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: 1719 Views during voting: 368 Votes: 262 Comments: 4 Favorites: 0
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.
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