Buster, Emily & Sophia

[Brendan Dozier]

As new a member to BPN, I did not get a chance to know Dave, but from all of your comments I can tell he was a very supportive and special person, and you guys really loved him. Your tribute helps others to know him and keep his spirit alive. Looking at his website, I was amazed at what a gifted photographer and artist he was.

Being a cat lover, I was inspired by Dave, Richard, Ken, and Christopher to do something with cats. From L to R this is Buster, Emily, and Sophia. All from the same litter and rescued through an organization called "Kitten Rescue".

These guys are a lot of fun, and I love their expressions in this photo. Trying to get them all to look at the camera together was a bit of a challenge. Did some saturation & desaturation, hues adjustments, boosted levels & color in eyes, changed BG color, and added brush stroke filter. I lost some wiskers along the way!

[Julie Kenward]

Brendan, I'm sure Dave would have loved this one. The cats are so adorable! I see two things you might want to take a second look at...

First, there's a pretty definite blue (cool) cast to the cats and a yellow (warm) cast to the BG. I think either desaturating the blues in the cats or cooling down the BG might make the two look more unified. I also think a tiny bit more feathering on the edges of the cats would help them blend in more realistically with the BG.

Overall...a beautiful image and good for you for going with rescue animals!

[Christopher Miller]

They look like very sweet cats, Brendan. If they're anything like our cats, I'm sure these three can be a pack of trouble at times too!

I love the poses and BG. I kind of wish they were looking up at the camera a bit more, but I know trying to get three cats in one photo you have to take what you get. The eyes are beautiful. I agree with Jules regarding the color casts. Very nicely done!

[denise ippolito]

Brendan, I really like the look of the overall image and the way you processed it is very good. I see Jules point about the color cast though I'm not sure if it wasn't intentional. I might try to refine the edges on the selections just a bit more if it were mine. Nicely done and I think Dave would love it!!!

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Jules, Christopher, and Denise - I do see the color casts left over from when I desaturated everything but the eyes. It is always better to take a break and look at it with fresh eyes. I definitely knew about the rough edges, and I knew about feathering, but just haven't taken the time to practice using it. I forgot that I had moved Buster over from the left so he was closer in the frame, and that is really rough. So when I select their shapes, do I just set the feathering function to "1" or something? Thanks for your help.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Brendan, this is a lovely trio! Sure, having them look more towards the camera would have been nice but there's an expression about 'herding cats' that pretty much explains why that wasn't going to happen. :D

I like the look of this as it is. The contrasting color casts look interesting to me and add depth to the image. I honestly like the cut-and paste-look this has.

[denise ippolito]

Thanks Jules, Christopher, and Denise - I do see the color casts left over from when I desaturated everything but the eyes. It is always better to take a break and look at it with fresh eyes. I definitely knew about the rough edges, and I knew about feathering, but just haven't taken the time to practice using it. I forgot that I had moved Buster over from the left so he was closer in the frame, and that is really rough. So when I select their shapes, do I just set the feathering function to "1" or something? Thanks for your help.

Brendan, This is from the Photoshop CS4 help section and may answer some of your questions~
RadiusDetermines the size of the region around the selection boundary in which edge refinement occurs. Increase the radius to create a more exact selection boundary in areas with soft transitions or fine detail, such as those in short hair or fur, or blurred boundaries.ContrastSharpens selection edges and removes fuzzy artifacts. Increasing contrast can remove excessive noise near selection edges caused by a high Radius setting. SmoothReduces irregular areas (“hills and valleys”) in the selection boundary to create a smoother outline. Enter a value or move the slider from 0 to 100.FeatherCreates a soft-edged transition between the selection and its surrounding pixels. Enter a value or move the slider to define the width of the feathered edge from 0 to 250 pixels. Contract/ExpandShrinks or enlarges the selection boundary. Enter a value or move the slider to set the amount from 0 to 100% to expand, 0 to ‑100% to contract. Most useful for making subtle adjustments to soft-edged selections. Shrinking the selection can help remove unwanted background colors from selection edges.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Denise, I think it was mostly laziness on my part The outlines do have some "hills and valleys" for sure. You guys are really helpful and supportive (and honest!)

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Ken - I have been pretty lazy about refining my selections Isn't funny when you are working on something, and you just say to yourself, "oh man, how much processing am I going to have to do with this thing?!!" Or sometimes, you work for hours, thinking you are really going places with it, and then suddenly realize, "this is just a huge piece of crap!"

When you mentioned paper cut-out, it also reminds me of those animations they had on Monty Python's Flying Circus, which I thought were really cool. Though, of course, mine was not intentional

[Cheryl Slechta]

Brendan, I like it just the way it is. I like the spacing of the cats and the fact that one has blue eyes. I think Dave would have liked it a lot. (Been there, done that on working for hours on something that ends up in the trash).

[Brendan Dozier]

I know this is a little late, but decided to do a different version. Used a little bit of topaz adjust and clean on this. The other was just too washed out looking. Wanted to stay closer to the original color of BG and photo - desat BG a bit, and boosted the levels in the eyes. That's a window screen they are sitting against - time to get new screens

[Christopher Miller]

Beautiful, Brendan! I like it even better than the first one.