FINE TEXTURES AND PHOTOGRAPHIC OVERLAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND MORE


Friday, September 3, 2010

Foxy


After a great week of 50% sun & rain in autumnal England I was glad to get back to the late summer heat and sun of the south of France!
However, the new lush green landscapes were like a breath of fresh air after our arid grass-free summer environment.
I was going to show Stonehenge but unfortunately I managed to mislay it! So its now for another time. For now, I thought it might be interesting to show my sisters Foxy, her popular teacup Chihuahua! She's just a year old but already rules my sisters household.
Her favorite pastime is fighting with the Sis's new kitten, and yapping safely behind the glass door in the evenings, at visiting Foxes, Badgers and Deer to my sisters woodland surrounded garden in Hampshire.

For the portrait, I simply put Foxy onto my sisters garden table and shot her in Raw from below, in the morning sun.
The backdrop is just her cream painted house-wall.
In the before image you can see, she has already been brightened up with the CS5 HDR filter I spoke about last time.
I also brightened up the eyes and added a cloned sparkle from one eye to the other darker eye. This helps bring dark-eyed dogs faces to life.
Its a trick all the best pro-animal photographers use!
Also getting down to the dogs eye-level and removing all collars and leashes, as these can make an animal look imprisoned and sad.

I used Textures from the first Flypaper Box Set One and the new Summer Painterly.

Necropolis - Overlay @ 27%
- brushed away from dog, desaturated to a gold colour
Raw Linen - Soft Light @ 100%
Iorek Ice - Soft Light @ 20%

Pans Sky - Overlay @ 100% brushed away from dog and table top.
Pans Sky - Soft Light @ 73% brushed away from dog, desaturated to B/W - to tone down the bright colours and give body to the sky.


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7 comments:

Colleen Farrell said...

Oh, this is fabulous!!! Foxy looks like she's contemplating a grand and noble adventure--the colors, FP textures and your POV all add to the feel. I've been using Topaz for a faux HDR look. Can't wait to get CS5 and see how it does HDR.

paulgrand said...

Thanks, though I've never tried Topaz, I would say stick to what you feel comfortable with.
Those HDR programs are really useful for adding a brightness to the shaded areas.

Borealnz (Jill) said...

Foxy certainly looks like she rules the roost. Great treatment Paul!

Gilding Lilies said...

This looks great, what a difference a little playing makes. The colors are wonderful.

Barry Armer said...

One of the best dog portraits I've ever seen!!

Cheers!
Barry

paulgrand said...

Thanks!:-)

Miss B said...

I adore this image Foxy looks so proud!

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