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Mantel Art
Mantel Art
mariomel


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Pet Portrait (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Location: My Mantel, Living Room
Date: Apr 3, 2005
Aperture: F 5.6
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/15 sec
Galleries: Portraiture, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Apr 3, 2005

 This is our cat Knickers. She loves to sit on the mantelpiece. Usually, she is trying to eat the dried flowers, but today she was happy to sit and pose for me. Yesterday, she sat up there, and when I went to get my camera, she thought it was a death ray gun, and fled under a bed somewhere. Somehow, today she accepted it for what it was. Search me.

Shot using my 28-135 IS @ 44mm, in RAW mode and converted using EVU. Slight exposure compensation of +0.5.

In PS7: Applied Lomo action to get more intense contrast as well as dark outer edge. Converted to greyscale then to quadtone. Dodge and burn to make her face stand out more, and darken shadows and outer edges. Resized, applied USM then made a layer with Gaussian Blur. Removed the blur from her eyes, then did some more D&B for final touches. Oh yeah, at the last minute I realized the photo was not perfectly level, so made a slight adjustement to correct slant. Slight cropping as well.


Statistics
Place: 6 out of 273
Avg (all users): 6.7840
Avg (commenters): 8.1538
Avg (participants): 6.5920
Avg (non-participants): 7.0568
Views since voting: 3639
Views during voting: 354
Votes: 213
Comments: 35
Favorites: 16 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/13/2005 01:57:46 PM
Congrats on your top ten finish here Mario.

This is not a photograph, so much as it is art in it's present composition. Very well done and cannot find a single thing to change here.

I would be proud to have taken this myself and would consider it one of my best had I shot this. Another in my my DPC favorites!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2005 10:59:13 PM
lovely composition and perfect lighting...but the icing is the very wry, human expression on knickers. i get the feeling that if she could be raising one brow at you, she would be. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2005 10:17:57 PM
congrats on a top ten with this very classey image. beautiful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2005 05:47:37 PM
my favourite of the challenge! Extremely well done portrait and beautiful bw to boot. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2005 03:44:50 PM
Beautiful portrait and cat. We used to have a cat who looked very similar to her. Is she a Maine Coon?

Well done on the high finish. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2005 12:36:43 AM
A Beautiful photo! Nice work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2005 12:06:07 AM
A very unique capture. Congratulations on your 6th finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/10/2005 11:46:55 PM
Lovely and magical. What a model. Bumping up on great composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2005 09:41:15 PM
This is a nice composition..I like the vase and positioning of cat; the tones in this portrait are very soft, too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2005 09:12:55 PM
Wonderful concept..beautifully lit! Desaturated look works really well here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2005 04:37:43 PM
Very clever ... I like the black and white, and how she's sitting pretty like a piece of art!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2005 02:52:47 PM
very nice tones. I have 3 cats and I have no idea how I'd catch them in a pose like this :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2005 02:48:58 PM
And so it is...sweet kitty!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2005 10:25:02 AM
I like the simplicity. Balanced. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2005 04:24:16 AM
Geat Idea showing the cats enviroment so well 10 its one of those shots you love or hate.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2005 01:35:38 AM
In MY perosnal opinion this is by far the best shot in the challenge, and it's my only 10. it's the only one of these shots I'd want to hang on the wall iuf I weren't connected to the animal emotionally. The composition is really terrific, the sense of place is immacualte, the tones are lovely, the animal has a certain "presence" that is appealing. I hope it does well but fear it will be eclipsed by 'cute"
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/08/2005 12:04:56 AM
If the cat had been closer to the vase, this would be perfect. As is, I could still see it on a calendar.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2005 10:58:19 PM
What expressive eyes you have my dear! So beautiful! This is a very well composition shot, very balanced and the coloration is wonderfu. The only thing that bothers me is the picture above the cat's head. If it was just the cat and the vase it would really focus me on the cat adn the vase would lead me out of the shot. As it is, the picture is competing with both the cat and the vase. A 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2005 04:25:33 PM
Now doesn't she look just like she rules the roost! She is beautiful (sorry if it's a he). I had a very beloved cat who looked just like her, who died at 14! That's why I especially like this picture! Good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2005 02:10:34 PM
very crisp well balanced bumpin up to a 9. . good luck
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2005 01:02:24 AM
Outstanding! a 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2005 04:08:17 PM
This is great!
The first real portrait I have seen in this Challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2005 03:59:26 PM
This is gorgeous.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2005 03:25:54 PM
This is a wonderful image, gorgeous cat! 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2005 12:46:51 PM
This is my second go-around =) - Very beautiful! I love the b7w... excellent contrast and good composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2005 08:06:59 AM
gorgeous...very poised...excellent photo...love the black and white...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 03:29:24 PM
beautiful composition, light and tone. I hope you do well. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 03:27:24 PM
Lovely composition!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 02:51:13 PM
Perrrrrfection! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 10:01:33 AM
I like this a lot, although I think I would have liked it even a bit better without the picture in the background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 04:48:14 AM
Beautifully captured.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 02:14:27 AM
Very elegantly composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 01:20:29 AM
Absolutely love this one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 12:59:40 AM
Beautiful photo. Very classy. Has me thinking Cat Fancy.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2005 12:11:56 AM
oh wow this takes the cake... best portrait here, and way better than mine.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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