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"The Look"
"The Look"
Blue Moon


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Pet Portrait II (Advanced Editing V*)
Camera: Canon PowerShot S2 IS
Location: Living Room
Date: Dec 9, 2006
Aperture: 2.7
ISO: 50
Shutter: 1/13
Galleries: Portraiture, Animals
Date Uploaded: Dec 12, 2006

 A very modely snapshot of my kitty cat, Luna. A bit about her: I found her 5 years ago in my grandma's backyard along with her two brothers. We had seen feral adult cats in her yard for a couple of months, and then one day there were three little fluffy ones. They were really small (probably 3 weeks at the time) but were already eating the dry food we left out. I really wanted to help them, so I caught them after about an hour of chasing, (she was the hardest to catch) then put them under a hamper. From there I snuck all three of them into my mom's house (she wasn't pleased) and raised them until they were old enough to give away. However, my mom said I could keep one, but it had to be a girl...and wouldn't you know it, there was only 1 girl! So I kept her and named her Luna Azul, which in spanish means "Blue Moon".

I took quite a few shots of her while she was trying to take a nap and actually came away with about 5 good shots. This is my second favorite, only because it looks too soft to me and I'm afraid voters will ding it for that. However, I think this will go over better than my first choice because this is actually a 'portrait'.

Selective color was done within the camera, rotated, cropped, saturated the color more, added soft glow effect, brought down brightness, brought up the contrast, and dodged and burned eyes and fur quite a bit. I love her eyes, so hopefully others will too.

:::After Challenge:::

Wow...I really didn't think this would do that well...wow.
I thought "maybe I'll get to a 5.8, but I doubt it." And now it's my second highest-rated pic, huh.

So, needless to say, I'm very happy about how this did. The hardest part was having the light on both of her eyes because the light was coming from a window on th right side of the image. The problem with using a window for light while using "color accent" in the camera was the fact that the light coming from the window was also blue. Thus, the right side is slightly tinted blue...which I'm suprised more people didn't pick up on. Also, even though after lessening the glow effect, it still looked too soft to me on her face. But-when I backed up 3 feet from the moniter, instead of my usual 1 foot distance, it looked significantly sharper. So hopefully most of the voters didn't sit too close to their monitors like me. Too bad this didn't get in the top 10, but trust me, I'm not complaining.

Thanks to everyone who gave such high scores as well as for all of the comments!

And yes, her eyes really are that awesome :)

Statistics
Place: 20 out of 378
Avg (all users): 6.6255
Avg (commenters): 8.0370
Avg (participants): 6.2555
Avg (non-participants): 7.0154
Views since voting: 3471
Views during voting: 531
Votes: 267
Comments: 45
Favorites: 16 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/04/2009 08:16:58 AM
Excellent Photo! Nicely Processed! I am a big fan of this style of selective saturation to highlight the eyes! Great Job! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2009 03:17:39 PM
Fantastic portrait, love the colors and softness you achieved.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 10:40:45 AM
I like the way you have filled the frame, the softness of the fur make those beautiful blue eyes pop.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/16/2008 11:25:38 PM
Omg this has got to be the most beautiful cat ever! and Luna is the most perfect name for her :o) I was just skimming through the gallery and happen to come across this. Fantastic portrait! Brought me to tears because she reminds me of my kitty that I had to give away a couple years back. Give her a big hug for me!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2007 09:21:49 PM
Beautiful kitty.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2007 01:47:58 PM
I was looking at your photos, and I just love this one. I like the soft look, she looks almost like a wild cat. Love the eyes. You did a great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2007 02:35:06 AM
Absolutely beautiful shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/31/2006 01:41:12 PM
For some reason (((((shrug))))) I was looking around, I̢۪m glad I did. This is absolutely fantastic.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/27/2006 09:16:50 AM
this is a great shot, and i'm not even a cat lover. congrats on a great score!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/25/2006 03:31:22 AM
Incredibly cool shot. I think it deserved a top 10 finish...I love it! and I have both dogs and a cat as pets....well actually 2 wolf crosses and a cat, lol. I love the soft focus look...very nice!!!9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2006 11:04:48 AM
I think what makes this shot nice is the softness. The only thing that bothers me is the color at the bottom right. Excellent job and great score.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/20/2006 05:01:39 PM
I don't get it?! No offence but I really don't get it, I voted a 2 on this, since it's not sharp, it's oddly cropped, weak in contrast and the black and white cat head got this cheap grey tone. It's not beautiful to me, nothing but annoying.

I hope you don't take it personaly but I really don't get it. Thanks to your top 20 anyway.

Message edited by author 2006-12-20 17:02:10.
 12/20/2006 10:33:54 AM
This was one of my favs of challenge. It's an example of selective desat really working. You have a very strong composition going with the two eyes and nose forming a triange that draws viewer's eyes to center. Very strong photo. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/20/2006 07:41:27 AM
This is BEAUTIFUL!!! I love this soft dreamy form of processing too! Fantastic job! And congratulations on such an incredible finish in this amazing challenge!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/20/2006 01:11:36 AM
great close up. Congratulations on your top 20 finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/19/2006 09:30:42 PM
Lovely sapphire blue eyes!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/19/2006 11:42:35 AM
Gorgeous eyes
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/19/2006 11:13:32 AM
Very nice! Your processing is well done. With any luck at all you wont get those grinch voters that despise Selective Desaturation. And if so I'll make up for some of em. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 12:52:01 PM
Great job on the eyes, but the blue tint on lower right is competing for attention.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/17/2006 08:35:58 PM
Very nice desat with just the right amount of softness. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/17/2006 02:06:46 AM
Excellent presentation with a very courageous crop that works wonderfully. Almost has a gflamour feel to it. A touch of noise at the bottom but no big deal really. Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2006 01:46:04 PM
Absolutely beautiful! Great work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2006 09:25:38 AM
simply...beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2006 03:18:34 PM
Very nice color choice, and neat crop. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2006 11:06:58 AM
Beautiful picture, love the eyes, the best cat picture yet. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2006 09:16:02 AM
beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2006 09:11:17 AM
Beautiful Eyes!! Very Nice!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2006 06:15:46 AM
4 - Good potential, think I understand the concept, not sure you've achieved it though. Seems to be blur issues, but could be intentional. Bigger (640 height) make this better in my opinion - if the quality was there.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/14/2006 05:59:33 PM
Pretty eyes, and I like the composition. This would have worked better for me if it had been a sharper focus though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/14/2006 05:19:48 PM
Like the soft effect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/14/2006 12:15:57 PM
Beautiful job! Love the softness and blue eyes! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 09:48:24 PM
Love the pic & the eyes!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 09:00:39 PM
Great close up. Love the blue eyes and grey nose.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 07:51:10 PM
very pretty!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 07:42:09 PM
"That face, that face, that cover girl face." This photo could easily be on the cover of a cat/pet magazine that you see sold at Petsmart stores. Wow, just look at those gorgious blue eyes! They really draw the viewer in. The little touch of soft focus adds to the dreamy look especially since the attention is arrested by those baby blues.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 07:24:10 PM
Excellent composition and selective desaturation. The blue eyes are so captivating. Great job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 03:58:07 PM
Ok, this just may be my favorite photo! Wonderful shot, cropping and composition!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 03:52:09 PM
Normally I don't like pictures where parts of the face are croped off, but this one hits the spot! Nice composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 01:18:38 PM
My what captivating eyes!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 10:21:27 AM
nice - the blue eyes make this image - very well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 08:10:26 AM
Beautiful. Perrrrfect use of desaturation. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 04:14:48 AM
wow, what expression! the eyes' color are manipulated with ps?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 02:08:52 AM
Love the softness of this one...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 01:05:28 AM
Stunning
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 12:38:21 AM
That's a ribbon... count on that.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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