Traveling Through Digital Waters

Scale is Balint’s next consideration. “If the size isn’t just right, the illusion is blown,” he says. To achieve the correct scale, he compares a landmark’s length in the background to a feature of known length on the model: an eight-inch brick to the model’s nine-inch foot. “Then it’s a matter of fine-tuning the lighting using the dodge and burn tools in Photoshop: If the model looks a little flat in the sunny background, I’ll dodge in some highlights on the sunny side, or conversely burn in the shadows. And then add the shadows on the ground using all the tools in [the application],” Balint explains.