modern world surrealism, behind the scenes of fine art photography

I have been drifting a little lately with my creativity. It is always fun to mix things up, and I have been creating a variety of images using everyday objects. I have tried to mix things up by creating some modern world surrealism.

Gaming Vs modern-day surrealism

In my spare time, I enjoy playing console games. It is something I found myself getting back into during the lockdowns over the last year. I needed a little escapism, and gaming worked perfectly. What I love about these games is the way you can find yourself in completely weird and wonderful worlds. This is often what I am trying to achieve with my images.

It was playing games that inspired this latest piece, using a console controller as my subject.

Take a look behind the scenes

I thought it would be fun to share the process behind this picture. Before I start creating an image, I sketch out my ideas. I like to add notes to this sketch to remind myself of the details I want to include. It is also interesting to see how an image develops and changes from the initial sketch.

The next stage is setting up my subject. I wanted the controller to be falling at an angle, so had to prop it up, securing it in place with blutak. I set a plain background that would be easy to remove in the editing process.

Finally, I piece all my images together in Photoshop. For the “planet” I took one of my stock images of a rainbow forming on bubbles. I then played around, editing this image to look spherical. I give the image a modern world surrealism look by playing around with the objects and making them appear different and sometimes jarring to how you would expect to see them.

Once all the images are in place I add toning and colour grading to give the image a cohesive look.

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Sara Sadler

Photographer

I am a fine art photographer based in the South of England. I enjoy sharing my photographic adventures, hints and tips.

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sarasadlerphotography.co.uk