Tell it to the paw...

... cuz the face ain't listenin'...

[finished version on my [url=http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1421942]Kinda Horrigans[/url] journal]

Really really not much editing at all though the 'after' is markedly different from the 'before'. With the RAW file, I boosted the exposure by about +60 and the same with brightness too. I also dropped the blacks down to about +3 as it was all a bit too heavy and dark in the original. Which is ironic given that I then opened it in Photoshop and used Silver Efex Pro to give it a high contrast b&w conversion!

After converting it to black and white, I created a new layer and set it to overlay blend mode with a 50% neutral grey fill so that I could dodge and burn the image just a bit. For example, using a 10% opacity white brush, I dodged the paw ever so slightly so it stood out a bit more, then some areas around the cat's face. Final bit of sharpening, then flattened and saved.

All done!

Tip of the Day:
This is quite nerdy, but I do like this article on '13 Things your camera wishes you knew' actually contains some really decent advice. With photography I have to say that I'm not all about the tech by any means... but I do believe that a good understanding of at least the basics means that you don't have to think about it much when you come to 'seeing' images. It just happens.