As photographers we have many tools at our disposal to enhance an image. Most of us use Lightroom, Photoshop or a combination of both. 

Images that come straight out of the camera are enhanced by amending contrast, colour, shadows and highlights, clarity and sharpness.  But this process can be taken further by combining two or more images to make a “composite” image.

Depending on the complexity of the image, this can be an extremely time-consuming process.  But as I sit at my computer on a blustery, freezing winter’s day in Toronto, reluctant to go out into the frigid cold, I’m happy to stay in and play around with some dog photography!

Here are a couple of examples of before and after pictures where I used more than one image to make a composite.

Let me know what you think!

In the pictures below I like the expression on the dog’s face, but the sky was dull and boring. The first image is straight out of the camera. The second image has had the sky replaced by combining the image of the dog with one of the sky - a composite. Which do you prefer?

This adorable little French Boxer, Bentley, was the subject of my pet photo shoot this week. Check out that Toronto snow! I took these shots of the family walking in the snow but didn’t get one with little Bentley looking at the camera. First you can see the final image.

Now look at the original two images. The first image shows Bentley looking out of the camera frame. I took another image that I had of Bentley on his own but looking at the camera and combined the two. In the composite image he is facing towards the camera - makes for a much better family photo I think!

Here’s another example of using a composite in pet photography. The dog photo shoot for these adorable pugs was held in Unionville, just east of Toronto. I love photographing dogs on the run!

I thought that the owners may like to have both Mooch and Meatball together in one picture. So I combined two separate images of them on their own to come up with a composite picture of the two dogs together to offer the owners.

The photographs of the dogs on their own are shown below

Interested in booking a dog photography shoot for your furry friends? Contact me for sessions in the Toronto area or in south Florida.

Please also check out some other examples of composites in the beautiful work of Pawparazzi Pet and Animal Photography presented by Shae Pepper Photography