I always encourage clients to capture as many real-world elements as possible during photography—it's often the most believable way to achieve realism. But every now and then, sticking strictly to in-camera effects can limit creative possibilities. That was the case for this project with Mike Carroll Photography and Trinity Real Estate.
The concept featured two images—one of Raleigh, NC, and another of Charlotte, NC—showing a pair of hands with a map of the area applied to them. The idea? Trinity wanted to convey that they knew these regions like the backs of their hands. One thought was to have a tattoo artist draw the line art directly onto the model’s hands, but that would have made revisions difficult. Instead, Trinity gave us the green light to approach it from a 3D perspective.
This allowed Mike to focus purely on lighting and gesture during the shoot, without worrying about the map. Once the hero image was selected, I sculpted a simplified 3D version of the hands (by... hand!) in ZBrush to act as a scaffold for the map. Instead of forcing a 2D Photoshop solution, this gave me a realistic way to wrap the artwork around the contours of the fingers and knuckles.
Bringing the model into Keyshot, I could match the lighting setup from the shoot using HDR image-based lighting. This extra layer of realism made all the difference, allowing highlights and shadows to fall naturally over the map. Most importantly, it gave us the flexibility to independently adjust each element—the hands, the map, and the lighting—until we landed on the perfect placement.
Even though this is an older project, it remains one of my favorites because it highlights the intersection of practical photography and digital craftsmanship—and how the right balance between the two can unlock new creative possibilities.
Would love to hear—have you ever had a project where traditional techniques needed a digital push?
The concept featured two images—one of Raleigh, NC, and another of Charlotte, NC—showing a pair of hands with a map of the area applied to them. The idea? Trinity wanted to convey that they knew these regions like the backs of their hands. One thought was to have a tattoo artist draw the line art directly onto the model’s hands, but that would have made revisions difficult. Instead, Trinity gave us the green light to approach it from a 3D perspective.
This allowed Mike to focus purely on lighting and gesture during the shoot, without worrying about the map. Once the hero image was selected, I sculpted a simplified 3D version of the hands (by... hand!) in ZBrush to act as a scaffold for the map. Instead of forcing a 2D Photoshop solution, this gave me a realistic way to wrap the artwork around the contours of the fingers and knuckles.
Bringing the model into Keyshot, I could match the lighting setup from the shoot using HDR image-based lighting. This extra layer of realism made all the difference, allowing highlights and shadows to fall naturally over the map. Most importantly, it gave us the flexibility to independently adjust each element—the hands, the map, and the lighting—until we landed on the perfect placement.
Even though this is an older project, it remains one of my favorites because it highlights the intersection of practical photography and digital craftsmanship—and how the right balance between the two can unlock new creative possibilities.
Would love to hear—have you ever had a project where traditional techniques needed a digital push?
