Jump out from your monitor!by
FocusPointComment by rinac: I'm an emotional voter first, technicals second. I do not like cats. So... for me to set aside my vehement dislike for these creatures, the shot has to be something pretty darn special. This image is not helping me overcome my bias. Here is my thought process while voting, hope it gives you some insight:
The first thing I notice (after the initial shock of those evil, evil eyes ;P) is the harsh lighting. The catchlights have purple fringing and it looks like bad flash fill. But hey, it's a black cat, how else are you supposed to get detail in the fur, right?
Ok, so then I force myself to take a closer look and realise there isn't a heck of a lot of detail in the fur on the nose or between the eyes anyway. Is this a focus issue, or something that went astray in pp? Either way, the vote isn't looking all that hot for you at this point.
I didn't much like the downward point of view, nor the diagonal tilt in composition. Not sure I could feel intimidated by something I'm looking down on, much less think it would jump out at me.
Then, I notice the border... :( I'm a huge fan of borders and matting to 'close' images, but I think it needs to be kept fairly simple. I realise you were going for a screen/3D look, but since I had issues with the image itself, that effect didn't work for me.
In a nutshell, I really did take a good hard look at the image and not just the cursory 3 seconds most give, and... well... I still didn't find it very appealing in any way.
Feel free to PM me if you're not sure of anything I've said here. I've tried to be as honest as I can :)
Cheers,
Rina.
Photographer found comment helpful.
