well he used to be wild.

Charlie Brown

ok so this is my boy, Bueller. He is just a big black cat, but when pressed for a breed i call him a Tallahassian Black, as he was as FSU cat.


anyway these are uncropped, in edited and horribly taken. so all the comments you can give me are very very much wanted.


without furter ado, Bueller...









Thanks for looking.


Charlie

digital faerie

Charlie Brown wrote:

ok so this is my boy, Bueller. He is just a big black cat, but when pressed for a breed i call him a Tallahassian Black, as he was as FSU cat.


anyway these are uncropped, in edited and horribly taken. so all the comments you can give me are very very much wanted.


without furter ado, Bueller...









Thanks for looking.


Charlie

one thing I've learned when it comes to animals is that eyes are pretty key to establishing a link to your viewer. not that you always have to have eyeballs in frame, I mean, sleeping animal images can be just as strong as those that are awake.

the 3rd one was my favorite, I'm a sucker for kitty tongues, I mean, they're just so darn cutewhen they leave their tongue sticking out! do you have PS? if so, try to sharpen the image a bit (don't over do it, it will be obvious) and try to adjust your shadows/highlights too and take care of the overblown blanket framing him.

the first one has pretty good focus on the eyes.....I tend to want to see what the animal is looking at when the gaze isn't directed at me.....unless there's something else going on to make up for this mystery like his pose, or he's getting ready to pounce.

god, I'm probably the worst person to ask about this!

where's all our whizzes at? (sid, fish, greaper....)

it may just be me but I don't think the 2nd one is all that salvageable (now watch one of our experts come along and shove that opinion up the you know what) but it doesn't do anything for me.

I hope this helps some, and I'm also sure others will have much BETTER advice!!

keep shooting, cats can be a difficult subject, well, I guess any animal is for that matter!

digital faerie

one more thing....about that flash.

if you can, try to tape a piece of paper over the flash so that the paper angles up toward the ceiling, this will help to "bounce" the light and diffuse it in the process.

Charlie Brown

yes he is a very difficult subject, very. the little #&)@)#(*!!!!! kept moving on me, and he would close his eyes everytime the flash would go off, im going to try a piect of tisse taped to the flash to try to diffuse it a little. hopefully he wont close his eyes.


im no good in photoshop, im actually useless with it. i need o mess arround some or find a good step by step tutorial for making basic adjustments. mayhaps a trip to the bookstore is in order.


charlie

wxwax

The biggest issue with yer shots, Chas, is the camera's flash. That flash isn't really all that hot, and so it affects your shots.

I reckon that first image is a good 'un. You haven't centered the cat, it's slightly to one side, has a nice pose. You might have lowered the camera, made the angle less normal, that helps make a shot interesting. But the flash is harsh, and lights up the sheet. That takes over the shot, because our eyes go for the brightest thing in a shot. Also, the cam adjusted its exposure so the bright sheet wouldn't be too hot. Which means poor ol' Bueller is too dark. And he has that harsh shadow right behind him. You did lots of things right in this shot, but the flash makes it tough to execute.

On the second shot, you did center the cat, and IMHO that makes a weaker composition. I would have definitely played with where the camera was - this looks too much like the standard 'looking down at the cat' angle. Again, with the flash, the camera automatically adjusted for the brightest part of the image, and so yer cat's too dark agin.

On the third shot, the tongue's cuuute. And you definitely had the right idea - filling the frame with the cat, and it's on a nice, energetic diagonal. Lots to like about yer composition. But the camera's too close to the cat. That's why the flash is overpowering. And it's also why the cat's out of focus - you got closer than the camera can focus. I can't remember if the S50 has a Macro (super close up) setting. If it does, you'd need to set the camera to Macro to get that close and have the shot be in focus.

Some good stuff, Charlie. It's just that that flash is a bear. Better to put the cat in fairly bright light, and let the flash sort of fill things in, rather than be the primary source of light. You could try what Digital Faerie suggested, not sure if it would work with that flash, or if it's even physically possible. With my G3 I tried putting a scrim of tissue paper over the flash - I had inconsistent results.

Charlie Brown

wxwax wrote:

The biggest issue with yer shots, Chas, is the camera's flash. That flash isn't really all that hot, and so it affects your shots.

I reckon that first image is a good 'un. You haven't centered the cat, it's slightly to one side, has a nice pose. You might have lowered the camera, made the angle less normal, that helps make a shot interesting. But the flash is harsh, and lights up the sheet. That takes over the shot, because our eyes go for the brightest thing in a shot. Also, the cam adjusted its exposure so the bright sheet wouldn't be too hot. Which means poor ol' Bueller is too dark. And he has that harsh shadow right behind him. You did lots of things right in this shot, but the flash makes it tough to execute.

On the second shot, you did center the cat, and IMHO that makes a weaker composition. I would have definitely played with where the camera was - this looks too much like the standard 'looking down at the cat' angle. Again, with the flash, the camera automatically adjusted for the brightest part of the image, and so yer cat's too dark agin.

On the third shot, the tongue's cuuute. And you definitely had the right idea - filling the frame with the cat, and it's on a nice, energetic diagonal. Lots to like about yer composition. But the camera's too close to the cat. That's why the flash is overpowering. And it's also why the cat's out of focus - you got closer than the camera can focus. I can't remember if the S50 has a Macro (super close up) setting. If it does, you'd need to set the camera to Macro to get that close and have the shot be in focus.

Some good stuff, Charlie. It's just that that flash is a bear. Better to put the cat in fairly bright light, and let the flash sort of fill things in, rather than be the primary source of light. You could try what Digital Faerie suggested, not sure if it would work with that flash, or if it's even physically possible. With my G3 I tried putting a scrim of tissue paper over the flash - I had inconsistent results.

thanks for the comments, i know that flash is killing alot of my shots. im going to rig up some ghetto fabulous ligh fixtures in the dungeon here...errr my bedroom that is, so i can play with using the flash as fill in, trying to diffuse it, and turning it off all together. You still have that G3?



charlie

wxwax

Charlie Brown wrote:

thanks for the comments, i know that flash is killing alot of my shots. im going to rig up some ghetto fabulous ligh fixtures in the dungeon here...errr my bedroom that is, so i can play with using the flash as fill in, trying to diffuse it, and turning it off all together. You still have that G3?



charlie

Sure do.

Charlie Brown

wxwax wrote:

Sure do.

you use it often? have any need for a laptop, or a cat? I have vicodin to trade!?!?!?


charlie