Julene finished retouching the cat with the lights and it came out great. I have known for a long time that her contribution to my work is immense. A good retoucher has become to a photographer what a good digital effects artist is to a film director. James Cameron would be hard pressed to make Avatar without Industrial Light and Magic. Photography has the same symbiotic relationship between the retoucher and the Photographer. My advice is to find a good retoucher that represents your point of view and work together to realize that point of view.
I am just amazed at what can be done these days. Next post I will put up a group of cat shots and explain what was changed and how we handled each image.
Retouching on this image
The hand holding the cat was removed and the shadow rebuilt. The color of some of the light bulbs were changed because there were to many warm bulbs. There was Tonal Contrast added to the cats face to help him stand out. I love Tonal Contrast on some images. It creates an exceptional look on fur and heavy textures. It can give the image a unique illustrated look that many have used in the past years.
