Today’s challenge was simple on paper: recreate a scene.
Instead of planning something elaborate, I decided to do something a little different. I opened my Pinterest, scrolled through randomly, and picked an image that I could experiment with quickly.
The goal was to build a scene using some basic compositing techniques, things like layering and masking.
I’ll be honest though.
I didn’t go as deep as I could have.
And I know the final result could definitely be better.
But there was a reason for that.
The 60 Second Constraint
The challenge was designed around 60 seconds.
Anyone who has worked with compositing knows that good photography and editing take time. Lighting, shooting, masking, blending layers, all of that normally takes much longer than a minute.
So the real question for me became: How quickly can I create something usable?
It turned into more of a speed exercise than a perfection exercise.
And honestly, that’s okay.
Practice doesn’t always need to be polished.
Stepping in Front of the Camera
Another interesting part of today’s experiment was that I became my own model.
I wanted to see what it felt like being on the other side of the camera, setting up the shot, triggering the timer, and jumping into frame.
For this shoot, I used the Nothing Phone 3.
The self timer on it is surprisingly good, and the design on the back with the light matrix actually makes it really interesting to work with.
At some point, I’ll probably do a proper behind the scenes breakdown showing exactly how I set things up when I’m shooting alone.
It’s a fun little system.
The Setup
The setup itself was very simple:
Window light from home
Nothing Phone 3 camera on a timer
Editing in Adobe Lightroom
Compositing in Adobe Photoshop
Final adjustments in CapCut
Nothing fancy.
Just working with what was available.
The Real Goal
The real purpose of today wasn’t perfection.
It was practice.
Testing ideas. Trying techniques quickly. Seeing what works and what doesn’t.
And I already know I want to revisit this concept.
Next time I’ll take more time with the lighting, build a stronger scene, and really push the idea further.
Sometimes a quick experiment is just the first draft of something much better.
And that’s perfectly fine.
Day 26: done.
See you tomorrow for Day 27.
