Almost a three-for, but in the end I went black and white. Otherwise it was leading lines, black and white in color (his nose is pink in the original, but the rest is B&W), and pet portrait, all rolled into one. Shot too early for pet portrait or I would have entered it, and it was indeed a consideration for leading lines, though an untraditional interpretation.
Sir Thomas, hanging out on the counter in the kitchen in the morning, when the sun comes through the window. Apologies to those tired of cat pictures. :-)
Post challenge - Thomas is a little crushed. Emma always outscores him. (Though she lost to a cat named Hairball of all things, and that still irks her a bit.)
Statistics
Place: 194 out of 458 Avg (all users): 5.7813 Avg (commenters): 8.4000 Avg (participants): 5.6818 Avg (non-participants): 6.0000 Views since voting: 1100 Views during voting: 225 Votes: 160 Comments: 21 Favorites: 2 (view)
Sir Thomas should be proud! This is a very regal portrait, well suited for a feline of his stature. :) Kitty noses and whiskers have always fascinated me, and the way his whiskers are contrasted by the darkened background on the viewing left of this photo makes them stand out nicely.
It does not wow me any, but it is a nice and detailed shot of the cat's whiskers. One of those shots that is really pretty good, but just does not bowl me over or grab me. I'll say I would have probably sixed it, but in voting it could have gotten a five from me, not really sure.
Edited to add: I don't like to read others comments before I add my own, as I don't want them to influence what I say. I think Louis may have nailed it down better than I did. In a free study, you have a glut of "wow" shots that people have worked on all month, or saved their best for, and the subtle but good ones get lost in the crowd.
Tell Thomas I think he has great whiskers; they are certainly better than mine.
I really liked this. It is not "yet another cat picture." It features the whiskers and says something about how important they are to a cat. My whiskers don't do much useful for me except catch stray bits of spaghetti sauce, but his are an important part of his sensory system and they help him interact with things in close quarters.
The paw. What is that paw doing there? Is it a distraction that draws attention away from the whiskers? Or does it contribute to the feeling that he is interacting with something in close quarters? I haven't decided about this.
I think this merely suffered from "free study glut", whereby the subtler entries get drowned out by the candy-esque ones in a challenge with many entrants. My opinion is that this is a delicately subtle and a gentle, understated take on a pet portrait. It may have been even more effective had the nose also been in focus, perhaps helping to anchor the delicacy of the whiskers. That focus field is right at his chin and whiskers, and though a tad nit-picky, this fact detracts slightly for me. Overall a very lovely photo. I adore cats.
This is a really cool macro. I think it looks perfect in black and white. I love the nose and whiskers. This makes you feel like he is nudging your camera.
Wonderful capture. This is not your ordinary cat pic. I really like this very unique perspective. The point of focus and DOF is perfect. The choice to post in b/w wasn't a mistake I reckon, it looks great. This would be great as part of series on a closeup look at cats.
Nice sharp focus, and black-and-white was an excellent choice. The cropping seems a little tight on the right; I might have gotten just a bit more of the nose or face to orient the viewer. But it's a minor point. Well done!
Came back to add to my somewhat 'short' comment below (but hopefully my score spoke some too). I liked this, especially the concept - wondered during voting about a tighter crop at the bottom to eliminate the oof area of the paw, and reduce the strong highlights which just take a little too much away from those 'pure' looking whiskers.
lovely abstract that I am sure would have scored higher had we not just had the pet portrait (as you infer in your notes for non cat lovers there are only so many shots of felines that we can take)
Really like the softness of the B&W conversion but the way that you have not lost the contrast of the various tones.
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