Tonic
Here's a bit of insight for those who may be interested in my studio shot editing process, featuring Tonic the feline actor.
First shot is the final version, the second is the unedited shot (with exposure increased slightly from SOOC) and the third is a quick comparison with a few key items highlighted.
I liked this shot initially because of Tonic's position - he seemed ready to spring. I felt like the form created by his position was a nice, compact shape that appealed to me. This is some of what I did to bump up the drama in this shot.
1 Adjust the horizon so it's level.
2 Cropped to the rule of thirds.
3 Warmed up the yellows by shifting them slightly more red and increased saturation of eyes and fur.
4 Dodging and burning fur and eyes via layers set to color dodge & soft light.
5 Increasing exposure in a few areas that I thought were important but were dark, like the curled tail and hanging paws.
6 Cloned the catch light from one eye onto the second so they matched a bit better.
7 Darkened the background to draw eyes to the subject, but still left in enough ground so as not to make my subject appear to float.
8 Sharpened the head and paws slightly.
9 Added a layer set to "color" to adjust colour very slightly in select areas.
10 General clean up of errant hairs, treats etc with healing brush or lasso tool -> fill.
11 Used the liquify tool to exaggerate the poofy tail a little more.
All in all, the edit doesn't take too long once I know what I want out of a shot.
