POTW 15 August 2007

[stubbsy]

This weeks Picture of the Week is from a post started by Kris for people to show off their shallow Depth Of Field shots. There were some very interesting shots in that group, one of which is this week's POTW. The image below by michael_ is a great example of what shallow DOF is all about.

In this image the only sharply in focus element is the subject who is staring straight back at the viewer and really grabbing your attention. And for those who are into rules (which BTW are MEANT to be broken) it's a great example of the rule of thirds too. Well done Michael.

[michael_]

wow peter, thanks thats the second community who has chosen it as POTW (other was last year).

funnily enough its still probably my favourite image.

again cheers mate

[Reschsmooth]

Top image, top colours, top comp & DOF and top choice.

Well done Michael.

[michael_]

for anyone interested here is another of the same cat when he got up



and another





cheers Patrick

edit: i uploaded a better version, i wasnt converting to sRGB back then so the web killed the colours, here is the original image with better colour http://gallery.mvettasphotography.com/m ... 95_001.jpg .

[sirhc55]

Well done Michael, as Peter said, a fine example of selective DOF.

Note to Peter: how are your cat(s)

[Bluebell]

Congratulations on a great Picture of the Week. PS my ginger tabby Rupert applauds the choice too

[Greg B]

I love this shot Michael, fantastic, and a greatly deserved PotW.

[Geoff]

Excellent shot....
I missed this one first time around too...this place is busy.
Michael - it would have been CATastrophic if u didn't post this pic

[ozimax]

Wonderful streetscape (catscape) and well deserved.

[radar]

Great shot Michael, lovely captured.

André
woof

[Glen]

Well done Michael

[Onyx]

Kittah says meow!

Congrats Michael, on POTW. It is a fantastic capture. The cat sharply in focus, the mundane urban streetscape thrown out of focus and out of mind.

[BT*ist]

Very good shot - and a very worthy POTW!

[Kris]

Congrats Michael!!

[Kyle]

Chalk up another CW member for POTW

Well done Michael, i think you took this about a year ago now yeah???

[Old Bob]

Good work, I just love it when a picture tell a story. A good title would be, "Alley Cat".

Bob

[Alpha_7]

Congratulations Michael well done.

[Oneputt]

This is the sort of image which really appeals to me. The composition is great and the story even better.

[michael_]

Chalk up another CW member for POTW

Well done Michael, i think you took this about a year ago now yeah???

ahha yeah September just after i got the 30D

thanks everyone it does mean something

[outtram]

i love the red rubish bin lids

[Stolky]

...and the cat thought it had that street to itself - till you shot it.

Fantastic Feline m8 - I love shots of pets...! It's spacious, simplistic, sharp, and with that old timeless rule in affect...

[Poon]

Powerful cat with strong eyes.
Interesting photo.

Cheers
Poon

[zafra52]

Congratulations on a very nice picture. I would like to pick your brains and ask you how did you manage to reduce the file size so much and still keep a good resolution and practically no artefacts?

[michael_]

thanks everyone.

zafra, the res helps i guess, also the fact i have no watermark, i saved this as jpeg quality 10, i did some tests a little while ago and the difference in quality between 10 and 12 and 8 and 10 is not even noticeable but sizewise it definately is, haha not sure if that even helps i also use the image process function in PS CS2 to save images over save as and save for web, works for me and i notice a sizeable difference.

[zafra52]

Thank you for your prompt reply Michael. I also use the Save for the Web function in CS2, but I guess I keep the bar at about 80% otherwise I notice the colour and sharpness suffer and I seem to get artifacts. I notice the other photos of the same cat were a bit sharper.

[michael_]

Thank you for your prompt reply Michael. I also use the Save for the Web function in CS2, but I guess I keep the bar at about 80% otherwise I notice the colour and sharpness suffer and I seem to get artifacts. I notice the other photos of the same cat were a bit sharper.

yeah the original wasnt saved as sRGB, it stayed in Adobe RGB which i notice a loss in colour when on the web, i had very little knowledge of post processing last year so the shot would have been straight from the camera .

[sunnylass]

Its gorgeous Michael, the cat was definitely keeping an eye on you.