So I decided to do a calendar with Rescue Kittens that are photographed with monochromatic colors being CURIOUS KITTENS
Kitten #1 Gray blue jeans on blue
I always shoot in RAW and use Adobe Bridge as part of my work flow.
my photo editing workflow is: BRIDGE FIRST-Check the FOCUS at 100% to ensure it is on the eye of the pet. I use a star rating system and give 5 stars for perfect focus. Here is a screenshot from bridge. I use bridge to view many photos at once without actually opening them in photoshop. Here is a screenshot of BRIDGE.I open my best photo in photoshop
PHOTOSHOP STEP 1 CROP/CLONE edges The reason I crop wider than the image is to make sure the image is big enough to print and I want to follow the rule of thirds without making the image too small. . Many calendar companies require 12 inches all sides. Also I use a new blank layer to clone on so that there is non-destructive editing.
STEP 2: Clone /CLEAN face- dirt and eye tears/junk, food from face. Rescue kittens often have dirty faces and when the focus is sharp on the eye, you can see it very clearly. Its a must to clean their faces so they look their best for an adoption photo. I also check and fix the catchlights. Sometimes you can see your own reflection in the cats eyes, or an arm in the photo. I try to paint that out, or clone it so that it is not seen.
If using food to bribe the pet to stay still, cloning and cleaning must also be done on the area surrounding the pet.
STEP 3: Adjustment layers: check brightness/contrast, saturation, etc. using curves or levels. I bump up the contrast and lighten the image a little Also I use Vibrance. For Vibrance: if there is too much pink due to increase saturation in nose or ears, I paint the Vibrance mask with a black soft paintbrush to erase it from those areas of the photo. This can be done iwth any adjustment you apply that you dont want in certain areas.
My final image is posted above after the adjustments, Tiff and CMYK.
