Pet Pawtrait photoshoot featuring my two cats and myself
Ta dah! What do you think?
Not a bad photo, even if I do say so myself. What you may not realise is this image is actually made up of a base image, plus around eight bits and bobs of other images from the same pet pawtrait photoshoot! Have a look at the before and after below:
I’ve recently invested in some photoshop composite training and this was the first test I put to myself. Composite training, simply put, is learning how to merge or stitch images together:
Nothing like throwing myself into the deep end!
Being a pet photographer, I felt like my ‘About Me’ page on my website needed updating to include my kitties with me. I talk about them enough and even have them painted on my favourite pair of Dr Marten boots, (designed and painted by the incredibly talented Inanna Bespoke Shoes, be sure to check her out!).
I’m rarely in front of the camera, especially in a studio environment (and especially when I’ve not seen my hairdresser in what seems like forever!) so that was also a challenge in itself.
My studio also gets quite warm pretty quickly. This was a warm day like it has been for the last week or so (not complaining!). Understandably, the cats got tired quite quickly. We tried the usual tricks – noises, treats, toys – but they were just a bit more tired than usual and heaven forbid I ask them to sit still next to each other!
Pet Pawtrait Photoshoot
They’re normally amazing in the studio for photographs, but they just weren’t having it today. But that’s ok, and perfectly normal. It’s not as familiar an environment as the rest of the house (they’re not allowed in the studio apart from photoshoots), it was warm and everyone is allowed an off day.
We took a break, let them have a wander around the room and the house, have a drink and a sit down for a second (I also took this opportunity to change outfit), and we tried again. They cooperated for a little while but not for long, so I had the set up ready to go before we tried again and luckily managed to get a couple of photographs of me with each cat. They still wouldn’t sit next to each other, it’s very rare they entertain that idea. But I had enough that I could maybe try and work with in photoshop.
Success! My amazing training paid off (thank you Jenny Giles Magical Shop!); using my general day to day knowledge of photoshop plus what I’d learnt over the course of lockdown I managed to create these images. Not perfect by any means, but such an improvement, and I LOVE them! I finally have a photograph of me and my bubbas that isn’t a quick snap on my phone.
That’s my goal at the end of the day and why I decided to photograph pets; to create beautiful images of you and your furry best friends that you will treasure forever.
