Betty lying in the sun

[Matthew_Scullion]

Our British Blue Shorthair kitten, aged 10 months.

This is one of those where I think I liked it more SooC than now I have post-prodded it. I think it should be good but for some reason am not that happy with it.

What would you do differently with this shot?



Details:

Nikon D200, Nikkor 18-70mm @ 70mm. ISO 400, AP, f/4.5.

SB-900 flash through Gary Fong Lightsphere. Natural sunlight though window to camera right.

Post prod in NX2: dodge and burn, crop, sharpen.

[crockny]

I want this kitty ... so I guess the photo works!

[crockny]

Well on second thought wouldn't it be better if the light was more on her face and less on her behind?

[Matthew_Scullion]

Ha ha, yes! I guess it would. That's how the light was streaming in through the window unfortunately, hence lighting the rest of the shot with the strobe.

I could potentially bring up her face in post prod a bit - that was one of the things I was hoping for feedback on. Do people think the highlights towards the back of the scene mean her face looks under exposed. Is it just underexposed? Are the highlights distracting? Any or all combinations or above?!?

Glad you like the cat, she's awesome isn't she.

Thanks!

[Hill Country Hack]

Try cropping tighter to get rid of the brightness on the flanks of the cat. Nice looking kitty!

[natalie_danielle]

I would have cropped it where her head is in the bottom right corner of the frame (putting the bottom right crosshairs of a 3x3 grid basically right in the middle of her face) and then I would have added some fill light to brighten up her face a bit more. I also would have added a bit of contrast because her fur color against the background color doesn't stand out a lot to me. Maybe boost the blacks a tiny bit. Lastly I would have burned the bright cushion that is behind her to make it less distracting... other than that I think its a really good image, very nicely focused and not bad soon either