Dale May | NY Advertising Photographer, Director & CGI Artist

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Clown Time Burger | CGI & Photography Case Study | Dale May

CLOWN TIME BURGER

"As kids, we swore that clown ride was alive. Traditions die hard."

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Concept Development, Art Direction, Studio Photography, Photorealistic CGI Environment Creation, AI Enhancement, Compositing & Post-Production | 2025

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Clown Time Burger is a hybrid photography and CGI personal project created by Dale May in 2025. Model Marisa Stashenko was photographed in studio, then composited into a custom-designed retro burger restaurant environment built entirely in Blender 3D. The creepy kids' coin ride that anchors the environment was designed using AI as a concept tool, then converted into a 3D mesh for full rendering control. The project demonstrates hybrid production's ability to create location environments that have no real-world equivalent. It earned a 3rd Place Bronze at the International Photography Awards 2026 and was one of four works selected for Lürzer's Archive 200best Digital Artists Worldwide 2026/27.

The concept

"When we were kids, we swore the clown ride came to life, chasing down kids who spilled a milkshake or wiped their boogers on it. Most of our friends are gone but traditions die hard."

That was the seed of this project. A free-spirited woman who never left the city, who still measures time by the rituals that shaped her. Before every heavy metal show at the local club, she and her friend would meet at Clown Time Burger for dinner and a milkshake. The world moved on. She didn't need it to. The nostalgia is still strong with her, and so is the clown ride.

The challenge

The location existed only in my mind, and it needed to stay that way. A burger joint with just the right amount of warmth and playful wrongness, neon signs, a deliberately creepy kids' coin ride out front, and a choking clown poster on the kitchen wall. Nothing like it exists in the real world, and even if it did, I wouldn't have found it on this budget.

The wardrobe presented its own constraints. Marisa had solid options to work with but a few key pieces I had in mind were too specific and too time-sensitive to source traditionally. The concept required a hand-braided and beaded tank top that simply wasn't available. It would have to be created another way.

The challenge was to build an entire world, a brand, a location, a character's history, out of CGI, AI, and a single studio shoot.

The approach

Reconnecting With the Right Subject

I originally photographed Marisa back in 2009 and reconnected with her on Instagram while searching for the right faces for new concepts. When I walked her through the Clown Time Burger idea, the first thing I needed to confirm was that she didn't have a clown phobia. She didn't.

We set a date, discussed wardrobe, and planned a few additional concepts to shoot the same day. That last part matters: because location changes happen in post with my hybrid method, I have significantly more time on set to experiment and move between concepts without losing hours to travel or setup.

Clown Time Burger BTS: Before and after CGI viewport clay render versus final photorealistic render of the custom-built creepy clown coin ride, created in Blender 3D by Dale May.

Building the Brand from Scratch

Before anything was shot, I designed Clown Time Burger as a complete fictional brand. It started with a logo. I sketched a few rough concepts, used AI to render them out, and combined the strongest elements in Photoshop to arrive at the final version. That logo became the neon sign.

From there, I designed the kids' coin ride, deliberately and unapologetically creepy. I used AI to generate the 2D design, then converted it into a 3D mesh using AI, which I brought into my 3D software to refine the textures and add detail. The mesh itself was clean and accurate, saving an enormous amount of time compared to sculpting from scratch. For the interior, I used AI to design a custom choking clown poster for the kitchen wall. I genuinely enjoyed building this place. Every detail was a choice.

For the location build itself, photogrammetry, custom modeling, and photographic textures were used to reach the most realistic result. The scene was rendered in Blender 3D using the Cycles render engine, then composited with blue screen photography.

Clown Time Burger BTS: Model Marisa Stashenko photographed in studio in denim skirt and sneakers, shot for compositing into the CGI environment by Dale May.

On Set

Marisa shot in a denim skirt, sneakers, and a top that was always going to be replaced in post. Using AI, I transformed it into a hand-braided and beaded tank top and added a lucky rabbit's foot to complete the look. These are the kinds of small details I love most, touches that people might not register on first glance but reward anyone who takes the time to look. The details are where the story lives.

Lighting by Design

For the key outdoor image, I wanted Marisa lit by direct sun while most of the surrounding environment sat in shadow, a specific and unforgiving combination to chase on a real location. Weather, cloud cover, and the time of day all work against you when you're waiting on natural light with talent on set. With a CGI environment, the sun is exactly where I put it, every time.

Post-Production

Final selects were siloed in Photoshop and placed into the 3D environment as image planes, with the CGI world built and lit around them to match the studio shoot. AI was used selectively throughout, for logo design, prop creation, wardrobe refinement, and background elements, but the photography, the directing, the environment design, and the creative vision are mine. AI accelerates specific parts of the process. It doesn't author the work.

The result

Clown Time Burger exists now. It has a logo, a neon sign, a coin ride with a history, and a regular who's been coming since before you were old enough to order for yourself. None of it was built on a stage or sourced from a prop house. All of it was built in post, from sketches, from CGI, and from a single studio shoot with the right subject.

The work earned a 3rd Place Bronze in Special: Digitally Enhanced at the International Photography Awards 2026, and was one of four Dale May works selected for Lürzer's Archive 200best Digital Artists Worldwide 2026/27 (Edition 8).

This is what the hybrid method makes possible: complete creative authorship over every element in the frame, at a fraction of the cost and time of a traditional production. For advertising clients, that means faster concept validation, tighter creative control, and the ability to build any world a campaign requires, whether it exists or not.

The series

Clown Time Burger: Wide shot of model Marisa Stashenko standing in front of the CGI-built Clown Time Burger restaurant exterior at night. Hybrid studio photography, CGI and AI by Dale May.

Clown Time Burger: Close-up of model Marisa Stashenko standing in front of the CGI-built Clown Time Burger restaurant exterior at night. Hybrid studio photography, CGI and AI by Dale May.

Clown Time Burger: Wide shot of model Marisa Stashenko riding the CGI-built creepy clown coin ride outside the Clown Time Burger restaurant. Hybrid studio photography, CGI and AI by Dale May.

Credits

Photography, CGI, Art Direction & Post-Production: Dale May

Agent: WSWcreative

Model: Marisa Stashenko

Working with Dale

The most valuable thing this method gives an advertising client is an ownable world. Instead of renting a location every competitor can also book, or settling for stock that has been seen a hundred times, you get an environment built from scratch for your brand: a place, a mood, and a set of props that exist nowhere else and belong only to your campaign. Clown Time Burger is the proof. A complete brand, a building, and a character's history, all authored from a single studio shoot and finished in post, on schedule and under budget, with every element in the frame under one set of hands.

To discuss how this approach can streamline your next project, get in touch or see more Personal Work.

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