| Photography - part two |
Cats are the hardest subject I know of to photograph, especially when using a digital camera - digicams have a very slow shutter speed so the shots are frequently blurry, and you have to anticipate poses by about half a second because of shutter delay. The following advice is geared for users of digicams, but relates to anyone doing a series of photos of a cat, and will be of interest to anyone who is interested in photographing cats and kittens.
If you're using film, use a 35 mm camera; APS has too small a negative. If you get something good, you won't be able to do much with it. Ideally you need a 35 mm auto focus, auto exposure camera with detachable lenses. Suitable lenses are 50 mm and zooms within 35-105 mm.
Use ASA 100 or 400 film. Modern film is good enough and fine grained enough that you can use that and still get a good enlargement, even poster size.
DIGITAL CAMERAS
No film to buy or process. Download the photos to your computer. No waiting for processing. No scanning needed. Editing is easy.
Buy the best you can, as above with detachable lenses. All digital cameras are auto focus. You also want as many mega pixels as possible, even though when photographing for the internet you won't be using them. All high res cameras have lower res settings that give you more pictures per memory card, but you won't be able to make a poster out of them. The D100 Nikon for example, doesn't do enough mega pixels to give a "negative" the size of a 35 mm negative. This makes 50 mm lenses equal to 80 or so, and 35 to 50, making all of my telephoto lenses more telephoto. It took some adapting. As things progress, higher mega pixel cameras appear and this will no longer be a problem in a few years.
Having a pocket digital camera of lesser mega pixels additionally is a good idea. Like guns, when you need a camera, it's better to have a small camera than no camera.
FLASH
Use a fill in flash to highlight the subject even when photographing outdoors. ALWAYS Get in close. Fill the frame with the subject:
One trick is to get the cat's eyes open--wide. This is easier in bright light because the irises close down letting you see the bright color.
Try disabling the flash and just utilize the room's normal lighting as modern digital cameras will usually compensate for low light situations with good results. If you have photo editing software, the photo can be further enhanced using the color balance and gamma functions.
HELP
You need a helper; someone to get the cat to look at the camera or whatever you're trying to get the cat to look at. Sometimes you need a helper to keep the cat from running away. Cats look best when photographed in high ambient light. Their irises close up, showing the colour of their eyes better than in dark rooms. Additionally, in dark rooms, blue-eyed cats will look like demons with red eye with the usual flash.
SHARPNESS
Focus: sharpness of the subject in the photo. A blurry subject is out-of-focus. Automatic cameras will produce blurry pictures if you get too close, so check your owners' manual to see how close you can safely get. Most recommend you don't get closer than 2 feet.
Green-eye: the catty equivalent of red eye where the eyes glow an eerie color.
FILM
Many films have a colour bias; that is they are more responsive to either reds or to blues. Personally I find Kodak too reddish and I prefer Fuji and Konica, but you will have your own preferences. For black and white photos, the main brand is Ilford.
Don't take just one photo; take a couple in case one doesn't come out too well. Taking a photo of a cat sitting on a fence with only the sky for background is more difficult. The camera sets its exposure for the brightness of the sky and the cat appears as a silhouette. Unfortunately there's not a lot you can do to prevent this with an automatic camera. If the camera allows you to switch the flash on manually, you can use the flash to light up the front of the cat or you can stand on a stepladder and get something other than sky in the background; otherwise it's best to avoid this sort of shot. The same goes for photos of cats in the snow.
TIME
Another problem is taking photos of black cats. Unless there is plenty of light shining on the cat, he will end up looking like a featureless black blob. You need to get quite close to a dark-coloured cat so that the camera can set its exposure for the cat and not the background.
The best times for taking photos outdoors are midmorning and mid-afternoon when there is plenty of light but the sun isn't so strong it makes the photo looked washed out. Slightly cloudy days are also good as the sun won't be too strong. Dawn and dusk will probably be too dull for good photography unless you have flash.
POSE
Photos of cats climbing trees or playing are all very well, but they will be blurred if the cat or the camera moves when you take the photo. Be patient and take the photo when he slows down to catch his breath. Cameras which wind on automatically make it easier to take action shots; take three or four photos in quick succession as this gives you a better chance of getting at least one which comes out well. You could ask someone to dangle a feather for him so that he "dances" on his hind legs to catch it; most cats will hold this pose for a second or two
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