Pebbles the Cat Pic - Original and Photoshop

[Desmo]

I've always played around with photoshop for a long time now. Mainly due to work (although photo manipulation has never been part of my job) I just like to dabble and play with things. So, after taking a photo of PebblesCat with our pretty bog standard digi-cam, I thought I'd change a few things in photoshop.

Here's the original picture...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/piggymon/Cats/P1010679.jpg

Pretty standard really. Everything is in focus, bits of fluff on the carpet and floor and Pebbles is dead centre. So I used the clone tool to remove all of the fluff. I then added some fake Depth of Field using the Lens Blur tool (I did this after looking at Pete's pics. He uses a high DoF on lots of them and I really love the look). I also cropped the pic with Pebbles off centre and then added a simple black and white border.

And here's the finished picture...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/piggymon/Cats/Pebbles-Sit-Small.jpg

Quite a striking difference in my eyes, and hopefully yours as well. So, there you have it. A bit of time in photoshop can turn an average picture into a much better one. I'm not saying it's a great pic, but it's much better.

I'd like to hear what some of the more experienced photographers think to this and the changes I've made. Also maybe some more suggestions on things I could have done to improve it further? :)

[FakeSnake]

well, i Expected a pic of Pebs before and then after with a uniform Photoshopped on :D

nice work on the pussy though!!

[Desmo]

Think I'll change the title ;)

[Desmo]

Great shot - but on the photoshopped version - just possibly a little too much blur around the top half of her body?
yeah, I didn't really spend as much time "selecting" as I should have done. It only started as a quick test of the Lens Blur feature and I just carried on. Next time, I'd spend much more time getting it just right :)

[petemc]

Yeah I agree with Kitten (the human one, not the one in the picture ;)). Once I read that you'd added the fake blur it was easily noticeable around the top of her. But I do think it works, just :) The other processing is good too. The original was kinda dull and the new version has more contrast to it without loss of detail in the shadows / highlights. You've definitely gotta get a camera with an f/2.8 lens for lovely depth of field. Mainly so it saves time shopping it in, and also because its real then. I'm a big believer in getting the image right in cam rather than relying on PS.

[Jonny69]

I'm a big believer in getting the image right in cam rather than relying on PS.
Totally with you here, I see too many pictures that scream PHOTOSHOP! when you see them!

Cute cat by the way - think I prefer centred than offset :)

[Haly]

the first one makes her look really little and a bit lost. The second makes her look far more confident. Amazing what positioning can do!

That makes perfect sense now you've said it. :)

[Haly]

We still talking about photos of Pebbles? :happy:

[Desmo]

Totally with you here, I see too many pictures that scream PHOTOSHOP! when you see them!
Agree. As Pete said, I'd much rather be able to do this with the camera, but we only have a point and click so it's not going to happen. You're my only hope, Photoshop!!!

[Admiral Huddy]

Maybe you could post/share the method you used.. that way we can have a go too.