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Rascal
Rascal
Techo


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro
Date: May 14, 2007
Galleries: Animals, Black and White
Date Uploaded: May 16, 2007

Viewed: 388
Comments: 8
Favorites: 0

 Stray kitten on the front lawn in high key B/W. This ones character is different than of its siblings which are more afraid of humans.

Color version resized with Bicubic Smoother


I tried my regular b/w conversion techniques, desaturating and playing with levels/curves and selective color for the Whites and Blacks. But non of the ways I knew worked well for this shot. The tones came out too dark and yucky. Time to experiment. I knew I wanted light tones and for the kitten to stand out. As you can see the grass has become almost white like an IR image. I made a copy layer and tried a Gradient Map on it...


I then desaturated the first layer, and tweaked the contrast. And did some slighting erasing on the gradient applied layer in some areas. Flattened the image and tweaked the contrast some more, and sharpened.

Yeah some areas look blown out, but that was on purpose ;) Though they should not distract from the main subject. If your eye stays mainly around the kitten then I've done my job. Not all BHL's are bad. The shot should feel light and fluffy. Going with the kitten's innocence.

P.S.
The photo may seem overly bright in certain areas if your monitor isn't calibrated per this chart here, to see the more subtle shades of gray.
//www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php

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AuthorThread
 05/20/2007 10:35:06 PM
Love this one, great job with PP, and thanks for detailed explanation.
Looks so good in B&W.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 06:21:38 PM
Almost high key but not quite. I really like it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 06:11:31 PM
Beautiful, and I am not a cat person!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 04:43:22 PM
I really like the finished product. It just goes to show that when you know what you want you can go out and get it done ... and very well at that!
Like the soft feel of the photo. It works well with a soft kitten.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 02:26:37 PM
the high key really makes the cat look surreal.. the editing really brings him out.. sweet shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 11:17:03 AM
This looks so cool in the high key processing! The soft grays and whites in the backgound give little Rascal a glamour shot look. Does he get to stay ???? Pleeeease???? Cats are so low maintenance. Rascal looks like he belongs with you :)

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 01:54:26 AM
Love the title and love the image as well.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2007 01:48:23 AM
hmmm not so sure i like this...this is a honest question, what is the difference between high key and blown?
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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