New member - would like critique of a picture

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/01/2005 12:36:25 PM · #1

I took this picture of my cat in one of his more agreeable moods. Camera was on a tripod, my goal was to get as much detail of his face as I could. He was lying on a green cusion which I thought kind of complemented his eyes, though I am not sure you can really see that. I have not done any post work on the picture other than to convert the RAW to a jpg, since I am still very new to Photoshop.

Message edited by author 2005-09-01 15:51:42.

DemonLlama

Canon EOS-30D

09/01/2005 12:42:58 PM · #2

Message edited by author 2005-09-01 14:07:24.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

09/01/2005 03:13:47 PM · #3

Interesting... any other advice?

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

09/01/2005 03:22:22 PM · #4

Compositionally, the image is not very dynamic. The frame is split vertically between the "subject" (the front of the cat) and the "background" (which in this case includes the out-of-focus portions of the cat). Since the BG has no visual interst whatsoever, yet merges tone-wise into the subject area, it lacks either subjective or technical appeal. That is to say, there's nothing there to LOOK at, and there's no extreme tonal shift that would create what we call "negative space" to justify this empty-of-interest area in the image.

In other words, for this shot, do some cropping :-)

The rendering of the fur is nicely handled here. The eyes seem somewhat pale, a bump in saturation might make them more compelling. The cropping of the ears is unfortunate; much of a cat's "face appeal" lies in its ears.

These are my thoughts on first glance.

Welcome to DPC.

Robt.

mystical_princess

Canon EOS-5D

09/01/2005 03:35:07 PM · #5

shame the ears are cut off, I'd also crop most of the pic down.

scales

Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3

09/01/2005 03:41:09 PM · #6

I don't have any pets, but I imagine it's pretty tough getting them to sit still and pose for you (unless they're stuffed), so I think you've done well.

I'm no expert in editting images either, but I wonder if you could use photoshop to adjust the colour of the eyes (maybe with a 'red-eye' remover tool) or the cushions colour so that they're more similar. That might make the background more 'relevant'

suemack

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/01/2005 03:45:16 PM · #7

Welcome to dpc Thomas:)) To make a thumbnail photo linking to the one in your port just click on the right end icon above the reply notepad and enter the image number (this is at the end of the url) Just makes it easier for us dialups to view topics and photos.

What a gorgeous cat!! He has the most beautiful eyes. I'd love to see this cropped just below the earline, which would bring the focus onto his eyes. Would also like to see the background cushion colour either cropped out or desaturated as I feel it competes with the cat eyes......and the cushion being brighter attracts my eye.

Good to have you here
sue

bobdaveant

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/01/2005 03:49:44 PM · #8

I like the softness of his fur, I think that is well captured, I think you cropped too much of his ears off, a little may be ok, or all of them, but Im not found of what you left. I do like the look of surprise on his face. Good start, keep shooting and good luck on the challenges, they can be a lot of fun!

Here are a couple of my attempts at my cat, he hardly ever sits still, these are a few rare moments.

09/01/2005 06:15:17 PM · #9

Ok first of all, thanks for all the advice, I found it to be very very helpful. Secondly, I took that advice, made some changes, and I have the next version. I cropped it down removing the out of focus background and "distracting" elements such as the cut off ears. I then increased the saturation in the eyes to give them a more emerald color. Finally, I desaturated the rest of his face to try and keep focus on his eyes. So what do you think? Better? or Worse?

Message edited by author 2005-09-01 18:39:08.

SCI 009

Kodak DX6490

09/01/2005 06:25:22 PM · #10

Maybe you could burn the glare of your flash from the cat's eyes?