Mother and Child Reunion
Giuseppe lowers his head, Mimi lifts herself up on one paw to wash Giuseppe’s forehead. Just a tender moment between the two; of all, Giuseppe likes it best when his mom washes his face.
What makes this work for me isn’t just the loving interaction between the two, but the big splash of sunshine that luckily shone down in the little space between them, highlighting Mimi’s torso and outlining Giuseppe’s profile. Of all the photos I took of the two of them this is the only one where anyone but me could tell what was going on.
I also tried it in black and white. I often prefer these types of images in black and white because the distraction of color is missing, leaving only the composition of shapes and shadow and highlight which tends to emphasize the main subject, Mimi and Giuseppe, and sometimes almost creates an abstract image, see below.
But this particular black and white looked too cold and stark and some defining details were lost, so after playing around with all the filters and other ways of adding tonal color I added a slight color filter, using yellow to subliminally carry the idea of the bright sunlight and the warm tones in their fur. I like this the best.
What do you think? Don’t forget, if you want a constant source of creative inspiration share your life with a cat, especially now during Adopt a Cat month. Any color and pattern of cat is beautiful, but I have always been inspired by the silhouette nature of black cats, as if I’m watching their actions from a distance and seeing only the graceful feline outline. Even if you don’t paint or photograph, they are just so lovely to look at.
And I’m going to have to break my habit of quoting these old pop songs when I title my photographs.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.
I just love em’ all! Especially the first one! That was the awwwwwwwwww picture!
Laurie, thanks–sometimes I like a simpler image so removing the color is an easy way to do that.
Hi, Bernadette, A lovely mother n grown-up son moment.. they’re never too big to get a good wash.
I prefer the coloured version of the photo.. where you can just glimpse the reddy-brown highlights caught in the sunlight behind their profiles. Looks like someone else has been at the henna here. xxx
Annie, it’s those henna highlights that often convince me to keep the color in photos of them, much as I love black and white and they are excellent black and white subjects! Mimi is quite mahogany.
I actually like the background colors in the first one, but I think you see Mimi and Giuseppe better in the last one.
Vicki, that’s what I meant about simplification, and I was a little surprised at how much more clear the yellow-tinted one was than the plain black and white.