Editing 2 Photos Together for the Right Look

I am no Photoshop expert.  In fact, there is no way you could manipulate any definition of it to make me even remotely fit it.  But I have learned a couple of tricks, though.

A couple of weeks ago we were playing in the front yard and the puppy was out with us.  He had run around with the kids, but then decided to sit next to me as I watched them.  He was keeping a good eye on them, too. 

I had my camera with me and snuck a few feet back to catch a shot of him watching the kids play.  He looks like he is being a good herding dog, doesn’t he?

I loved the way Cole was off in the distance down the hill, but I really didn’t like the way that I had composed Ranger.  You can see his tail is cut off and he isn’t framed well in this shot.  {This is straight out of the camera}

 

Then there is the next shot in which I had realized that things weren’t right and adjusted.  But the problem is that Cole had come up the hill enough so the shot wasn’t the same.  It was no longer the dog watching the kids from a distance. And I doesn’t look like much of a kid, either. {This shot is also straight out of the camera}

 

So I took one of the photos and made it a layer onto the other.  I used a layer mask to conceal the background I didn’t like.  So I ended up with the background I liked and the dog image I liked. 

So here it is after the layers.  I also ran an awesome Paint the Moon action to get that older feel for the photo.  I wanted it to look a tad vintage because it is a cool memory of this boy and his puppy.  I wanted that old time look.  I now when he grows up he will look at this picture and remember those times in the yard with his trusty dog. 

You guessed it, my husband does not like the look (or the photo very much either).  But it’s my shot.  I love him and I can say that photography and anything remotely artistic is not his realm.  Do you have a friend or family member like that, too?