When a friend of mine had his 40th birthday, we woke him up at 7 in the morning - with coffee on the patio, accompanied by accordion and tuba noises...

I was assigned photographer, and shot quite a few pics. But still I felt I lacked something...

So, digital retouching to the rescue! Here is what I presented my friend the following weekend, framed in glass:

My friend had a VERY severe case of ROTFL!

This shows all the different images I used (two of them larger, at right):

In addition to the elements, on the large image are some shadows and retouchings needed for the composite.

There's still a little twist to the story:

His son, 3 years old, was very interested in the (intentionally horrible) pink car alarm clock that I gave my friend as a birthday present. Somewhat disappointed that he was not allowed to play with it, though.

But, when my friend showed his son the composite picture, the little guy shone up and exclaimed "I can ride in the pink car!", and ran downstairs like a whirlwind... Seeing the 8-inch car on the table, he was disappointed once again...

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