In “The Five Muses,” Sony Artisan Brooke Shaden takes us inside her low‑light compositing workflow to build a surreal scene from 13 separate frames shot across multiple countries – then woven together in Photoshop. In this Behind The Shot, Brooke shares why she relies on the Alpha 7R V and 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II for each image in the composite, then breaks down how she duplicates architecture, blends elements, layers travel‑collected textures and finesses light and color to transform darkness into a luminous composite.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. (13 Image Composite) Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II.
“The Five Muses” 2025
A composite image always requires stitching images together, whether it’s in the darkroom or digitally. In this image, I used 13 images combined to create one piece.
All elements were photographed with the Alpha 7R V and 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II lens. This allowed me the highest dynamic range, as some of these images were photographed in the dead of night or at dusk with no external lighting. The 24-70mm range allowed me to gather stock images from various places (in this image alone, stock images came from Arizona, Scotland, England, and Canada) with the ease a zoom lens offers with maintaining sharpness and quality.
The Main Shot
The central image I used to build everything on top of is the arches. There were originally two arches, so I duplicated them to create four. I used a separate arch from the same location (the Roman Baths in Bath, UK) to create the five-pillared pattern you see here.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/1250-sec., f/4.5, ISO 2500
Photo by Brooke Shaden. Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/1250-sec., f/4.5, ISO 2500
The Elements
The fire was photographed during a controlled forest burn in my hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/250-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1000
The vines/roots were photographed in Scotland at a location called The Devil’s Pulpit outside of Glasgow.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/125-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1000
While the water was from the California coast, and the cloud was from Canada.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/160-sec., f/2.8, ISO 800
The Subject
I photographed Lizzy (credit: Lizzy Mae) in a studio, utilizing a single flash with a softbox to create ethereal lighting. In the original image, she was standing, so I added fabric to look like she was floating.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/160-sec., f/5.6, ISO 80
The Textures
I photograph textures whenever I travel, from bathroom walls to stone walkways. Anything and everything can be a texture. In this case, I used textures I photographed in Portugal, and overlayed them using blending mode Soft Light in Photoshop to create a grungy look to the already beautiful walls.
Each element was meticulously cut out either using a layer mask or by changing blending modes to allow the pieces to fall into place seamlessly. After adding in shadows to ground each element in the archway image, I chose my color palette and called it a day!
This image took me around 10 hours to complete in Photoshop.
Photo by Brooke Shaden. (13 Image Composite) Alpha 7R V. 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II.
See more of Brooke Shaden’s work on her Alpha Universe Profile and on Instagram @brookeshaden.
Join Brooke Shaden’s 52-Week Creative Challenge in the Alpha Female+ Facebook group.
Shop Brooke's Low-Light Composite Kit:
–Alpha 7R V
–24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II
