Please CC on this picture of my cat

[Abby Rose]

This is Chauncey, one of our barn cats. He had to stay inside a while after his neuter, and he liked to stare at the camera so I took some pictures. Please tell me what you think of this one. It is the clearest close-up I got of his face, and he has such a nice face. This is from back in January, when I had only had this camera a few weeks. I'm still working on learning about it, but I knew even less back then.

Here is the original:

To try and get the attention away from all the black on the side of his head, I made it into an almost black and white... is the eye thing too "tacky", for lack of a better word? Anyway, I don't think it really worked, but I kept it.

And sort of for fun, orton. I dont really like this one, but since these are the versions I have of this picture I thought I'd post it anyway.

I'm not sure how I feel about the clutter in the background. If I knew I was going to take this picture, I would have cleaned up, but those are the papers around the food and water bowls to keep the floor cleaner. I played with cropping most of it out, but then it cut off his whiskers which I liked less than the clutter. The black blur is one of his sisters, and the stripes are my sock. He was leaning on my leg. Is the baseboard too distracting? Is Chauncey himself much too dark?

Please tell me how I could have improved.

 

[myfotoguy]

Hi Abby,

To be honest, the “clutter” doesn’t personally bother me too much. The cat’s eyes are grabbing my attention because they’re looking right at me (nice!).

I think I would like the BW without any color, but that’s just a personal preference.

A couple suggestions using editing software, (but it will depend on the capabilities of your software), what are you using by the way? I would sharpen the image a little bit. Also, if your software has a shadows/highlight tool you my try with that to lighten up the shadows on the dark side of Chauncey’s face. There are other tools too, depends on what you have to use.

I like the first one best. I like the eyes looking right at me, and how relaxed kitty looks. As you mentioned, a different background would have been better, but first experience into the image is the strong gaze and comfortable position of the cat.

Chauncey is a bit on the dark side on the one side of the face. If the lighting was a bit more even that Orton one might be the best version. Did you use flash? At this distance it may have blown out part of the scene instead of simply filling in the dark side of the face. What kind of camera do you have? You might check into using flash and/or exposure compensation for scenes like this. Then use that flash to fill in the shadows.

Sorry so long of a response, I just wanted to give you my thoughts. If you’re learning (aren’t we all!), check out my link below, maybe it will benefit you. I’m starting a site with basics and working in more advanced stuff as I go. Hoping it benefits others along the way.

The bottom line is the image is strong with the relaxed posture, and the eyes looking at you. Yes, a bit on the dark side on the one side of the face.

 

[Abby Rose]

Thank you for the comments, myfotoguy. I am a beginner (very very beginning beginner...) and I will definitely check out your link! What a good idea.

I'm using picnik, and since I'm not paying for it I can't use any burning/dodging/highlighting/shadowing type tools.

I will try a straight black and white, and some sharpening, thanks for the ideas.

I don't think I used the flash, but I don't quite remember. It was a while ago. :blushing: I'm using a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC H50. I am sort of shy about using the flash, because it seems to mess everything up when I do. I have a lot of work to do, flash-wise. Lots to learn.

The reply wasn't too long at all. Just look at the length of my original post...