Direction of light
The sun in the new scene has an angle, a colour and a softness. Your face and clothes are relit to match, so the light falls the way it would have on location.
64.1466° N, 21.9426° W. Or wherever you would rather be.
Send me one photo. I will place you anywhere in the world.
From the black beaches of Iceland to a window seat in orbit: real light, honest shadows and a perspective that holds up when you look closely.
8 yearsphotographing landscapes and travel before moving into composition
1 photois all you need to send to start the conversation
No price listeach project is scoped and priced together, after a free call
Reykjavík coast, blue hour
Built from one portrait taken in a living room
Pick a point on the map. The rest is my job.
A few places people ask for most often. If yours is not here, describe it. I have shot landscapes long enough to know what a place looks like at every hour of the day.
64.15° N, 21.94° W
Iceland
Black sand, low sun and weather that changes every ten minutes.
51.18° N, 115.57° WBanff, Alberta
Turquoise lakes and Rocky Mountain ridgelines, close to home.
35.01° N, 135.77° EKyoto
Lantern light, wet stone and autumn maples.
31.10° N, 4.01° WThe Sahara
Long dune shadows and a horizon with nothing on it.
67.93° N, 13.09° ELofoten
Red fishing huts under aurora green, sharp peaks behind.
About 400 km above sea levelLow Earth orbit
A curved blue edge, a sunrise every ninety minutes, and you at the window.
Your photo stays yours. The world around it is built by hand.
Most "put me anywhere" images online share the same tell: the person looks pasted on. The light comes from the wrong side, the feet float, the sharpness does not match the background.
I spent eight years photographing landscapes and journeys, so I know how light behaves over a fjord at eleven at night and on a dune at first light. I rebuild that light around you, deliberately: masking edges, matching colour temperature and noise, painting the shadows that should exist and adding the haze that distance demands.
Modern tools, including AI-assisted ones, are part of my workflow the way a good lens is part of a photographer's. They are one brush among many. The decisions, the post-editing and the final retouching are mine, which is why the result is not the same as dropping a photo into a generator and hoping.
You send one photo. I decide where the sun is, how far away the horizon sits and what the air looks like between you and the mountains.
Four things that make a composite believable
Your eye checks these in a fraction of a second, even if you could not name them. Each one gets attention on every image.
Contact shadows
Where feet meet sand, snow or stone, a soft, dark line anchors you to the ground. Cast shadows follow the terrain instead of lying flat.
Perspective and scale
Camera height, lens and horizon line must agree between you and the scene. I set them once and keep every element consistent.
Colour and grain
Sensors leave a fingerprint: noise, sharpness, colour cast. I match yours to the scene so nothing looks like it came from a different camera.
From one photo to a finished image
Four stops, and the first one costs you nothing.
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Send a photo
Email a clear portrait or full-length shot and a few words about the place you have in mind.
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Talk it through
A free consultation by phone or email: the idea, the mood, photographic or painted, and what you will use the image for. Scope, timing and price are agreed here, together.
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Build the scene
I match light, perspective and colour, then send a preview so you can react before I finish.
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Receive the final
Retouched files ready for screen or print. Nothing is paid on this website; arrangements are made personally.
A travel photographer who moved into the edit
I am Ethan Cole. For eight years I shot landscapes and travel: cold starts, borrowed tripods, and days when the weather refused to cooperate. Somewhere along the way I noticed that the pictures people cherished most were the ones with themselves in them, and that most of those were taken in hallways, kitchens and parking lots.
So I moved into digital composition and retouching. The goal is simple: give you the photograph you would have taken if you had been there at the right hour, in the right light.
What people ask me to build
The trip that never happened
A place you always meant to visit, a season you missed, a journey your schedule or health would not allow. The image does not replace the trip, but it can hold the memory you wish you had.
Family in one frame
Relatives who live in three countries, standing together on one hillside.
Painted editions
The same scene as an oil-style painting or illustration, prepared for large prints.
Gifts and milestones
An anniversary at the Northern Lights, a retirement at the top of a mountain.
Profile and author imagery
Distinctive portraits for websites, book jackets and presentations.
Notes from people I have worked with
I sent a photo from my kitchen and got back a picture of me on a Norwegian pier. My mother asked where we had gone.
What I liked most was the preview stage. Ethan changed the sun position twice until it felt right, and never rushed me.
The consultation cleared everything up. I knew what I was getting, how long it would take and what it would cost before I agreed to anything.
From the journal
All articles
Craft, 6 min read
Why viewers rarely spot bad lighting, and why a composite still needs it right
Vision research shows we are surprisingly poor at noticing mismatched light. Here is what gives a composite away instead.
Read the article Data, 7 min readWhat Statistics Canada's travel figures say about the trips we talk about but never take
A look at official numbers on Canadian travel and what they suggest about the gap between planning and going.
Read the article Guide, 4 min readThe ten-minute checklist for a source photo
Window light, phone height and a plain wall: how to take the one photo that gives a composite everything it needs.
Read the articleQuestions people ask first
Do I need a special photo?
No. A sharp, well-lit photo where your face and body are clearly visible is enough. Ask me for the short checklist before you send anything.
Is this made with AI?
Partly, and openly. AI-assisted tools help with jobs like selecting edges or extending a background, but the lighting decisions, editing and retouching are done by hand. It is post-production craft, not a single prompt.
Can the result look like a painting?
Yes. Besides photographic composites I can create painted artwork, from soft oil textures to sharper illustrative styles. We choose the look during the consultation.
How much does it cost?
It depends on the idea, so there is no price list. After a free consultation we agree what is included and what it costs, before any work begins.
Tell me where you want to be.
The first conversation is free. We talk about the place, the mood and what the image is for, and only then agree on scope and price.