Surrealism Photography

Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that a final image may appear as a seamless photographic print.

CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS

Decide what your combination surreal composite photo will look like.

Gather props, backgrounds, people who are modeling for you.

Take a photo of the main object that you are placing the other object into or on top of, etc. 

Camera Settings should be on AV and use a low F number like 3.5 or 4. This will blur the background so you don't have distracting objects in your photo. You may also use a backdrop behind your object.

Take a second photo of the object you are adding to the first object. IMPORTANT: This photo should be taken at the same ANGLE as the first one so that your final composition doesn't seem skewed.

PHOTOSHOP INSTRUCTIONS:

Open the photo that is your main background photo

File place embedded your second photo

Use quick select (4th tool down , hold down and choose quick select)

Select the part of the second photo you want to mask

When its correctly selected, click the mask button right under the photo or the one at the bottom of the layer panel. (rectangle with a circle inside)

If you need to clean up the edges, zoom in (control +) and use the Brush tool (B) to paint black on the mask to hide areas and white to bring back areas of the photo.

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to “resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality.” Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, creating surreal scenes from everyday objects.

Jerry Uelsmann