Artist are not simply copying what is in front of them. They are communicating a mood, feeling, memory or even telling a story. You can combine two images, change colors, and add, rearrange or remove objects in your reference photo.
Take Your Landscapes Beyond the Photo Reference https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-subjects/landscapes/using-photo-reference-landscape-painting/ The Artist Network has a great article on ways artist create without totally relying on their reference photos. Click on the link to see the full article. If you are unable to open the link, here are a few images showing differences between the reference photo and the artists interpretation of it.