We notice that every time we shoot a portrait session, there's one comment that people consistently make.  "Wow, that camera takes pictures fast!"  Or, as one family put it, "that thing sounds like a machine gun!"  It's true.  Well, not entirely; the camera is pretty quiet.  But the rapid-fire click-click-click-click of our Nikon cameras definitely takes people by surprise, especially if they aren't familiar with SLR frame rates.

But there's a reason we take pictures at high speed.  And that's to make sure we capture that perfect moment ... even if that perfect moment didn't really happen.

What I'm talking about is called "composite imaging."  It is the process of taking multiple photographs and blending them into one, seamless image.  It is often used in the film industry to make movie posters where multiple actors were photographed at different times, and then blended into one shot.  But we use it here at the studio to make the most perfect family portraits around.

When working with multiple subjects (especially children, who like to move around a lot), it can be very challenging to get a "perfect" smile out of everyone in the shot.  Grown-ups have no time holding a smile, but the little ones are much trickier to capture.  And often, the time when the little ones choose to smile can come when Mom and Dad aren't ready yet, or are taking care of something else.  Why should you have to lose that shot of your child making such a cute face just because you weren't ready?  That's where compositing comes into play.

By taking lots of shots, rapid-fire, we make sure to get something good of everyone.  And if there was never a perfect shot, we can take the best shot of each person, and blend them together.  It's a technique we've developed tediously, and spent many hours in the studio making sure our final images are flawless.

Take a look at the picture of the family sitting in front of the green bushes.  The "before" image looks pretty good, except that the little boy wasn't looking yet!  Getting two out of three children was pretty good, plus Mom and Dad look so cute.  So we found another image from the same sequence when the little guy was looking, and dropped him in.

Now, here's the surprise.  Go back to the first picture, and take a look at the little girl on the right.  I'll bet you didn't notice she's been swapped out too!  She was kindof hiding behind her mom's leg in the original shot, so we found another one where she had come out a little bit. 
Originally, this family came out of their session a bit discouraged, thinking their kids hadn't behaved well enough to get a good shot.  When they saw the final composite, the family ecstatic.  This shot now hangs as a large canvas above their mantle.

And finally, take a gander at the composite here.  Can you guess who has been swapped out?  It's not who you'd expect.  Give up?  It was the mom again!  She was talking the whole time, trying to make sure her children were smiling.  And it ended up being her who needed to be swapped in!  How about that?

Not all photographers are willing or even able to do composites. But at Salazar Photography, it's all part of how we deliver the best quality images to our clients. And to be honest, it's kinda fun.