Compositing
Why Your Composites Look Fake (And the Lighting Math That Fixes Them)
The first composite I ever built took me 40 hours. I was trying to get my first agency job, and I wanted to put something in my portfolio that would stop someone mid-scroll. I cut out every element cleanly, matched the color temperature roughly, and thought it looked great. Then I printed it and pinned it to my wall. It looked like a ransom note. Every element existed in its own little bubble of lighting, sitting on top of the background instead of inside it.