How to Photograph a Composite: A Lighting Tutorial by Jay P. Morgan

In today's TSL lesson we are shooting in the Concord and Lexington area of Massachusetts. This is the perfect place to shoot the elements or plates we will need to create a composite showing a Revolutionary War battle scene. We will show how we shot and combined images from 5 shoots to make our final battle scene. We will shoot the background plates first, then any plates that need to fill in the action, and finally the "hero-shot".

As a part of this lesson we will also show how to create a rig that will allow your actor to lean forward as if he is running. This rig creates the look of forward movement while still giving you the ability to control clothing and motion blur.

Finally we will discuss how to shoot explosions as a part of a composite. Yes explosions.

Keep those cameras rolling and keep on clickn'.

By Jay P. Morgan