This is a nice arrangement of the cats under the tree. How in the world did you get 4 of them to lay there and look at you?
The color balance is off due to the lights in the room. It is an easy adjustment to make in your photo editing program. The other thing that would help this image is to open up the shadows. You have a lot of light around and under the tree but little of it is getting to the cats. A fill flash or reflector would have helped but as is if you have raw and or photoshop you can use the shadow slider and open it up a little.
The two things I like best about this shot are the perspective (low angle) and the warm, cozy tones from the natural lighting. As my personal preference, I wouldn't want to see that changed. Even the color-coordinated wrapping benefit from the glow of that light.
Regarding details of cats' faces, if you only have a jpg, it'd be interesting to see posted to pp forum for advice on coaxing more detail, while keeping natural. But a raw file would be perfect to work with.
Strictly from composition pov, I'd lose the kitty on the right (sorry!!) and crop to the edge of tree, removing the wall. That way you have an abundance of presents and still a fair number of kitties :)
Regarding the challenge's theme, this is a truly delightful, sweet and loving shot, Angela!
Country's Mama wrote:
This is a nice arrangement of the cats under the tree. How in the world did you get 4 of them to lay there and look at you?
The color balance is off due to the lights in the room. It is an easy adjustment to make in your photo editing program. The other thing that would help this image is to open up the shadows. You have a lot of light around and under the tree but little of it is getting to the cats. A fill flash or reflector would have helped but as is if you have raw and or photoshop you can use the shadow slider and open it up a little.
This is a nice arrangement of the cats under the t... (
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Country's Mama, to answer your question as how I got them all under the tree... we have heated floors in the sunroom and you need a spatula to remove them once they find the hot spots!! I just posted a shot of all 6 under the tree! As far as lighting and technical changes, I just photograph for fun and didn't realize this shot would be up for critique!!
Thanks for taking the time!
:-D
Linda From Maine wrote:
The two things I like best about this shot are the perspective (low angle) and the warm, cozy tones from the natural lighting. As my personal preference, I wouldn't want to see that changed. Even the color-coordinated wrapping benefit from the glow of that light.
Regarding details of cats' faces, if you only have a jpg, it'd be interesting to see posted to pp forum for advice on coaxing more detail, while keeping natural. But a raw file would be perfect to work with.
Strictly from composition pov, I'd lose the kitty on the right (sorry!!) and crop to the edge of tree, removing the wall. That way you have an abundance of presents and still a fair number of kitties :)
Regarding the challenge's theme, this is a truly delightful, sweet and loving shot, Angela!
The two things I like best about this shot are the... (
show quote)
Thanks Linda for your very kind comments and you know how I feel about my cats, but I did take your advise and cropped Andrew (temporarily) out of the photo!!
I just shoot for fun without giving much thought into the technical aspects.
angela k wrote:
Country's Mama, to answer your question as how I got them all under the tree... we have heated floors in the sunroom and you need a spatula to remove them once they find the hot spots!! I just posted a shot of all 6 under the tree! As far as lighting and technical changes, I just photograph for fun and didn't realize this shot would be up for critique!!
Thanks for taking the time!
:-D
Looks like you were the lucky chosen one this week to go for critique. I would take it as a complement. :-D
This is one of those fun shots you'll treasure. Nice. I like the arrangement of the cats, since you can see all of them individually. As someone else said, the angle is quite nice.
I think I would have taken a bit of the warmth out of the lighting to be a bit more complimentary to the cats. Also, if you use LR, I'd throw a bit a fill light on the cats to give them a bit more detail. The last cat has only wall behind him. I think if you had moved a bit to the right and put him more in front of the packages it might have been better.
LPigott
Loc: Monterey Peninsula, CA
Great concept for holiday photo! The only problem I see is the back lighting causing the faces to be darker than the backdrop.
AzPicLady wrote:
This is one of those fun shots you'll treasure. Nice. I like the arrangement of the cats, since you can see all of them individually. As someone else said, the angle is quite nice.
I think I would have taken a bit of the warmth out of the lighting to be a bit more complimentary to the cats. Also, if you use LR, I'd throw a bit a fill light on the cats to give them a bit more detail. The last cat has only wall behind him. I think if you had moved a bit to the right and put him more in front of the packages it might have been better.
This is one of those fun shots you'll treasure. N... (
show quote)
Thanks AzPicLady for your comments and I'm glad you enjoyed my kitty family.... I don't have LR but I did take Linda's advise and did crop out Andrew, temporarily, and the shot looked a lot better with the 3 cats and the presents as the background! This was just one of those fun shots I took without much thought and had no clue it would end up in this section!!
LPigott wrote:
Great concept for holiday photo! The only problem I see is the back lighting causing the faces to be darker than the backdrop.
Thank you LPigott for your comments. When i get some time, i will go back and try to lighten up their faces and also crop out Andrew who's on the right.
I appreciate your visit and comment!
angela k wrote:
Thank you LPigott for your comments. When i get some time, i will go back and try to lighten up their faces and also crop out Andrew who's on the right.
I appreciate your visit and comment!
While you might want to crop poor Andrew out for better composition. Yoou might want to leave him in if it is a family photo that you want to save as a memory.
LPigott
Loc: Monterey Peninsula, CA
angela k wrote:
Thank you LPigott for your comments. When i get some time, i will go back and try to lighten up their faces and also crop out Andrew who's on the right.
I appreciate your visit and comment!
If the wily ones ever cooperate again, you may just want to use a flash or reflector to cast light on their faces ...
Country's Mama wrote:
While you might want to crop poor Andrew out for better composition. Yoou might want to leave him in if it is a family photo that you want to save as a memory.
Country's Mama, i would never cut him out permantely, he is such a sweetheart of a kitty, more like a velcro cat!
:)
LPigott wrote:
If the wily ones ever cooperate again, you may just want to use a flash or reflector to cast light on their faces ...
lol.... I'll remember that for next year, but i did post a shot of of my 6 cats this year under the tree with the help of a wide angle lens. It was titled "Finally"
:)
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