Pioneer Log Homes has contracted me to create the backgrounds and landscaping for their log home rendering. The images I create will go on their website to show perspective buyers what their designs look like in situ. The contract is a lot of fun because it is a blend of technical and creative which I love.
An example of a design they gave me: 
This is what I did with it:
Here is the photo I used for the background:
Cutting and pasting images sounds easy, but this process is a lot more time consuming than you might think. It involves cutting around branches and leaves pixel by pixel:
As well as creating the background, I put objects in the foreground so the house looks like it is part of the landscape, such as the trees I added on the left. I colour corrected them to match the overall hues of the picture. I then add human touches like flowerbeds to make it more homey and reflections in the windows to show the sky and surrounding landscape.
Finally I add texture to the ends of the logs to make them more realistic. On the left is the before picture. In the middle is a version I use if the house is farther away and the one on the right is what I do if the house is closer up and I need more detail:
My renderings will be uploaded to their new website which they are launching in September. They will add more as they are completed.
Here is the page where this rendering is featured: http://www.pioneerloghomesofbc.com/sample_eagle_river.htm
Here is one of my best renderings: http://www.pioneerloghomesofbc.com/sample_springville.htm