This is my first post of my work. I used PhotoImpact 6 to do the background and the fades onto it. I'm looking to make better backgrounds and have smoother images when transfered. Any and all suggestions will be welcome...I want to learn !

Craig
Crazy Cockatoo

Mask, mask, mask. They will usually give you the best transitions between the background and composited items. I find your "glowing" background distracting because it is not defined enough. I think you were trying to pull the two pictures together, but the "holes" to the right of the top dog are distracting and cause the viewer's eye to pause to comprehend what they mean.

I think the background and composition are down to taste, and what suits me may not suit you, so I won't comment on them.

However on a purely technical issue, I will say that the highlight areas on the fur of both mother and pup are seriously blown out. How much of this is down to the original photograph, and how much due to overzealous retouching I couldn't say.

I want to thank Swampy and Gary for their constructibve suggestions. I am goin to start over again and redo the photo from scratch and will repost again. WOW ! I love this site !

I have built new backgrounds that are not so "glowing" and will place the older French Bulldog in a slightly different position in relation to the photo of him as a 30 minute old puppy. The masking is a different problem for me. I will have to delve more into that to understand the process in PhotoImpact. I have the new Photoshop CS3 on its way to me now so I may be a while learning the new software. But I have to start somewhere and this site is one heck of a place to do just that !

Again...thanks for the input !

Craig
Crazy Cockatoo

You're welcome Craig, look forward to seeing the next version.

Hope you have a lot of fun learning CS3.

It's a bit of a quantum leap from Photo Impact, so lots to learn. Most new PS users are shocked by just how many ways there are to do the same thing (I know I was), but once you've got used to it and some of its little idiosyncrasies, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it.