How to Make an INCREDIBLE Family Portrait

Making a special family portrait that features your pet doing something awesome is my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE thing to do. Whether it’s skydiving, riding a bike or baking cookies, this type of image really lets me be creative and gives you a keepsake for a lifetime. Here’s a look behind the scenes at how much work goes into making a piece like this.

GARY BAKED COOKIES

Christie, Gary and Christie’s girls were such amazing sports about creating this image and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how it turned out.

Unlike regular Signature Sessions where we’re aiming for a variety of set-ups, creating a Muttsterpiece focuses on keeping all the little details the same. The lighting stays the same throughout. The location (generally) stays the same, and we take TONS of shots of every single aspect of the scene.

To start out, I usually take a “safe shot”. That means I take a picture of the background that we want to use before any pups or humans are added. This gives me a clean base to work from and something that I can add shadows, colours and effects to.

We made sure that the background plate had some flour paw-prints in it. Clearly Gary would not have cleaned up after himself.

Next we add in the human elements. Generally, I take a whole bunch of shots featuring different expressions and slightly different body positions. This lets me get creative in Photoshop. I experiment with which faces and body parts make the most sense for the final product.

Next (or sometimes first), we add in the animals. We used two different shots to create Gary’s face and body. We also took a number of shots of the chicken to isolate wings and feet. I also had Christie hold the pan of cookies that Gary had “baked”.

Once the session is over, I review all of the images and pick the ones that will work best together to make the final piece. I cut out all the individual elements, place them all in Photoshop, and then start to blend.

The Photoshop process involves adding shadows, and playing with light. For this image, next I added bubbles in the sink, smoke in the oven and light coming in from the window. I also cracked an egg in my kitchen instead of on Christie’s floor.

Next, I bring the image into Lightroom and finish colour toning to make sure that all of the colours in the final piece are pleasing. Depending on how complex the image is, usually it’ll take 8-25 hours in post-processing to come up with the finished image! While that might seem like a lot of time, it honestly flies by. I am always SO PROUD when I complete these type of images. I can’t wait to share more with you! If you want to create something amazing with me – let me know! I’d love to see what we come up with!