Wednesday, July 31, 2013

cats

 Header Challenge:cats

July 31, 2013

Today's challenge is cats.  It was Fishing Guy's pick. Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac and Lew.

Nala is a boy cat.  His first owner thought he was a she and called it "Sweety."  That's too syrupy-sweet for me, so we renamed it "Nala," the queen from Disney's Lion King.  Then, at our first vet visit, the doctor said, "Um, you know this is a male cat, right?"  We decided it would confuse him if we changed his name again. Or maybe we were just too lazy, but we left the name as it is.  He is deaf and quite old now.  Can I tell you why I like this photo of him?  If you have been trying to get a good photo of a cat, especially a dark cat, you know that it's tricky to get the details of the contours in its coat without getting the reflective eyes.  I bounced the flash off the ceiling, and used a white reflector just a few inches away from him, and that gave him nice, even light all around without making his eyes light up.  He was gracious to tolerate the one shot and then decided he was going to be shy.

Our younger cat was super-shy when we got her.  My daughter decided to call her "Maybe."  Yes, like the song.  This was a setup where I put a storm window on top of an upside-down card table and took her picture from below.  She did not like that, but she got over it and we're friends again.  Her previous owner gave her up because the kitten was too shy, hiding all the time.  But if you ask me, discretion and modesty look good on a cat.  And this being a "tortoiseshell" cat, it figures that she likes to hide, you know?

Did you hear about the cat that swallowed a ball of wool?  She had mittens. 

The header photo is our tortie Maybe hiding at my seat under the dinner table.  No flash.  I used the natural light from a window, plus a sheet of paper to spill a little extra light into the shadows.

9 comments:

imac said...

You're just a sweety and a big softy Craver,lol.

Great work to capture your cats this week my friend.

lime said...

calicos are such pretty cats. great job on lighting nala too!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Craver: Cool cats for certain but maybe some confusing names. lol

Jackie said...

Getting a cat to cooperate for a photo shoot is like herding loose BBs in a box car. Ain't gonna happen without a whole lotta trouble.
You've captured the beauty of your feline friends.
Love the ways you adjusted for light/shadows.
News flash (no pun intended...just happened...sigh.) Hubby bought me a Speedlight (Nikon SB 700) yesterday for my birthday, so I'm gonna be a Craver and make light my friend in my photos. I'm gonna bounce light, diffuse light...and more. I'm a happy camper (if I ever learn how to use it.)
Smiles to you, my friend.
Jackie

Craver Vii said...

The SB-700 is (excuse me for drooling) an excellent speedlight! You're going to have SO much fun with it! Happy Birthday, Jackie!!

George said...

I like all of your cat pictures, and I'm impressed you could get them to cooperate for you. I'm also impressed with your lighting techniques.

Lew said...

Nice work with the lighting and avoiding the red-eyes!

happyone said...

Cats certainly can be tricky to get picture off. You did a great job. Nice try with the joke!! : )

Betty Manousos said...

craver, great work with capturing so beautifully these cute cats.
how could you get them to cooperate with you?
sounds amazing!

love the photos and your header is lovely, too.

have a great day!