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Re: [OM] I just came home from a Christmas party too...

Subject: Re: [OM] I just came home from a Christmas party too...
From: VS <VS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 14:00:11 +1100
In message <3DF42FDD.40704@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Steve Goss writes:
>One of the things we did was door prizes, that had been donated by 
>members of the Sunday School class. My donation was an 8x10 of whatever 
>the winner wanted. Well, the winner wants a picture of her cats. Since 
>both my daughter and I are allergic to cats, I don't have much 
>experience with felines. What have I gotten myself into? I'm sure y'all 
>are just full of ideas.

Pets are pest to photograph, cats doubly so. :-) Your average cat's
attention span is about half that of your average hyperactive kid[1],
and their attitute towards being photographed and especially towards 
photographers is that of superior species. [2,3]

Just like in any other portrait assignment, you'll need to get to know
your subject quite well to produce good photos. In your case that might
be a bit hard, since you're allergic to cats, but maybe you can get some
info out of _the cat's_ human, i.e. owner. 

You'll need to bring some toys with you to get _the cat's_ attention,
you'll most probably also need an assistant to animate _the cat_, but
have no illusions, you will only have limited time to come up with some
good shots, because the cat will see your plot through and stop playing
and go away the moment you think you got her eating out of your hand, so
to speak. At that moment, it'll go and relax somewhere next to a rather
cluttered background and make a really cute face or lie in such a pose
that will make her human all soft and she'll want you to take that
photo, right there right then. Of course, by the time you get things
ready - lights, camera, ac... - where did the cat go?

One of the things that will keep your average cat interested for a long
enough time to actually get some good shots is a box. It need not be
huge box, just big enough for the cat to fit inside. Or at least some
parts of the cat, you'll still want her face at least to stick out. In
those rare few moments after the cat got new box and found that it was
good, you'll have a chance to get some interesting photos, especially
expressions on the face that will say 'finally a bearer of good
gifts'. For those extra cute points, the box will need to be wrapped in
a nice wrapping paper, with maybe a ribbon around it. A heavy duty
archive box generally will do, sizewise.

Other toys that will work: 
      
      A soft rubbery ball on a piece of string, attached to a long
stick. Imagine you're fishing. No, no hook needed. :-)

       Cat mint a.k.a. catnip a.k.a. catnep.[5]

If you want to go for classic 'Aaaah' shots, you'll need to postion the
supreme being close to a window or some other source of soft light. Just
be aware that the cat most probably won't cooperate the way you want her
to. The cat's human might be able to help you with this task, but don't
count on it.

Take a portrait lens and a wide angle lens with you. You won't need more
than that. Oh, and if you can, take one of the OM's with AE mode. You'll
need it. First and most of all, get to know the cat before you take
photos of her. Really. No other way around it.

For a few a bit different cat photos, have a look at
http://fluffy.sauceforge.net/ (Taken with Olympus C990z.). In the first
three photos you can also see how quickly a cat changes her mood, and
facial expression.

Cheers,

Saso, caretaker of a persian prince

[1] All kids are seemingly hyperactive nowadays, because adults aren't
physically active enough.
[2] All generalizations are false.
[3] Describing Real Cat[4]. If you're not dealing with a Real Cat, please
ignore most of the following text. :-)
[4] For a good description of a Real Cat, read Terry Pratchett's "The
Unadulterated Cat".
[5] http://www.moggies.co.uk/catmint.html 
    http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant07.htm

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