I am brand new at this, and this is the first challenge I have participated in.
I positioned the light (just a house lamp) behind the cat so the cats reflection in the window would be more noticeable. I focused on the closest eye, which also allowed for part of the (dirty/wet texture)window to be in focus.
I did a little basic editing in lightroom- exposure, color balance, contrast.
Statistics
Place: 148 out of 188 Avg (all users): 5.0215 Avg (commenters): 5.0000 Avg (participants): 4.9494 Avg (non-participants): 5.0748 Views since voting: 970 Views during voting: 318 Votes: 186 Comments: 5 Favorites: 0
First Impression: Cute kitty, nice sharp focus on his face. He has a cute expression... looks very intent on something. It can be hard to catch those good expressions, so well done there. The full reflection of the face is helpful for meeting the challenge and shows forethought in the angle it was shot at. The dirty window and blown highlights don't really add to the photo. It almost seems like there are two photos here.. one well thought out as far as pose/focus on the cat, and the other being dirty, out of focus and less pleasant to look at.
After reading the Photographers Comments: First challenge? Well, welcome to the insanity we like to call DPC! :) It seems as though you really put a lot of thought into this setup as far as lighting, angles, focus etc. All of those are very important, and you accomplished many of the pieces that you set out to do.
How to improve the shot? Well, this challenge was about reflections, so that has to be an important part of your photo. You've integrated it into your photo nicely, but I'm not sure that it's an essential part of the shot, as my eye is drawn to the cat since it's in such sharp focus. To clean up the reflection, maybe a quick cleaning of the glass before shooting would have helped to get rid of that muddled look that takes away from the professional feel of this shot. Maybe putting something in that favorite spot where your cat lays (a plant, stuffed animal, whatever) so you could preview what the reflection and lighting was going to look like before the cat came along would have given you the chance to fix some of the things you didn't like? And I'm not sure of the reason for the 1600 ISO, but bumping that down a bit would have helped to get rid of the blown highlights on his white fur (I have a black and white cat... I know it's a challenge with that white fur!!) And lastly, moving that lamp just slightly so that it wasn't in the shot, yet you were still getting the benefits of it in his eyes would give the viewer one less thing to focus in on.
Overall, this is a nice shot, and a great first entry. You'll always have those crowds of voters who are sick of cat, kid and flower shots, and those voters who will give out an extra point for a cute kitty, so be sure to keep your subject in mind when you're preparing to shoot. As far as other ways to improve, be sure to vote and leave some comments for other photographers. Just looking at other peoples work and thinking about what you like and don't like will help you to improve with your own photography.
As far as DPC in general, keep entering challenges, and putting more and more forethought into the setups as you did here, and don't forget about all of those camera settings before you click the shutter. Make sure you are critical of everything you leave in the photo for the viewer to see, because often, they will be critical when they click the score. And when they leave you comments (both positive and negative), make sure you take a step back and try to see the value in what they've said and try to use every comment as a learning experience. Good luck in your future challenges!
I hope you found this critique helpful. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it.
What a sweet kitty face! However, the reflection is distorted & needs clarity. How did you get that cat to pose there, let alone have him sit still for the fraction of a second that it took for you to snap the shot!
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