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Stars in Her Eyes
Stars in Her Eyes
cdrice


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Pet Portrait IV (Basic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D80
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED
Location: Bedroom, Apache Junction AZ
Date: Feb 10, 2009
Aperture: 2.8
ISO: 320
Shutter: 1/30
Galleries: Emotive, Animals
Date Uploaded: Feb 10, 2009

 Note to DPC/SC: My camera's date/time is set to UTC; I had this approved by the SC when I first joined dpchallenge.

This is Daisy. Scout (her sister) is nearby, but out of frame for this shot.

I had "visions" for this challenge... But the kitties just didn't feel like modeling for me. In general this was set up with a black cloth backdrop; Christmas lights in the background, and bundle of lights piled up right in front to provide illumination.

I tried MANY different poses of both cats (some together and some individually). My intent was to have them together, but they just didn't feel like being still during the shoot.

Spent WAY too much time over-analyzing and post-processing. Probably over-did the post processing, but I was trying to make it "DPC-Friendly." I like the original, softer/warmer shot myself, but I didn't think it would score as well. I balanced-out a lot of the warm temps from the Christmas lights (I wonder if I'll end up regretting that), used tone curve to highlight her face and punch-up the white of her fur, then over-sharpened to bring out the detail in her eyes and fur.

"Just submit it."

Shot handheld; inside with lighting described above; Nikon 70-200/2.8VR lens at 200, iso 320, 1/30 and f/5.6.


How to over-process and suck the life out of a really lovely shot:

RAW/NEF -> Lightroom
Crop (custom)
Basic:
WB Temp -> 2400
WB Tint -> +1
Exposure -> +0.70
fill Light -> 5
Blacks -> 8
Presence:
Clarity -> +35
Vibrance -> +35
Saturation -> +5
Tone Curve:
Highlights -> +58
Lights -> +13
Shadows -> +18
HSL:
Red Sat -> +35
Aqua Sat -> +30
Blue Sat -> +35
Red Lum -> +15
Orange Lum -> -10
Yellow Lum -> +10
Green Lum -> -100
Sharpening:
Amount -> 110
Detail -> 90
Masking -> 15
Noise Reduction:
Luminance -> 50
Color -> 40
Camera Calibration:
Adobe Standard
Noise Ninja - Auto-profile, sharpening at 40%
Export:
JPEG, 85 quality, sRGB, constrained 640x640, minimize metadata


Statistics
Place: 136 out of 278
Avg (all users): 5.3168
Avg (commenters): 6.0000
Avg (participants): 5.2574
Avg (non-participants): 5.3540
Views since voting: 1717
Views during voting: 368
Votes: 262
Comments: 4
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 01/12/2011 08:46:14 PM
Goodbye Daisy-girl. Words cannot express how much I miss you.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Nikon D70
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
 02/14/2009 05:06:09 PM
nice shot, love the bokeh
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSC-RX100 VI
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di for Nikon
 02/11/2009 10:33:04 PM
Wow. Beautiful cat. I love the color and tones. The only constructive criticism I could add would be that it maybe needs just a bit more detail around the chin and mouth. Overall a great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Pentax K-S2
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF for Pentax
 02/11/2009 08:04:25 PM
Nice. I like the lighting and the clarity.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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