My first gallery

[Battousai]

That would be an understatement . His name is Buddy and he likes to pic fights with other cats and really hates dogs lol . Thanks that looks really nice . Thankyou for your time . How do I do it myself ? , what software do I need ?

Thanks again ,

Battousai

[SteveDak]

Hi again Battousai,

Do you have any kind of editing software at the moment? You mentioned you were familiar with PaintShop Pro - do you have access to that software? If so that should be sufficient for your needs right now - if not you could download FastStone Free Image Viewer which is a really user friendly editor that gives you most of the basic tools for resizing and enhancing your images. Very easy to learn and there is a lot you can do with it.

[Battousai]

I have a copy of paint shop pro 7 , I use it on a dayly basis . I usually only make Signatures ect so I'm not that good at editing photos yet .

Thanks

Battousai

[SteveDak]

Then this is a good place to start. Why don't you have a closer look at your menu options, take an image and just start playing around with it. Use the help and tutorials and ask for help if you need it here. Its a while since I used PaintShop 7 but I think most of your tools can be found in the toolbar, when it starts up.

[DomCotton]

Hi,

I have photoshop cs2, but most of the tools that I used to make the changes to your images are standard as far as I know.

The first image the portrait of the cat. The first thing i did was to add about 1cm to the top of the image and then used the Clone tool to paint in some of the detail at the top including the little bits of the ears that were missing. Then after this was done I adjusted the contrast using the curves dialog (unsure about this in PSP). Final step was to use a Sharpen filter to get back some of the lost detail in the fur.

The second one was a little easier as you had framed your cat nicely. I found the background a little intense so I used a selection tool to draw a rough outline around the cat. Then inverted the selection so I had a rough selection around all of the yellow background area. Then use a Gaussian Blur tool and blurred out the details to make the cat stand out a little more. Any areas that I did not have selected I used the manual blur tool to just tidy the edges. Normally I would have used a layer and masks but it was just a quick edit to show the concept. Finally just pulled the curve slightly and sharpened.

Glad you liked my edits - good luck attempting them yourself!

Dom

[Yazzy]

Hullo People.

Just couldn't resist after seeing Doms brilliant edit. I used the shot and made his eyes a similar colour to the background...

Battousai, nice stuff! I've just been attempting a few shots myself... not at your level yet!

Purrr
-Yazzy

[kevin burns]

The last two images are AWESOME, perfect.

[bahadir]

Dear Battousai,
In the first place your relative did a great favour to you recommending this site
Observe as many photos as you can and read their critiques (without neglecting your lessons of course!) believe me you'll learn many essential things soon. You'll find that composition is a very important aspect of photography. In fact the camera is only a means to capture the composition you perceive. Avoid either clustering the frame with distracting items or leaving the parts of your subject out. And when it comes to editing do not hesitate cropping the parts that do not contribute to your theme. Anyway, enough of good advice! You've got a camera full of manual controls. Start playing with Aperture and Shutter values and compare the results on the screen. Such a joyful passtime... I see uncle Steve has provided very useful suggestions which is good for you :-)
Btw, my favourite one is the tortoise also.

[Battousai]

Hi all ,

Thanks for your help and advice , it means alot to me and I'm really gratefull . Il ltake some more shots and play around with them . Yazzy , what do you mean my level , I am flattered .

Thanks

Battousai

[KENNETHD]

Hi Nick...welcome! I just read thru the comments. I never get tired of seeing how helpful the members here are, and how graciously they greet new members. I really don't have much more to add, they've pretty much pointed you in the right direction. Remember, practice makes perfect, and don't shy away from having a good browse thru your camera's manual. I know it sounds obvious, but I am still surprised at times by the things I miss by racing quickly thru these things. Good luck my young friend, I hope we see your posts often. Don't forget Steves has a god digital dictionary too. it might answer some questions for you from time to time.

Kd