
- Additional Elements:
- Other photos or assets added to the base image — e.g., sky replacements, people, animals, or objects.
- Blending and Masking:
- Techniques used to merge elements seamlessly.
- Lighting and Perspective:
- Matching the direction and quality of light – crucial for realism.
- Color Harmony:
- Ensuring all elements have consistent lighting, shadows, and color tones.
We will be using Photoshop on the day and a basic understanding of how it works is invaluable.
Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops with Photoshop installed and edit along at the same time (Images used on the day will be sent prior to the workshop to those wishing to edit).
The aim of this workshop is to give you the skills and confidence to be able to create your own works of art!
Friday 11am-1pm
Heather Burns
Heather, a creative artist based in Derbyshire, expresses her unique vision through the medium of photography.
Her pieces showcase a gothic undertone, exploring themes of beauty and darkness. Delving into the depths of her imagination, she skillfully incorporates textures and intricacies within her work, pushing the boundaries of traditional photography to create moody, atmospheric art.
Her style is heavily creative and narrative. She’s less about straightforward portraits, more about storytelling through visuals — shadows, texture, gothic tones, layers. Influences/homages to writers like HG Wells, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Conan Doyle show up in how she frames ideas of darkness, mystery, the uncanny.
She uses relatively simple (but skillful) Photoshop techniques: blending modes, texture overlays, dodging and burning, etc. The complexity lies more in composition & vision rather than heavy technical manipulation.
With a keen eye for detail and a willingness to think out of the box, Heather’s portraits and landscapes encapsulate a sense of mystery and intrigue. Each piece invites the viewer on a journey through the artist’s mind, evoking a plethora of emotions and sparking the imagination.
Through her lens, Heather invites us to step into a world of captivating beauty and endless possibilities.
– She is highly skilled, holding titles like 4× Master Craftsman with the Guild of Photographers.
– Also serves as a judge and panel member for the Guild.
– She is also a volunteer digital retoucher for Remember My Baby.
Heather’s website is www.heatherburnsphotography.co.uk/
