After Stans Snow Leopard post and the work with layer masks I had a play with this and some images from my visit to BWC.
Original image
Cat by tblake2007, on Flickr
As you can see the fence in the background isn't too attractive.
So decided to use this as a background
Grass by tblake2007, on Flickr
Actually there was a barn owl in flight in this shot but I cloned it out. Then duplicated the cat layer over the top and used a mask to reveal the new background. When you're doing this if the new background is close in tone etc. to the original you can hide the new background by clicking the icon that looks like an eye on the background layer.
After using the mask (admittedly a bit rough in the this example) I added a bit of a gradient to the background to hopefully give a more natural look.
Merge by tblake2007, on Flickr
You'll notice a bit of a halo because I've been a bit caviller with the mask, but more time and care would hide this.
Using layer masks isn't too difficult so have a play.
Original image
![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7581/15658650988_af1bbabed4_c.jpg)
As you can see the fence in the background isn't too attractive.
So decided to use this as a background
![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7533/15223880804_eea02f3e66_c.jpg)
Actually there was a barn owl in flight in this shot but I cloned it out. Then duplicated the cat layer over the top and used a mask to reveal the new background. When you're doing this if the new background is close in tone etc. to the original you can hide the new background by clicking the icon that looks like an eye on the background layer.
After using the mask (admittedly a bit rough in the this example) I added a bit of a gradient to the background to hopefully give a more natural look.
![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7483/15660366227_0c30f25a91_c.jpg)
You'll notice a bit of a halo because I've been a bit caviller with the mask, but more time and care would hide this.
Using layer masks isn't too difficult so have a play.
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