I hate it when Colleen changes things. Change in general? Ha ha! Anything goes. Colleen has free reign to change whatever she wishes. …mostly. She changed the coverlet. It is “loud.” Eh? Colorful! I got a shot of Peas lounging/sleeping upon it.
To convey the pageantry you need a wide angle shot….
Lazy, I just sit at my desk… Colleen did the kitchen sink…. Grab shots. Grab, as in grab the camera, shoot, and hope for the best. Aren’t they all?
I wish the cats would pose as I see the image in my head… alas, they do not. You settle for what you can get.
My! What big eyes you have! It’s a trick to get a spider on its web. The subject is so small the camera sensor does not want to focus. It can be done manually… who uses manual nowadays? So, I spend more time tricking the sensor into believing… it is more trouble to find and adjust manual focus.
And the cats? They are getting along better. Hissing and batting paws is down in our house by at least 50%. That is improvement?!
Weaver cats. Colleen calls them her weaver cats. She has had a conversation with each and every one. They have an understanding that a cat must never wallow, nor eat, nor scratch, nor tangle yarn. Wallowing results in felting. Felting is not good unless you intentionally want felt. My/our/her cats all know this. They know it! They do!
Quintessential. Feather is sitting amongst the ‘wheels. Chillin’! Feather? Yes, I can tell from the white fur on her paws. Good kitty. Don’t grab the yarn.
Good depth to the image. Wheels in the foreground and background. The whole spinning wheel is not necessary to convey the idea. Feather is centered but is works. I managed to convey the idea of business bordering on clutter bordering on spinning obsession in one simple frame. Somehow it all works.
Colleen sees things. Face? Yes, she saw it in the wood grain on the knob of an old oak chair. I see it too… shared hallucination?… No, it’s there. Look again. She’s ok, as in still all there, sane.
Wide angle distortion. Harry the cat was Harriet until they brought him to the vet. And then his name changed to match gender… Cat tower, too close, you shoot and hope for the best. It was a striking image. Too bad both cats were not looking my way.
Eyes. I’ll say it again. Eyes. This is the soul of the photograph. My dog Nellie was uncanny in her ability to blink as the camera flash fired. Absolutely uncanny, shot after shot with eyes closed. My cats do not look at the camera. They ignore me. The camera moves. It positions itself in front of their face. Voila! You would think it’s easy. Ha ha. Do I make everything seem easy? Two shots to the green and one putt and you’re in.
I shoot a lot of cat shots. I walk around the house and find them where they are and put the lens in front of their face. We take multiple shots in the hope that one will be good. I edit. Done. We have eight cats again/now. Try and find them, and then photograph… ha! It’s a neat trick. Location finder, I need a location finder!
Candid? Portrait? Focus. Sure. But… I strive to have the cat looking at me. It ain’t easy. They like to look everywhere else but at the camera. No doubt they have seen my camera before and are simply familiar with it. I hold the camera in front of their face/eyes… to no avail, mostly. Willow especially almost never is caught with his eyes in my lens. Then again, once in a while…
Mo mo a play on no mo’ had a rocky start. I got clawed and bit – bad. Blood was lost… my bad, I scared him as I tried to catch him and put him in the bathroom for his safety. He’s totally gentle and loving when he’s calm. Tille our other black cat was on double secret probation for a period. I was seriously thinking Mo was not going to catch on in our household. Then he climbed into my lap…
Shooting a convincing portrait of a cat is all about the eyes. You gotta have sharp focus. And the cat has to be looking at you, directly into the camera lens. Try it. Cats don’t follow instructions very well. And a new scared cat….? But the effort is worth the while… it comes down to try and try till you succeed.
Mo had his bio listed in the various places and even the local community newspaper without anyone taking any bit of interest. Imagine!? A cat this cute got no response? His picture is worth a proverbial thousand words. As I said, he climbed into my lap and purred….
January 23, adopted – Mozart. We toyed with a few names. Smoky the Bandit was the name on his crate in the pet store…. Mo for short, as in on mo’ please. Yes, I have a fractured sense of humor.
iPhone pic in the pet store by Terry the rescue cat lady. Nothing special here. Just another snap. First shot. …on the way to a new home. First pic, not much of a pic, but it is the new beginning….
We all … shhhhhh… got a favorite… Feather is in my lap as I type… She chose me, long ago, and I remain hers! No one argues. There’s no jealousy. It’s a fact. I guess. Colleen giggles all the time about it. Before we met, I had never “had” a cat. …Kids grow up, they move away… A faithful cat is so “calming” in your lap in the early morning hours as I await my darling wife to awake to greet the new day. A hug from Feather is perfect until then.
Focus, composition, timing, lessons? Really? Either you get a shot, or not. When you do… so, to focus, get the eyes. After that, all follows. Ha ha, Feather? I recognize her by the white fur on her paw(s). Otherwise she is identical to Spice. But, I “belong” to Feather.
Midnight, the cat, is an only cat who prowls his house silently. I am always surprised by his presence as he appears out of nowhere to stare at me. In this case he was staring thru his cat door down the stairs at me. I was able to pull out my camera in time to capture the contrast. And I was lucky enough to get an image.
Black cat, try to get an image. There is very little contrast. Focus?…on the eyes. Yeah, good trick. Detail?…hardly. Hey! It’s not my cat!
PhotoCritical 