orton a cat....

[peeperita]

Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

originaL image

the original was shot at 8 in the morning.....there was that typical blue cast of midmorning shade, the framing was too large to feature her, and the focus was not all it should have been......a prime candidate for post work....i've been on this kick about redirecting the angle of light, so that was my jumping off point....i began with a tighter crop, made several selectuions of either the cat or the background and set them to different blending modes till she became separated enough from the foliage....i then began applying highly diffused swatches of color, layer upon layer and set to either overlay, soft light, or color to "direct the lighting on her fur and select portions of the background to hopefully make it appear as if the light was now beaming in through leaves from the west and getting golden....

at this point i am satisfied with the lighting but the soft focus was bugging me......so, i oversharpened the flattened image on another layer and erased all but my girl.....flattening again, i then applied a modified orton effect by duplicating twice, setting the top layer to screen and merging down to the copied layer......copying that layer, applying a gaussian blur of around 20 and setting that layer to multiply......and finally adjusting the top two layer's opacity until it sat right with me.....

i feel like it came out like an illustration in a child's storybook and my last looksee had me thinking i should have lightened up her rump just a tad to separate her more from the background....

so, does it work for you?.....was the end result worth the bajillion layers i applied and the half burned casserole i neglected?.....does the repositioning of light come off as realiastic.....is it too much the "illustration" and not enough the image?

thanks for looking

peeper

[lputman]

Yes, it was worth the bajillion layers...and probably the casserole too .

You have the most processing patience ever and I admire that.
Just a tad bit (and I think only a very little bit) lighter on the tail side.

[peeperita]

thanks so much for your comment.....i'll lighten that rump for sure.....

peeper

[Father Bob]

Really nice job.
Looks almost 3D when viewed large.
Do you have the original. It'd be interesting to see the original lighting and compare and see the changes you made.

[windrider86]

It does work and rather well. I like how the light hits the cat and yet you managed not to get the white blown out.
The one and only thing I would try and change is the one stick that goes across the green right behind you kitty. It just doesnt go with all the green.
Well done my friend!

[dlaf]

That really is a magical photo! Amazing when compared to the original. You really know how to perk up the ordinary, peeper!

[peeperita]

Originally Posted by Father Bob

Really nice job.
Looks almost 3D when viewed large.
Do you have the original. It'd be interesting to see the original lighting and compare and see the changes you made.

thanks for commenting....you can find the original here...

Originally Posted by windrider86

It does work and rather well. I like how the light hits the cat and yet you managed not to get the white blown out.
The one and only thing I would try and change is the one stick that goes across the green right behind you kitty. It just doesnt go with all the green.
Well done my friend!

that's what i like about getting other eyes to look one of my images....i so concentrated on the cat and the light that i never saw that stick.....thanks, wind....

Originally Posted by dlaf

That really is a magical photo! Amazing when compared to the original. You really know how to perk up the ordinary, peeper!

thank you......so so images are the most fun to work with....

peeper

[wannabehorsephotographer]

Great edit! He really pops out of the foliage, and my you spent a lot of work on him My husband thinks it's weird that I can spend so much time fine tuning a pic, but I think it's worth it in the end to take a so-so image to something wonderful. Good job, and beautiful eyes on that cat!

[wannabehorsephotographer]

Do you mind explaining what you mean by "highly diffused swatches of color". I love the edit and wanted to play around with a few of your steps.

[Father Bob]

Very nice job with the light. I, too, would be interested know how you create the redirected lighting effect.