Extreme Photo Editing; Opinions by Bud the Cat

Little Buddy, Spring 2012, gazing out at the woods

I took some time to brighten up our avatar picture recently. Deep book editing in black and white means I have to surface for air sometimes. Photo editing lets me luxuriate in bright color. I’ve also tuned up most of the photos in the following two posts. The colors are hotter than before, but I did try to stay within realistic and pictorial sense. It’s a bold new look for those photo essays; I hope y’all check ’em out:

https://catwoodsporchparty.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/black-cats-in-sun-and-shade-a-painters-eye-view/

https://catwoodsporchparty.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/our-cat-with-feline-radial-hypoplasia/

Both posts star our late Little Buddy. The photo of him above was taken in spring 2012, almost a year after he and Annabelle made it through the tornado with us at Mom’s. Early in the mornings, I would wake and see Little Buddy reclining atop boxes near the window, drowsing and watching the woods. I’d reach for the old camera. The pictures aren’t very sharp. In photo editing, I fiddled with “curves” to make the color pop out, and played with saturation sliders. All this color splashed everywhere, and I don’t really know how it all happened – from the traces of light in the original really dark picture? Or something added by the editing programs? I’m a novice at photo editing, but I’m OK with the effusive color bursts I sometimes get, and grab. Little Buddy is now at the Rainbow Bridge; we miss him, every day. Our avatar picture came from this photo. More on that later.

An April morning, early

The picture above is before editing. The cropped version used to be the profile picture. I spiffed it up in two color schemes, and used the one you now see on this blog.

“Phsssssst! Why so much about that Othercat? You know I want to be the profile picture.” Bud glides up, then settles himself into loaf position.

“Well you were pals with Little Buddy, you remember?”

“Hisssssss. I only put up with him.”

Glorious Bud

“Here’s one of you Bud, ears up listening while you lean against a pillow, that’s why your whiskers are bunched up on one side.”

“Purrrr … I look regal … but you picture me too freakin’ bright! I look as neon as a night in Las Vegas! Not a true portrayal! Some werewolf might get me if I went around like that. Don’t you hear those werewolves yapping out in the woods? Oh I forgot, you’re not a cat, you don’t hear worth a …. ”

“I do hear them, but they’re coyotes. But what do you know about werewolves? They’re not even real.”

“I watch the same news y’all do. And that would make a good avatar pic. It flat sure glows enough.”

“Some of what we watch is just stories, Buddy. And how would you know about Las Vegas? Or neon?” Bud’s eyes slowly close and he’s asleep. I think.

Sleepy Little Buddy, photo enhanced by adding highly saturated color

Little Buddy snoozing in partial sunlight on May 21, 2013. We first sandwiched his picture with one of refracted sunlight. Recently I put it back into photo editing, and cranked up the color saturation. More about the earlier work on the picture at this link:

https://catwoodsporchparty.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/brightening-cat-photos-with-added-color/

Little Buddy a few moments before the above picture

An unedited picture from the same day, right before Little Buddy moved into the position we see in the edited picture.

I brightened up the cropped avatar picture, saved it, and then went back to make various combinations of brightness, contrast, saturation, color balance sliders and “curves” in an ancient Photoshop program. I’m really a frustrated painter who can’t paint any more, not a photographer, so this is fun. Almost too many permutations, though!

Little Buddy, darker design

Little Buddy, lighter design

Picture of Little Buddy turned red in editing!

Serene morning with Little Buddy

Colors turning towards red in the “curves” was a big surprise! Talk about unreal! I then used the scale that changes colors and slid on to the green you see in the first photo!

Annabelle in sun

Annabelle, another of Mom’s cats, is now also at the Rainbow Bridge. A master sunsoaker, she stays in our hearts, much loved and missed.

“Phsssst.”

“Really Bud, she was your mother. And you never answered my questions. Here’s another pic of you. Purrrr now?”

Bud the Editing Cat wakes, and has plans for us

“Meow! Momcat’s still not me. Othercat. And what happens in Vegas … I want to edit the book now.”

So we will. Back later!

(There might be delays in publishing comments because this will be published right before a busy time with lots of storms with severe potential, when the computer will be off. Please bear with me, I’ll be back as soon as possible.)