The Easiest Way to Composite Bird Photos Using Lightroom and Photoshop

We've been having some stunning weather here in South Florida, and I recently took advantage of it with a trip to a local wetland preserve for some bird photography. As I was leaving for the day, I came across a particularly pretty scene: ibises and wood storks flying and landing on tree branches as the sun was setting. The only problem? My Sony A1 II and Sony 100-400mm lens combo was too tight to capture the full scene.

So, I reached for my iPhone 16 Pro Max and snapped a series of Apple ProRAW images using the 1x lens at 48 megapixels. The birds were so active that I knew I wanted to create a composite image combining multiple frames. This post walks through my editing process in Lightroom and Photoshop to bring it all together.

Editing in Lightroom

I started in Lightroom Desktop, working with four ProRAW DNG files. It's important to note that Apple's Photonic Engine processes ProRAW images—combining multiple exposures, applying noise reduction, sharpening, and color correction. While this means you get a great-looking image right away, it’s not a true unprocessed RAW file. I still prefer to edit my images manually for full control.

1. Basic Adjustments

   • Left cropping untouched since the composite would dictate final framing.

   • Slightly warmed the white balance to preserve the golden-hour glow.

   • Adjusted tone settings: increased exposure, boosted highlights, and deepened shadows.

   • Used the Curves panel instead of the Contrast slider, applying a subtle S-curve for refined tonal control.

   • Reduced saturation slightly while increasing vibrance for a balanced color pop.
     
     
     

2. Localized Adjustments

   • Created a Sky Mask, adding Dehaze to bring out sunset details while slightly reducing clarity.

   • Used Duplicate and Invert Mask to adjust everything except the sky, adding warmth to highlights and softening contrast.
     
     
     

3. Syncing Edits

   • Applied these adjustments to all four images for consistency.
     
     
     

Compositing in Photoshop

With the images prepped, I sent them to Photoshop as layers using the Open As Layers in Photoshop option.

1. Aligning Layers

   • Since I shot handheld, there were slight shifts between frames.

   • Used Auto-Align Layers (Edit > Auto-Align Layers) to correct this.

2. Blending Layers

   • Selected all layers and applied Auto-Blend Layers with the "Stack Images" option.

   • Enabled "Seamless Tones and Colors" and "Content-Aware Fill Transparent Areas" for a clean blend.

The result was a composite that seamlessly integrated all the birds from my separate frames, including their reflections in the water.

Final Touches in Lightroom

After saving and closing the Photoshop file, Lightroom automatically re-imported the composite image as a TIFF. Here, I applied finishing touches:

• Used the Generative Remove tool to clean up minor distractions.

• Added a slight blue primary saturation boost for richer tones.

• Applied Post-Crop Vignette to subtly guide focus toward the center.

• Fine-tuned sharpening with the Masking slider, ensuring sharpening applied only to important details.

Wrapping It Up

If you ever find yourself capturing a scene in sequence, don’t be limited by a single frame. Using Lightroom and Photoshop together allows you to composite multiple moments into a single, compelling image. The Auto-Align and Auto-Blend workflow is an easy and effective way to create natural-looking composites without painstaking masking.

For those looking to improve their landscape editing skills, I’ve put together a course called Lightroom Landscapes that provides a structured approach to editing in Lightroom. If you want to dive deeper into curves adjustments, I also have a dedicated tutorial on it. Enjoy!