So... I really, really love window shots. I'll start by saying that.
I enjoy the expert editing challenges -- but I was really disappointed that this was expert editing, because I didn't think my imagination could keep up.
But the I started thinking of what types of window shots I loved, and I really liked the empty room or maybe even abandoned building, broken window shots.
Wow... !! That actually makes the window challenge easier if I can make an empty room or broken window!!
All of the sudden the world just opened up and rushed to meet me!
Then it came to a screeching halt, because I still had to figure out how to do it. :)
And, of course, wait until the last day to do it.
The window is the 2nd story window in my front hall. It creates wonderful light/shadow patterns on the wall. Unfortunately, I remembered it later than I wanted, so the light/shadows weren't placed where I wanted. I still don't understand perspective, etc, so instead of moving it where I wanted it -- I left it there.
Here is the window in my front hall:
So there really isn't a floor, because it's not a room -- just that little shelf, so I needed to extend that and make a floor for my "room".
I looked up how to make stars (basically it's just noise -- pretty funky!), so I had an empty room with a window and stars.
Did most of the coloring through color efex pro. First big mistake!! (I'll come back to that later...)
Then I figured there really had to be something in the window. At first I thought maybe my daughter just collapsed in the corner of the room, but what does that have to do with windows? So a cat in the window, it was. Not Moriarty. A black cat in front of a black sky was more than I could handle.
Cinders, my fat cat on a window was a challenge, as well. I photographed her on a piano bench, instead, and the body was too blobby, and things weren't right, so I ended up kinda merging a couple of photographs.
This is one of the few times that I am extremely grateful for the 800 px limit!! Believe me, this covers up for a lot of issues with this cat. (I still can't figure out how to successfully copy a very hairy beast onto another photo successfully. Never looks quite right.
Then, last minute, I realized that there was no cat shadow on the wall!! Argh!!!
But wait! The shadow only has 3 window panes, so there wouldn't be a cat shadow.
It didn't occur to me until Samantha's comment that the shadow should have wrapped onto the floor. It didn't before, because there was no floor there!!
Ah well -- feels kind of silly now, but I'm so glad that it didn't get in the way of people's enjoyment.
Oh -- back to the first mistake.
Never do toning until you're at the end! I had the room so beautifully toned, and I had absolutely no idea what combinations in color efex that I used. So it was nearly impossible to tone the cat appropriately. It would have been so much easier to start off with them un-toned, and dealt with them at the same time.
Ah well, live and learn.
Huge, huge thanks for all the wonderful votes and comments!! What a fun week. :)
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 55 Avg (all users): 7.6333 Avg (commenters): 8.6316 Avg (participants): 6.9697 Avg (non-participants): 7.8851 Views since voting: 4082 Views during voting: 272 Votes: 120 Comments: 51 Favorites: 14 (view)
Wow. Thank you for including your processes. I'm very new to post processing and am amazed and what you've created from that original photo. Well done. Inspirational.
Congratulations on the blue vawendy! I was one of your 10s. Love the way you edited it. The set up looks awesome in the final picture. Love the shadow on the wall, plus every element makes it perfectly put together. Nothing unnecessary in it.
I love kitties. :) Congrats! Glad you noticed what I mentioned though about the light (or lack thereof) on the floor. Whenever I do expert editing stuff, I really try to imagine what things would look like, lighting wise, if it were real, in order to make the most blended, realistic photo, despite the fact if it's more fantasy or reality. Luckily you chose a very real image and not something fantasy-ish, so visualizing how the light would have reacted to the floor is easy. :) You just gotta remember to do it. Nice work either way!
Absolutely fantastic! (Even with the "shadow problem"). The cat even looks like it is watching something with great interest. For me, the picture raises a lot of imaginative questions - why is the room empty? Why is there a cat in the empty room? What happened here? Or is this a fresh start? And then, emotively, a feeling of watchfulness, loneliness (maybe abandonment), but the almost golden tones dampen the melancholy and lend a touch of hope and anticipation. And all that is virtually "first impression". This is not a photograph - it is art!
Major congratulations, Wendy. I think you can now call yourself an Expert Editor par excellence :) Such a lovely win. And would you look at those scores - only six out of 120 below a 6??!! Where are the 1's that a composite is supposed to garner? WTG!
YES YES!!! You aced this in so many ways. I adore it. It also has commercial appeal. If bought for the right product or promotion, you could make big bucks. Congrats.
Just beautiful - this has a magic quality for me and its simplicity is very appealing. Love the shadow - double the windows, double the pleasure. Great tones, too.
Usually I am like "Oh look another Cat-pic..... Yawns". Not with this photo, I love it! Excellent framing with the space in the room, moon light from the window and even the cat. 9!
I love the concept. I guess I am just wanting to see the cats shadow through the window cast upon the wall? But still, a small consideration b/c its an altogether dreamy shot.8
This reminds me of Samantha's work. There is a quirky, illustrative quality to this image. It is perfectly balanced, the lighting is perfect, and of course, there's a cat :-). Top ten for sure.
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