Composite Photograhy Archives - Adams Photography & Creative Design

Bringing performance concepts to life before they happen

In dance, so much of what makes a performance powerful happens before anyone steps on stage. The anticipation, the theme, the story — all of it needs to be communicated well in advance to audiences, parents, and students.

That’s where custom composite imagery becomes such a valuable marketing tool for dance studios.

Recently, I designed a series of polished composite images for Newcastle Dance Academy, combining professionally photographed dancers with carefully crafted backgrounds and layouts. These images were created to visually represent performances, programs, and promotions before they exist in real life — helping the studio tell their story early and effectively, and promoting their end of year concert.

Visualising a Performance Before It Happens

End-of-year concerts, showcases, and productions often happen only once — yet they need to be marketed weeks or even months in advance. At that stage, live performance images simply don’t exist.

Composite imagery solves this problem by allowing us to:

Create artwork that reflects the mood, scale, and theme of a performance
Give audiences a visual sense of what’s coming
Build excitement and emotional connection ahead of time

Rather than relying on generic graphics or text-only promotions, studios can present imagery that feels cinematic, intentional, and professional.

Designed for Social Media, Web & Print Use

All composite images are designed with real marketing use in mind. Each layout considers how the artwork will appear across platforms such as:

Instagram posts and stories
Facebook event banners and ads
Studio websites
Printed posters, programs, and enrolment material
Theatre websites and thubmnails for tickets

This ensures your visuals remain impactful, clear, and adaptable — whether they’re viewed on a phone screen or displayed in print.

Original image for the Civic theatre landing page that the ticket purchaser would select to view/purchase tickets

Second image after the original image is clicked to view/buy tickets. This image has been resized due to the theatre website cropping the original image, this way the cropped image still looks sharp and professional

Supporting Dance Studio Enrolments & Ongoing Promotion

Composite imagery isn’t only for concerts and performances. It’s also an incredibly effective tool for dance studio marketing throughout the year.

Studios can use custom composites to:

Promote new year enrolments
Advertise specific dance styles or programs
Refresh social media content with branded, professional visuals
Elevate Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns

By transforming a single professional image into a tailored composite design, studios can create content that feels purpose-built, rather than repetitive or generic.

Promotional image created from the actual on stage concert with background blending and text added

A Clean, Creative Alternative to Stock Graphics

Many studios rely on stock imagery or templated designs for marketing — but these rarely reflect the individuality of a studio or its dancers.

Custom composite imagery allows:

Your own dancers to be featured
Branding and tone to remain consistent
Marketing visuals to feel authentic and unique

The result is artwork that aligns with your studio’s identity and communicates quality at a glance.

Composite Image for Cats, where the original photo was blended with the background and shadows added along with facial makeup to create a seamless professional poster

Working With Dance Studios Across NSW (and Remotely)

I work closely with dance studios across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, the Central Coast, Port Macquarie, Wollongong, and surrounding NSW areas. However, composite design work can also be completed remotely, making this service available to studios anywhere.

Whether you already have professional photos or would like imagery captured specifically for marketing purposes, I can help create custom composite visuals that support your studio’s goals.

Below are some samples of composite images used in the marketing, promotion and final production of Newcastle Dance Academy’s end of year concert, ranging from full composites to backgrounds for screen projections.

Wizard of OZ Civic Theatre 8k composite image screen projection

Requiem Theatre 8k composite image screen projection

Instagram post to showcase “Glinda” the good witch

Instagram post to showcase “The Wicked Witch”

Instagram post for Requiem, showing contemporary dance

Instagram post showing the colours fun of Starlight Express

The silver swans and their costumes promoting Phantom of the Opera

Elevating Dance Studio Marketing Through Design

Composite imagery is about more than editing photos — it’s about designing a visual story that supports your studio before, during, and beyond performance season.

If you’re a dance studio or teacher looking to:

Promote a performance before it takes place
Strengthen enrolment campaigns
Elevate your social media presence with custom visuals

I’d love to help bring your next concept to life.

Phone or email me today – or you can get in touch with my Contact Form

Introduction

Dance photography is an art form that beautifully captures the grace, emotion, and athleticism of dancers in motion. It freezes moments in time, allowing us to relive the magic of a performance. But what if we told you there was a way to elevate dance photography even further? Enter composite images, a cutting-edge technique that combines multiple photos to create stunning, surreal, and visually captivating dance compositions. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the world of dance composite photography and explore how this innovative approach can take your dance photography to new heights.

“Ballet is believing you can”
(three image Dance Composite Photography. Two are the original photo, one is a composite images used in this composite image, background and flooring are AI generated, with lighting and effects)

The Art of Dance Composite Photography

Dance composite photography is the fusion of artistic vision, technical skill, and post-processing wizardry. It involves capturing dancers in various poses and locations and then seamlessly merging these images to create a visually striking masterpiece. The possibilities are endless, from surreal levitation to breathtaking group formations – composite images unlock a world of creative potential.

Planning the Dance Composite Photography Shoot

Before diving into the world of dance composite photography, meticulous planning is essential. Here are some key steps to consider:

a. Conceptualize a Vision: Begin by envisioning the final composite image you are after. What story or emotion do you want to convey? Think about your costumes, props, and location to bring your vision to life.

b. Select a Location: Choose a location that complements your concept. Firstly it can be a studio style shoot on a light or dark backdrop or it can be something unique like an elegant ballroom, an urban landscape, or a natural setting. The right location will enhance the overall composition, but a poorly chosen one may not result in the final image concept you have set out to acheive.

c. Lighting and Gear: We will ensure we have the right lighting equipment and camera gear to capture high-quality images. Sometimes we need to experiment with different lighting setups to achieve the desired mood and atmosphere, but this is all part of the fun.

d. Choreography and Poses: We work closely with you to choreograph the movements and poses required for each shot. Precision is key to achieving seamless composites.

Dance Composite Photography - Sunset pirouette — “Sunset pirouette”
*(Dance composite photography* *using backlighting techniques, we created an image that reflected the natural environment)*

Capturing the Dance Composite Photography Images

On the day of the photo shoot we focus on capturing a series of high-resolution images that will serve as the building blocks for your composite. Paying attention to details like lighting consistency and camera angles to ensure a harmonious final result.

Generally we will require a number of images to choose the best ones to work with.

Post-Processing Dance Composite Photography

The real magic happens in post-processing. Here are the steps we use to create your dance composite masterpiece:

a. Image Selection: Firstly we choose the best images from your shoot and import them into our preferred photo editing software.

b. Masking and Layering: Then we carefully mask and layer the selected images, blending them together seamlessly. This requires a keen eye for detail and advanced editing skills.

c. Generating Assets and Backgrounds: We also use the latest AI technology to generate scenery and backgrounds to create the magic of our composite images, this really then ensures your image is a one off peice of artwork, more so than a photo of you that is placed on a generic background.

d. Color Correction and Enhancement: We then adjust colors, contrast, and brightness to create a cohesive look throughout the composite.

e. Fine-Tuning the Final Image: Then paying attention to the smaller details, such as hair, clothing, and shadows, we can ensure realism in your composite, and an image that is as close as possible to a photograph, yet is still a one off creation unique to you only.

Dance Composite Photography - Alone in light — “Alone in light”
(Dance Composite Photography with AI generated room then adding shadows and lights)

Showcasing Your Final Images

Once your composite image has been completed, it’s time to showcase it. We will deliver the final image electronically in low and high resolution so you can immediately upload it to social media and share with anyone, or print it to hang onto your walls at home or the studio. And as we are always so super proud of every image that comes out of our studio, we will also share and show off how amazing it looks.

And if you are a dance studio trying to entice new clients to enroll, this style of imagery is an amazing way to show the artform that dancing is.

Dance Composite Photography - Light can form darkness and shadows can take shape and form — “Light can form darkness and shadows can take shape and form”
(Dance Composite Photography using backlit original photo, the shadow of the photo and multiple AI generated images, with shadows, lighting and effects blended together)

Conclusion

Dance composite photography is a captivating blend of creativity and technical expertise that can breathe new life into your dance studio business. By planning meticulously, capturing stunning images, and the art of post-processing, we can create awe-inspiring composite images that resonate with viewers, enhance your online presence and increase your chances of securing new clients. So, embrace the magic of dance composite photography and let yours and our imagination soar.

If you’re ready to explore the world of dance composite photography or are looking for a professional photographer who specialize in this art form, contact Troy Adams on 0431467940, email troy@adamsphotography.com.au or fill out our contact us form online.

Check out our gallery of dancing images on our website for inspiration.

We’re here to turn your dance dreams into breathtaking visual realities.

Category: Composite Photograhy

Custom Composite Dance Imagery