Ever stared at a dream so vivid it felt real? That’s what we’re creating today.
This tutorial walks you through building an eerie surreal scene. Think mysterious window-headed figure standing on a desolate road. We’ll blend reality with nightmare using photo manipulation techniques that actually work.
You’ll learn depth of field tricks, seamless compositing, and moody black-and-white toning. Plus, I’ll show you how to make multiple stock photos look like they belong together. No previous manipulation experience needed.
What You’ll Need First
Before diving in, grab these stock images:
Required photos:
- Desolate road shot (night or overcast works best)
- Window texture with visible panes
- Cliff or barren landscape background
- Formal suit reference photo
- Swing or suspended object for composition
- Metal and paper textures for mood
Most stock sites offer free alternatives if you can’t find exact matches. Just look for similar composition and lighting.
Software setup:
- Photoshop CS6 or newer (CC versions work great)
- Basic understanding of layers and masks
- Patience for detail work
This project takes 2-3 hours for beginners. Experienced users can finish in under an hour.
Build Your Canvas Foundation
Start with the right dimensions. Create a new file with these specs:
- Width: 3000 pixels
- Height: 3000 pixels
- Resolution: 300 DPI
- Color mode: RGB, 8-bit
- Background: Transparent
Why square? It gives you flexibility for cropping later. Plus, you can easily adapt this for Instagram or print without losing composition.
Now we’ll build from background to foreground. This approach prevents compositing headaches later.
Create the Road Foundation
Open your desolate road image. First task: remove any watermarks by cropping.
Activate the Crop tool (C on keyboard). Drag the boundaries to eliminate watermark areas. Confirm the crop.
Next, drag this image onto your main canvas using the Move tool (V). Position it toward the bottom half of your canvas.
Here’s the trick: Don’t center it perfectly yet. Leave room at the top for your background elements.
Rename this layer “road” by double-clicking the layer name. Good naming habits save massive confusion later.
Transform and Align the Road
Time to make this road fit our square canvas properly.
Hit Ctrl/Cmd + T to activate Transform mode. Right-click anywhere on the canvas to bring up options. Select “Rotate” from the menu.
Adjust the angle slightly. Most road shots need a subtle rotation to create that vanishing point perspective. See how the road naturally leads the eye into the distance? That’s what we’re after.
Still in Transform mode, grab the corner handles. Drag them to fill your canvas edge-to-edge. The road should stretch from bottom to top, filling most of the square.
Don’t worry about uneven edges yet. We’ll blend those away later with masks and additional layers.
Add Atmospheric Background
Open your cliff or barren landscape image. This becomes your distant background layer.
Drag it onto your canvas above the road layer. Scale it to fit the upper portion where sky meets horizon.
Here’s where lighting matters: Your background should have similar light direction as your road. Mismatched lighting screams “fake” immediately.
Lower this layer’s opacity to about 60-70%. This helps you see both layers while positioning. Once aligned, return opacity to 100%.
Add a layer mask (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All). Grab a soft brush (B) with black paint. Gently brush the bottom edge where background meets road. This creates seamless blending.
Pro tip: Use a large, soft brush at 20-30% opacity for natural transitions. Multiple light passes beat one heavy application every time.
Build Your Window-Headed Figure
This is where the surreal element comes alive. Open your window texture image.
Use the Quick Selection tool (W) to isolate just the window portion. Refine the edges using Select > Select and Mask. Feather the selection by 1-2 pixels for smooth integration.
Copy and paste this window onto a new layer above your background.
Now open your suit reference photo. Select the full body using the Pen tool for precision. The Pen tool takes practice but creates cleaner selections than Quick Select for clothing.
Once selected, copy and paste the suited figure onto your canvas. Position it on the road, roughly center-frame.
The magic moment: Delete or mask the head portion of the suited figure. Scale and position your window element where the head should be.
Match the window’s perspective to the body’s angle. Use Transform > Distort to adjust window perspective until it looks naturally attached.
Create Depth Through Blur
Depth of field separates amateur work from professional results. Let’s add that cinematic quality.
Duplicate your road layer. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Apply a 5-8 pixel blur.
Add a layer mask. Use a gradient (G) from black to white, dragging from foreground (where figure stands) toward the distance.
This simulates camera focus. The area around your figure stays sharp while distance softens.
Do the same for background layers. Distant elements should have slightly more blur than mid-ground. This depth hierarchy guides viewer attention.
Light and Shadow Integration
Inconsistent lighting destroys believability. Fix that now.
Create a new layer set to Multiply blend mode. Use a soft brush with dark gray (not pure black). Paint shadows on the ground beneath your figure.
Shadow direction should match your light source. Most outdoor scenes have light from above-left or above-right. Pick one direction and stay consistent.
Add another layer set to Overlay mode. Paint highlights on the figure’s suit where light would naturally hit. This integrates the figure into the scene’s lighting environment.
Key technique: Lower brush opacity to 10-15%. Build lighting gradually through multiple passes.
Apply Texture Overlays
Textures add that finished, artistic quality. Open your metal texture image.
Drag it onto your canvas as a new layer. Scale it to cover your entire composition. Set blend mode to Overlay or Soft Light.
Lower opacity to 30-40%. Too much texture overwhelms the image. We want subtle grain, not obvious repetition.
Do the same with your paper texture on a separate layer. Try different blend modes (Multiply, Screen, Overlay) to find what works.
Experiment freely here. Texture application is highly subjective. What looks perfect to one person might feel overdone to another.
Create Moody Black and White
Time for that haunting, timeless look. We’ll use adjustment layers for maximum flexibility.
Add a Black & White adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White). Don’t just click Auto. Manually adjust the color sliders.
Increase reds and yellows for brighter tones. Decrease blues and cyans for dramatic darkness. This control lets you decide which elements pop and which recede.
Add a Curves adjustment layer. Create a subtle S-curve by pulling highlights slightly up and shadows slightly down. This increases contrast without crushing details.
Finally, add a Levels adjustment layer. Drag the black point slider slightly right to deepen shadows. Drag the white point slider slightly left to soften highlights.
Fine-Tune and Polish
Almost done. Now we perfect the details.
Zoom to 100% and scan your entire image. Look for these common issues:
Edge halos: Light outlines around composited elements. Fix with masks or darker edge painting.
Inconsistent grain: Some areas smooth while others are textured. Apply uniform noise filter (Filter > Noise > Add Noise) at 1-2%.
Contrast mismatches: Elements that look pasted in. Adjust curves on individual layers.
Distracting elements: Anything pulling focus from your window-headed figure. Clone stamp or content-aware fill to remove.
This polish phase separates good work from great. Take your time here.
Add Final Atmospheric Effects
Want to push the eerie factor? Add these finishing touches.
Create a new layer filled with 50% gray. Set it to Overlay mode. Use the Dodge tool (O) to brighten fog-like areas in the distance. Use Burn tool to deepen shadows near the foreground.
Add a slight vignette. Create a new layer, fill it with white. Apply Filter > Lens Correction > Custom > Vignette. Slide the Amount to -20 or -30.
Consider adding subtle fog or mist. Create a new layer, paint with soft white brush at 10% opacity in distance areas. Set layer to Screen mode at 30% opacity.
These effects should be barely noticeable. Subtlety is key for surreal work.
The Reality of Surreal Compositing
Here’s what nobody tells you about photo manipulation: Your first attempt will look wrong.
That’s normal. Surreal compositing requires multiple revision passes. You’ll adjust lighting three times. You’ll reposition elements twice. You’ll second-guess your texture choices.
But each iteration teaches you something. You start recognizing what makes composites feel real versus fake. You develop an eye for light direction, color harmony, and visual weight.
The window-headed figure concept works because it’s both familiar and impossible. Viewers recognize the elements but the combination creates unease. That’s surrealism’s power.
This technique applies beyond creepy scenes too. Use it for fantasy portraits, conceptual art, or abstract compositions. The skills transfer completely.
Save your project file with layers intact. You’ll want to revisit and improve this as you learn more. Plus, you can reuse individual elements in future projects.
Experiment with different textures, different lighting moods, different blur amounts. There’s no single “correct” version of this image. Your creative choices make it unique.