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Lighten up your Holidays Colorizing Tutorial

Kitten Playing in Red Box ChristmasSEEING TOO MUCH RED? Let’s have some fun! Try this colorizing tutorial to lighten up your holiday.

It would be a shame to pass on this cute kitten image because there is too much red – just look at those BIG eyes- this is a PURR-fect photo. We can simply change the image to Sepia and then colorized it to a more natural look.  But don’t stop there,  we can change the color to green! Here is how!
Begin by opening image in photoshop. Duplicate original. Add a new adjustment layer: Hue/Saturation. Use the HUE slider to change the color of the box- I chose to change the red to green.
1. To change to Sepia: Add an adjustment layer: choose Hue/Saturation, and this time go to preset box and scroll down and choose Sepia.  The entire image will now be changed to Sepia tone.  Click on the white box in the layers palette next to the Sepia adjustment layer, this is the mask.  Get a soft black paint brush to paint back in the color. If you want a lighter shade, not so bright, more retro, natural color look, change the paint brush opacity to 30% and flow to 50% to paint away the sepia color from the areas of the photo you want to see color in.  (Change paint brush to white to paint the Sepia back in if needed, or use history to undo.)  The more you repeat the brush strokes the darker the color will come in.  If you want to retain the full brightness and saturation of the original image, keep the opacity of the brush at 100% and flow at 100%.
2. After you have changed your red  image to sepia with colorized red box,  you can change the red to green. Here is how:  add a new adjustment layer: Hue/Saturation. Use the HUE slider to change the color of the box and crinkle paper – I chose to change the red to green.

Bright Red Christmas Kitten Card Retro Kitten Christmas Card Changing Colors in Photoshop Kitten in Box

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Relax it’s Summertime – JULY

 

SLDR_4888_relax6x2

This is what it means to relax.

Memoirs of the Summertime Beach House…

I sink deep down into the comfy cushion couch, I lean my head back onto the soft cashmere pillows.  I am surrounded by an orange glow of golden sunlight that glistens off the wooden floors around me. Through the open door I can see the warm, white sandy beach path, leading the way to the oceans’ edge.  I can smell the salty spray, while I listen to the constant purr of the rolling waves. Wall to wall, at every turn, I feel immersed in peace and calm. – Kelly R.

2015 LuvKelly Recycles Monthly Photography Tutorial Series JULY- Summertime Kitten Relax

To continue with our monthly LuvKelly Recycles with rescue kittens, for July, we wanted to  share this intense feeling of relaxation as described in the Memoirs of the Summertime Beach House above. We call it Relax It’s Summertime. We borrowed a few shell decorations from the beach house that inspired us and carefully prepared our set.  Though the background looks as if it could be real white beach sand, it is actually a recycled ivory colored fleece blanket. Using an f-stop of 2.8 allows the background to blur very nicely with little need for background touch up, and allows the focal point, the kitten’s big beautiful eyes, to stand out.

Our featured rescue kitten is Lovey. She is as sweet as her name. She has been in our foster care since she was just 4 weeks old. She was brought to an adoption event by a little girl and her dad. They found her inside his truck’s wheel well in their front yard all alone. They could not care for her and asked Cats-Can, Inc. to help.  I was volunteering that day, taking photos of the cats and helping with adoptions. I couldn’t resist. I became her foster. Her warm brown tabby coloring matched our set very well.  She loved being inside the shell so much that she began falling asleep. She looked like she belonged, like a hermit crab in a shell.   Lovey is now over 8 weeks old now, big enough to leave foster care and find a furr-ever home.   She will be available for adoption this Saturday at Petsmart.

Photographic Details: Our Photographic Equipment used and settings are: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon Macro 100 mm lens, available window light, f2.8, ss125, iso 100.

CLICK HERE to get the Summertime at the Seashore JULY desktop wallpaper

We photographed several kittens from the rescue and have a great variety of shots to share. Here are a few of them:

Summertime Beach TRIVIA:  There is a seashell named after kittens!   It is the colorful Atlantic kitten paw (Plicatula gibosa) seashell. It is a favorite to find along Florida beaches, especially the west coast of Florida in places like Sanibel Island.  The kitten paws are small and colorful with bumpy ridges that fan out like fingers.  Their color is usually a peach or coral orange, but can be reddish or yellow.  The raised bumps of color are marked with thin lines, while the base of the shell is whitish. They are small in size about one inch. The kittenpaw is a scallop.

“LuvKelly Kittens Recycles 2015″ Photo Shoot Tutorial Series” :  For the entire year of 2015, Kelly Richardson Images has chosen to create a monthly rescue kitten photo shoot with all natural materials and recycled items that can be found around the house. We are going green in an effort to raise community awareness for the planet earth and for the innocent kittens and cats that are in need of rescue. We hope to encourage our communities to recycle to help save the environment, save energy, and help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gasses that depletes the ozone layer of the earth; We hope to raise community awareness for kittens on death row in county shelters, and get help and support for the private rescue organizations that save them,  take them off death row, foster them with adequate supplies, attend to their medical needs and find them a furrr-ever home.

So far these are the featured monthly photo shoots we have done this year:

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Card Gnome welcomes LuvKelly

Card Gnome welcomes LuvKelly

LuvKelly Rescue Kittens at Card Gnome

Have you heard of Card Gnome? You should definitely check it out! It is a very unique online Greeting Card Store.  Sending a greeting card in the mail has never been easier.  Choose a card, write your personal message, type in the address, and Card Gnome does the rest. The prices are very competitive, it includes postage and peace of mind that your card has been sent and will be on time! Card Gnome allows you to create an account and utilize a calendar to schedule your cards to be sent out one year in advance.

ARTISTS you should try it! It is a great way for your work to be seen in the marketplace. Kelly Richardson loves it because it enables LuvKelly to spread the word and bring awareness for the rescue kittens.  It serves as a great online portfolio presence for artists to show their work to licensees.  Artists can deactivate their image/greeting card at any time with just a click.

LuvKelly has a store and is adding new greeting cards daily.  As of June 2015, Kelly Richardson has 32 LuvKelly greeting cards to choose from on Card Gnome in many categories including Father’s Day, Birthday, Belated Birthday, Get Well, Love, Flirty, Wedding, and much more. There are beautiful images of kittens on cards, with some that are blank inside that can be customized for any special occasion.

Greeting Cards

CARD GNOME helps save the planet! They use recycled paper and adhere to an”eco-friendly production process”.  AND they help support non-profits.

“Staying connected with your loved ones, family and friends has never been easier. Choose your card, write a personal message and we mail it! Send a single card or upgrade to one of our Pack, Box or Drawer plans. Create an account and choose the best plan for you. For added convenience, you can schedule your connections up to one year in advance.” —-Card Gnome 06/11/15.

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Total Art Licensing Magazine features LuvKelly

TotalArtLicensingAD_RichardsonbdrKelly Richardson Images is excited to be in  Total Art Licensing Summer/Fall 2015   This magazine is “THE” Total Art Licensing Magazine!

The most widely read magazine is this one, and it is distributed globally and handed out at the most important Art Licensing Shows every year: Surtex 2015 and Licensing Expo 2015, along with the Toy Fair in Nuremburg and Toy Show, Gift Fair and Mega Show Hong Kong. If you have never viewed it, I recommend taking a look right now by clicking on the link above.  Total Art Licensing Magazine covers artists all over the World who are involved in the art licensing business. Total Licensing is the worldwide licensing magazine read in over 200 countries. Here is a summary from their home page: “Established in 2003, we publish independent, authoritative information on all aspects of licensing and merchandising worldwide. Total Licensing is the flagship magazine of a group of publications that includes a growing number of territory-specific magazines, as well as sector-specific issues such as Total Art Licensing and an online presence through Total Licensing’s co-pubished weekly online newsletter, The Total Licensing Report.”  Click here if you are interested in subscribing to this magazine, and learn more about them.

Here are DIRECT links that will take you directly to each page in Total Art Licensing Magazine that Kelly Richardson Images is featured on in this magazine:

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Valentine’s Day Kitten Photo shoot

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine's Day KittenIn celebration of Valentine’s Day, Kelly Richardson Images added a special LuvKelly Valentine’s Day photo shoot to our schedule this week. The theme of the shoot is rescue kittens we LOVE.  Here is a link to the Valentine Kittens in the image-bank.

Valentine's Day KittenUsing bright pinks and reds, Kelly captured the kittens in an irresistible way, showing their playful nature as well as their innocent adorableness!

Here are a few of our favorite “hot off the press” Kitten Images. These have been mocked-up as Valentine Greeting Cards. We hope you LOVE them! Want a closer look? Contact Kelly.

 

 

 

Valentine's Day Kitten

Valentine images available to purchase as posters – Fine Art America follow link by clicking on image below.

 

Valentine's Day Kitten Poster
Valentine's Day Kitten Poster
Valentine's Day Kitten Poster

Luvkelly kitten images raise awareness and money to help local rescue organizations to rescue, socialize, vet, foster and re-home as many homeless cats and kittens as possible to avoid them from going to a high kill shelter. A portion of the proceeds generated through selling these printed images will go directly to help save abandoned kittens.

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Sponsorships Save Kittens

Cute Rescue Kittens we have savedSponsorships Save Kittens

Click to find out how you can help and show some LOVE for Valentine’s Day! 

In July 2014,  with the financial support of her husband, Kelly Richardson became a “Little Paws” kitten sponsor/foster in Orlando. In just 6 months time, she has helped save 22 kittens. AND  has provided a grand total of over 2000 kitten meals and over 200 bottles of kitten formula!  

Sponsorships can help save kittens, by giving financial support and care. At times, rescue groups may come to a point where they must turn away cats/kittens if there is no money to fund their care, and no foster home for them to go to.  If these kittens are not rescued, their fate may lead to high kill shelters, where they will be euthanized.  A rescue organizations’ “sponsorship program” provides a means by which a person or entity can save a homeless cat/kittens’ life by providing for their care, for a specified cat, or litter of kittens.

What is a sponsor?  Kelly became a “Little Paws” Sponsor and Foster : helping to provide love, care, food, bottle nursers, KMS kitten Formula, pet wipes, Pedialyte, medication, litter, litter boxes, blankets, pet beds, cat toys, tunnels, scratching posts, and a stable home for kittens birth through 12-14 weeks (until they are adopted).

During Quarter 3 and 4, July thru December 2014, Kelly sponsored a grand total of 22 kittens: a momma cat with 7 nursing babies, Baby M, Sonny, Cher, Mickey and Minnie, Violet, Kimmy, Khloe, Kourtney, Leo, Pink, Connor, Boots, Mary Kate, and Ashley.

We are proud to say that we provided approximately 2000 kitten meals, and over 200 bottles of formula.

  • 6 – cases (24 per case) of canned kitten food

  • 6 – 16 pound bags of dry kitten food

  • 400 pounds of cat litter

  • 2 nursing bottles

  • 4 bottles of Pedialyte

  • 6 cans of KMS kitten formula

  • 4 litter boxes

  • 400 pounds of cat litter

  • 4 kitten beds, 10 fleece blankets

  • 2 scratch posts, 1 scratch mat, 2 kitty tunnels

  • 1 high quality litter mat

  • 2 bottles of over the counter medicine

  • over 20 cat toys

How can you help?

Locate your local kitten rescue groups and ask how you can be a sponsor.

 

 

 

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Burlap & Boxes – JANUARY

Kitten Photography

Burlap and Boxes Kitten Photoshoot JANUARY

our 1st LuvKelly Recycles = save the earth + save the kittens photoshoot.

For the entire year of 2015, Kelly Richardson Images has chosen to create a monthly rescue kitten photo shoot with all natural materials and recycled items that can be found around the house. We are going green in an effort to raise community awareness for the planet earth and for the innocent kittens and cats that are in need of rescue. We hope to encourage our communities to recycle to help save the environment, save energy, and help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gasses that depletes the ozone layer of the earth; We hope to raise community awareness for kittens on death row in county shelters, and get help and support for the private rescue organizations that save them,  take them off death row, foster them with adequate supplies, attend to their medical needs and find them a furrr-ever home.

 

For this photoshoot we wanted a raw, natural look using “green” recycled materials.  We came up with Burlap and Boxes.  The Burlap is leftover scrap material left over from Fall.  We used a large Burlap piece of material for the background approximately 3’x5′, as well as a Burlap “tablerunner” that was purchased on clearance at a discount store.  The boxes are leftover from Christmas.  We ripped some of the paper from the box lid flaps to get the beautiful texture underneath.  The kittens loved playing with the burlap strings and had a great time, pulling them apart.  They enjoyed rolling around in the on their backs and playing hide and seek.  It was not difficult to get them inside the box. We left it in the kitty room for several days before the photoshoot for them to sleep in and get used to.

Kitten wrapped up in BurlapIntroducing “Authentik” kitten images NEW Gallery for Luvkelly 2015

  • Pure, Natural, Authentic
  • Neutral Color Palettes, Muted Hues
  • REAL, Simple, Organic, “Green”
  • Touchable Textures, Fibers and Textiles
  • Each image can “Stand Alone” – poster, greeting card, bookmark, notepad, journal, school folders
  • Gallery Worthy, Classical kitten images
  • LuvKelly is a Fundraiser for a good cause: a portion of licensing proceeds goes directly to save a kitten’s life

The newest kitten images Authentik Kittens are definitely worth a look.  These kitten images are taken in natural settings using ambient light (natural light) with “green” materials.  The newest images for 2015  are Pure, Real, Simple, Neutral Color Palettes that can stand alone or be used as greeting cards for any occasion. There are over 100 freshly made images in a variety of crops available for licensing- 2×6 crops for bookmarks, 5×7 for cards, 8×10 for puzzles and much more.  Just shot last week, these have never been seen before.  Be the first to license these beautiful, gallery worthy, stand alone images! By doing so, you will also help support LuvKelly Kittens cause and make the world a better place!

Kitten Playing in Box
*1/22/15 Photos of kitten images above on this blog post were taken last week. This is a beautiful, friendly litter of 6 kittens, still unnamed just 6 weeks old. These cute kittens were found in trash bags inside a dumpster by a Burger King employee. They were taken to a shelter, placed on death row due to over crowding, then saved by friends itsallaboutthecats rescue group.

Here are a few images from the shoot- these are available in all crop sizes including 2×6 for bookmarks (see samples below) :

 

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Using Backlight Photography

Kitten on Windowsill
IMG_4226 Gracie Rescue Kitten

 

Shooting a backlit scene can be more technically challenging. Backlight photography exposure can be tricky.  And as we all know, an important rule in photography “101” is to avoid shooting against the sun. If you do, you will usually end up with either completely over exposed photographs, or a dark and indefinite shadow. However, certain subjects, such as pets  may warrant backlit exposure – as they wander into their own purrr-fect candid pose (on a windowsill with the sun shining behind them!).

It is always best for photographers to know how to handle lighting techniques for every situation, and backlight is one of them.  Backlight can prove to be a beautiful source of light in its own, creating dynamic beautiful shots that glow!

kitten sitting windowsill
IMG_4219 Abby Rescue Kitten

The tricky part when it comes to backlit scenes is getting the proper exposure. When your camera is set to evaluative metering it meters the entire scene to determine the best exposure. In the case of a backlit subject, evaluative metering will fail because the background is so brightly lit by the sun.  Your camera can’t meter for both the bright background and the front subject at the same time.  To over come this technical issue, you can set your camera to spot metering to tell the camera which part of the picture is the most important to you.  You can then meter the subject’s face (kitten face in this case) and let the highlights go completely white.

In the image above, the majority of the sunlight was coming from behind the kitten through the window, causing the fur around the edge of the kitten body to glow, with still enough ambient light to capture detail in the front. I used spot metering and metered the kitten’s face.  Light was reflected all around creating the catch lights in the kitten’s eyes from the white shutter doors that were opened on each side.  Settings are as follows: ISO 250, f2.8, ss 160, canon macro 100 mm lens, Canon mark II 5D

BACKLIGHT TIPS

  • Change your exposure mode to spot metering, and meter the subjects face.

  • When there is not enough ambient light to capture the details in the foreground subject,  you can use fill flash or a white reflector.

Gracie & Abby

The foster rescue kittens photographed for this weeks blog and newsletter are Gracie and Abby, two sisters who were rescued with their mother from a high kill shelter. They have had very little contact with humans and came to us very frightened and scared.   We have been working with them 24/7 showing them as much love and attention as possible, to help them overcome their fear of humans and prepare them for adoption as a sweet loving pets.  After the third day in our care, they began to trust, became very playful,  and accepted our touch, with much more relaxed personalities.  They were still just too shy to be posed. These are candid natural images of them sitting alongside the windowsill with ambient backlight.  This is a time when knowing how to backlight a subject with correct exposure comes in handy!

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2015 New Year’s Resolution: Purr More with Luvkelly

Rescue Kitten PhotosNew Year’s Resolution: Purr More with Luvkelly

Looking ahead into the New Year 2015, Kelly plans to Purr even more by creating more fresh and colorful luvkelly rescue kitten images. LuvKelly brand, established in 2014 by Kelly Richardson, will continue its mission to raise community awareness and money to help foster parents and private organizations continue their efforts to rescue, socialize, vet, foster and re-home as many homeless cats/kittens as possible to avoid them from going to a high kill shelter.  A portion of the proceeds generated through licensing the luvkelly foster kitten images will go directly to save abandoned kittens.

Introducing LuvKelly Recycles 2015 = save the earth + save the kittens

For the entire year of 2015, Kelly Richardson Images has chosen to create a monthly rescue kitten photoshoot with all natural materials and recycled items that can be found around the house. We are going green in an effort to raise community awareness for the planet earth and for the innocent kittens and cats that are in need of rescue. We hope to encourage our communities to recycle to help save the environment, save energy, and help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gasses that depletes the ozone layer of the earth;  at the same time, we hope to raise community awareness for kittens on death row in county shelters, and get help and support for the private rescue organizations that save them,  take them off death row, foster them with adequate supplies, attend to their medical needs and find them a furrr-ever home.

Kelly hopes the future 2015 will bring worldwide recognition for Luvkelly foster kitten images, hoping it will enable support to reach a national level for kitten rescue groups.  Kelly would like to see Luvkelly kitten images on products on shelves of retail stores in the form of stationary, calendars, school notebooks, bookbags, stickers, folders, notecards, lunch boxes, gift bags, gift wrap, greeting cards, puzzles, coffee table books, children’s books, kids’ unique gifts such as umbrellas, rainboots, luggage tags, partyware, bedding and housewares, and much more!  Contact Kelly for more information on licensing luvkelly images to help support rescue kittens and get involved in this amazing Luvkelly fundraiser.  Kelly is always available and will respond to your inquiries within 24 hours.  She enjoys meeting new licensees and … Kelly offers free design services!

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Undeck the Halls ?!

Christmas Kitten Tangled Garland
IMG_4149 Ashley 12-29-14 NEW

While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads…. Undeck the Halls ?  It seems as though I just finished the final touches of my Holiday decorating. Is it time to take the decorations down already?  My answer to everything… I googled it, and I found a very interesting article in the Duluth News Tribune called, “When to take down Christmas decorations?“

 This article, written by Mike Creger, shares input from Duluth News Tribune Readers, as one states, “many follow the 12 days of Christmas tradition — that the first day of Christmas is Dec. 25, not Dec. 13, with decorations coming down on Three Kings Day, or Epiphany… which is Jan. 6… This was the symbol of the ending of the holiday season.”

Mike Creger writes, “As the Bible story goes, three kings, or wise men — Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior — saw a bright star on the night Jesus was born. They followed it and, 12 days later, presented their gifts to the newborn. The day of Epiphany is Jan. 6, and cultures around the world celebrate on the night before or on that day. Many customs include taking down the Christmas tree, a treat for children as they are allowed to eat the goodies laden on the tree or underneath it.”  For those that need a reason, that certainly makes sense to me.  Though I have always kept my decorations up through mid January, and taken them down a week or so after the kids go back to school.  I have to admit, there have been seasons where my family and I have left our decorations up until January 31st! We love the twinkling lights of the tree. We have even continued through the winter with just the white lights as decorations on our palm trees behind our home.  Perhaps the white lights replace the snow that we miss in Florida?!

 

Christmas Kitten Tangled Garland
IMG_4167 Ashley

***New images taken yesterday, “Pink Sugarplum PhotoShoot” 12-29-14 tabby kitten Ashley … one of many adorable pink sugarplum from photo shoot. These are not in galleries yet. Contact kelly to see more…