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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 58: Dominant Color (host: Lonnit Rysher) >> CSLR Challenge 58 Exhibition > Fiona in Brown (*)
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29-DEC-2005 Ann Chaikin

Fiona in Brown (*)

My lovely 12 year old Maine Coon knows that she is queen of all she surveys. Yesterday we had sun for the first time in awhile and she was enjoying it when I took this picture. I cut out the busy background and replaced it with a gradient in browns to match her luscious brown tabby coat.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
1/400s f/7.1 at 70.0mm iso400 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 10-Jan-2006 19:40
Fiona is gorgeous, as is this portrait. -Michael
janewigginsphotography04-Jan-2006 01:20
I'm not sure if it is the pose of the cat or the shading, but this is the most interesting face of a cat I have seen. Almost animated - like he is about to say something. Very nice - love the color work you did on the background. jano
Canon DSLR Challenge31-Dec-2005 21:37
Definitely improved. ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge31-Dec-2005 21:16
Thanks for the detailed explanation, Ann, really. I sincerely mean it as a compliment that I might want to copy what you have wonderfully done with this picture. It is really great, almost studio-like, and that's why I wanted to be able to do it also. Thanks again, Best Wishes, Traveller
Canon DSLR Challenge31-Dec-2005 19:53
Hi all. Thanks. I did add feathering and I think it helped. As to how I did this Traveler, first I used the magnetic lasso tool to get the beginnings of a selection. Then I used "edit in masked mode" to highlight the selection and clean it up with the paint brush. When I had it as I wanted I returned to select mode. Here is where I should have added a feathering amount through "select feather" but didn't until later. Then I selected the inverse and cut out the background. I added a layer beneath, did the gradient using two colors picked from the image of Fiona. Finally I used the erase tool on the Fiona layer to erase the artifacts. This could still use a bit of touch up on her dark back but I may not get to it... There you have it. Ann
Shu31-Dec-2005 14:53
Beautiful kitty portrait in browns!! shu
Canon DSLR Challenge31-Dec-2005 11:54
Well, this is harder than one might imagine. I was first going to ask you how you did this, but then tried to copy you with my own techniques. Extracting from a complex enviornment was so difficult that I've given up till tomorrow. Any advice, Ann? Best Wishes, Traveller
Canon DSLR Challenge30-Dec-2005 20:26
A little feathering along the edge of the selection would help lots. _Photoshop CS2 Essential Skills_ has some great info on such PS work. Lovely cat shot. ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge30-Dec-2005 20:10
First impression was "Wow, this is the best cat shot I've seen". Then I started to see the Photoshop artifacts along the edges of the subject. I don't have any advice to offer, as I rarely do extractions, but if you can make the boundary natural, you have the best cat shot I've ever seen. --Mr. Biscuit