Kitten Picture, Critique Requested

[WiollowTree]

Hello all;
First time posting here. I am trying to sort of self-teach with the help of input from others, and I really am lacking in the critique area of my life!! Among the many areas where I know I need improvement, is indoor photography. I took this photo of my 4 month old Siamese mix kitten the other day, and I'd really like input on this photo.

I took it with my Nikon D80 with my 18-135 mm kit lens, at 75mm, 5.6aperture, ISO of 640, white balance set to incandescent, 1/50th sec exposure time, no flash, and spot metering.
I adjusted the color balance in Photoshop because it just didn't look quite right out of the camera to me, and here's what I ended up with:

I would really like to know if this looks OK? What could be better about it?







visit my photography blog! Willow Tree Photography - 2010 Photo Blog

visit my YouTube Channel! YouTube - Yautjakshai's Channel

[karen_s]

Very cute shot. The blue blanket around him really brings out those eyes!

I like the shot as is other than on my screen it has a very strong blue cast and maybe a tad dark. Kitties are warm and cuddly so I would suggest warming up the white balance to make the scene a bit more inviting. If you shot in Raw format and use Photoshops raw converter, you should have a temp or white balance slider tool. Simply slide it towards the yellow side and the Kitty should start to warm up nicely. I don't think it will affect the blues much unless you go to far. If you shot in jpg, you can still warm it up, just not sure where the option is in Photoshop. (I use Lightroom and Photoshop Elements.) Then, you might lighten just a tad with the exposure slider. Monitors vary so take that last suggestion with a grain of salt :-)

[Qanths]

It's a great shot but I would suggest you make the white balance whiter and use a white blanket instead of a blue one so you can really make those beautiful blue eyes contrast with everything else. In short, make everything white just like the kitten's skin so that the eyes will be the only blue which will draw everyone's attention to them.

H.S.
Flickr: Qanths1's Photostream
Photography at Work