Janet DiMattia
February 2021 - Bertie the Siamese
About the Image(s)
Was attempting to take pictures of a relative's two Siamese cats - a Seal point and a Lilac point. The Seal point did not want any part of it while the Lilac point Bertie was very accepting. I had hoped to use natural lighting but it was late in the day so had to depend on the on-camera flash and had to use the red-eye correction tool as a start to any post-processing I did. The red area to the left of the cat was a red vest hanging on the chair. I chose not to remove/crop it as it did add a bit of faint color to give it a more candid look instead of a formal portrait shot - which is what I was aiming at. Also tried to bring out the texture of the chair he was sitting on. Used my P7100 older camera at ISO 200, S 1/30, A 3.2.
7 comments posted
Hi Janet,
What a beautiful kitty. Looks sharp with a nice background.
I like the way the cat is sitting with its tail ed around pointing at its toes. Makes for a good composition.
Being the light source is on camera it makes the lighting very flat. The light was reflected in the eyes making them look foggy with no detail in what could be beautiful eyes. I feel the red vest is a distraction. I also feel this is more of a portrait and a border line close-up. Not really a close-up. If it was just a head shot that would be a close-up. It is a beautiful cat. Posted: 02/04/2021 09:40:31
What a beautiful kitty. Looks sharp with a nice background.
I like the way the cat is sitting with its tail ed around pointing at its toes. Makes for a good composition.
Being the light source is on camera it makes the lighting very flat. The light was reflected in the eyes making them look foggy with no detail in what could be beautiful eyes. I feel the red vest is a distraction. I also feel this is more of a portrait and a border line close-up. Not really a close-up. If it was just a head shot that would be a close-up. It is a beautiful cat. Posted: 02/04/2021 09:40:31
Hi, Dick.
Your comments made a lot of sense. I did make copy of it without the vest showing but did not submit it as it really was a portrait. Good advice for us to keep in mind - think about showing only a portion a subject - in a close up.
I don't really like the on-camera flash and seldom use it but that was the camera I had with me. With my D500 I do make accommodations with the settings,etc. as it does not have a flash.
That cat is really a sweetheart!
Thanks, Janet Posted: 02/04/2021 10:23:47
Your comments made a lot of sense. I did make copy of it without the vest showing but did not submit it as it really was a portrait. Good advice for us to keep in mind - think about showing only a portion a subject - in a close up.
I don't really like the on-camera flash and seldom use it but that was the camera I had with me. With my D500 I do make accommodations with the settings,etc. as it does not have a flash.
That cat is really a sweetheart!
Thanks, Janet Posted: 02/04/2021 10:23:47
Hello Janet,
I just joined this group so I am gaining experience in reading these remarks before submitting any photo yet. I agree with Dick when he says that the red jacket shown in the left edge is a distraction. I would also personally remove it or darken it using either Lightroom or Luminar. Technically you made a good shot of this cat, super crispy in focus. May be some area in the chest could be considered as slightly overexposed. But this is difficult when shooting a white cat. My eyes anyway move directly to the cat's face but after a while it when to the red jacket. Posted: 02/04/2021 15:02:29
I just joined this group so I am gaining experience in reading these remarks before submitting any photo yet. I agree with Dick when he says that the red jacket shown in the left edge is a distraction. I would also personally remove it or darken it using either Lightroom or Luminar. Technically you made a good shot of this cat, super crispy in focus. May be some area in the chest could be considered as slightly overexposed. But this is difficult when shooting a white cat. My eyes anyway move directly to the cat's face but after a while it when to the red jacket. Posted: 02/04/2021 15:02:29
Welcome to the group, George. Thanks for responding.
I think this image works better as a portrait as noted by Dick. I had debated about that before I sent it in. If I were to use it as a portrait I think I would just crop off the left hand edge as there seems to be enough room to do that.
Looking forward to see an image of yours in March.
Janet Posted: 02/04/2021 15:33:04
I think this image works better as a portrait as noted by Dick. I had debated about that before I sent it in. If I were to use it as a portrait I think I would just crop off the left hand edge as there seems to be enough room to do that.
Looking forward to see an image of yours in March.
Janet Posted: 02/04/2021 15:33:04
Thanks very much, Janet, for your reply to my comment. I look forward to being able to upload my first photo. Posted: 02/04/2021 15:49:11
Hi Janet,
Oh! What a beautiful cat and I love the more formal portrait version that you added to the thread. The sweet details of crisp whiskers and fur reinforce my idea of interesting textures. Also, as Dick mentioned the composition is noteworthy with the view of the cat's tail tip leading toward the toes.
I too, found Dick's suggestions about what to categorize as "close-ups" for our group helpful from his critique of my image in the last round. I'd look forward to seeing your capture of the kitty's face and gorgeous eyes in the future. Thanks for considering this :) Posted: 02/10/2021 14:28:54
Oh! What a beautiful cat and I love the more formal portrait version that you added to the thread. The sweet details of crisp whiskers and fur reinforce my idea of interesting textures. Also, as Dick mentioned the composition is noteworthy with the view of the cat's tail tip leading toward the toes.
I too, found Dick's suggestions about what to categorize as "close-ups" for our group helpful from his critique of my image in the last round. I'd look forward to seeing your capture of the kitty's face and gorgeous eyes in the future. Thanks for considering this :) Posted: 02/10/2021 14:28:54
Lovely portrait! However, I agree the vest is distracting and I prefer the cropped version. I think sometimes it's a struggle to decide whether to include the whole of the object or to cut part of it out. I've cut it out sometimes and then been criticized for removing context (but that was in my Fine Arts group). At any rate, cropping this down to just the head would remove the beauty of the tail pointing to the toes, which makes it such a lovely composition. Posted: 02/21/2021 14:20:07