The Trickster

[DLibrach]

Here's a portrait of one of our pets, Mowgli.

It is a different take on an animal portrait but this shows is personality quite a bit. He can be quite the trickster and always has the mischevious look to him. It may have to do with his two different coloured eyes which is common in white, deaf cats.

I usually don't work with selective colouring, but in this instance I found the background to be quite distracting (there is a multi-coloured throw in the background) and this treatment seemed to enchance the mood I was looking for. I would post the original as a comparison but I have changed computers since this was taken and I only carried forward the finished copy of this image.

Cheers,
Dave

http://DLPhotography.smugmug.com/photos/105613164-L-1.jpg

[Mary Bull]

David, it's a stunning image.

And of course I love Mowgli! How clearly you captured him, and how well the pose and the frame fit your title!

It makes me so happy to see this.

Mary

[Asher Kelman]

Dave,

At first I thought you colored one eye!

Did you shoot this RAW? How was it processed? I wonder whether or not you might be able to recover the white "blown" areas of the fur?

Asher

[DLibrach]

Mary,

Thanks. I struggled with the title and I am glad that you found it fitting.

Asher,

This was taken with with a 20D, ISO:800, 135mm, F5.6, 1/80s (with my old 28-135is) and using PS Elements 2.0. As I still was very much new to photography at the time, it was shot in jpeg and a simple desturation layer was applied to the image. Then erased parts of that layer to have the original eyes come through.

I have learned my lesson and now shoot exclusively in RAW and use the Channel Mixer for converting. Cannot go back to the original on this one, but will see what I can do in CS2 to bring back some of the detail in the highlights.

Cheers,
Dave

[DLibrach]

Dave,
......I wonder whether or not you might be able to recover the white "blown" areas of the fur?....

Asher

Well, as much as tried over the weekend, the highlights are gone forever. The photo was never taken with the intent for anything other than a personal keepsake so I was never too concerened about getting everything "perfect". Despite the blown highlights, this photo will always be a wonderful portrait of one of our cats for my wife and I.

Cheers,
Dave

[Carlos Garcia]

Wow! That's a great image. I've seen blue/green eyed cats before but didn't realize they were deaf. How common is that trait?