[yeatzee]

Man there needs to be some more dogs in this thread! Cats are taking over

[yeatzee]

I'll start



Toy rat terrier

[rparmar]

Man there needs to be some more dogs in this thread! Cats are taking over

But that's what cats do... take over.

Toy rat terrier

Yes! Lovely!

[ninemm]

More dogs you say?

[m8o]

Yeah!!! More Shibas!

What's his/her name? My posts are quite buried by now, but there's a few dozen (hundred?) from me of my two throughout.
(you can search this thread for user 'm8o' and keyword fotki to see them; some might be a yorkie however, sorry. )

BTW, really fantastic avatar photo.

[sebberry]

This thread is so full of "awwww"

[ninemm]

Yeah!!! More Shibas!

What's his/her name? My posts are quite buried by now, but there's a few dozen (hundred?) from me of my two throughout.
(you can search this thread for user 'm8o' and keyword fotki to see them; some might be a yorkie however, sorry. )

BTW, really fantastic avatar photo.

Shibas totally rock! Her name is Lorna Doone and she turned two in July. I have a ton of not so great photos of her, but I will be getting my K100DS setup soon so watch for pictures in a few weeks.

Love your line from 10/3/09 "behind those loving(?) eyes lies something quite sinister"

Made me laugh. Have you heard that song "Beautiful Monster" by Ne-Yo? It makes me think of Lorna (and probably all Shibas). This is a great thread!

[arpaagent]

aarpagent: That mid-air pounce shot totally took me by surprise and put a smile on my face!

RE: And she also loves to POUNCE on it!
^^^ what timing on that one!

arpaagent, really appreciating your continuing series. I'm hoping you can say a few words about your lighting [type and location] in that and many of the photos in earlier post across the previous pages?

Lovely kittens as usual. You gotta love the pouncing action!

Super cute kittens! I wish they staid that way..... I hate cats.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments. I put significant time, effort, and patience (and sometimes luck, of course) into getting some of these shots.

Just a quick summary of my deeper thoughts below: I like to use slightly wide to tele lenses at apertures F2.8 and below, up to ISO400, bounced flash power at 1/4 or 1/8 power. Generally manual focus for action shots, requiring anticipation. And some AF for relatively stationary subject to make my life easier.

First, a word about what lenses I like to use for most of these shots. Depending on my mood, I will usually shoot anywhere from 28mm - 135mm (and occasionally down to 20mm and up to 300mm, but those are rare occasions where I just want to have fun...20mm provide nice perspecitive but requires me to be uncomfortably close to sharp curious cat claws). I like to use fast lenses (F2 or below) because it makes composition and focusing (both MF and AF) easier under the dim conditions. F2.8 is fine for longer lenses, since anything faster is ridiculously expensive. I generally will shoot with apertures ranging from wide open to F2.8 and occasionally F4. I generally don't stop down more than F2.8 to prevent needing to use higher ISOs or use high flash power (which also keeps the flash cycle time down).

Ok, so a word about the lighting. One thing I learned quickly. Indoors shots of animals with only normal lighting (1 - 4, 75ish Watt, incandescent bulbs) in a medium sized room does not provide sufficient lighting for any moving or non-cooperative subject. If the subjects are sleeping, good shots can be made without additional lighting, but otherwise you are mainly pushing your luck hoping for a sharp shot. If you are willing to shoot into ISO 800+ and have an F2 lens, you can increase your hit rate, but manually focusing in that amount of light can prove challenging, and AF on dark objects in that amount of light is also hit or miss. Personally, I don't like shooting above ISO800 with my cameras (K200D & K-7), mainly due to the loss of good color detail, particularly under dim tungsten lighting.

I do take full advantage of large windows, sliding glass doors, etc, when available. I work a full time job during the day, so on weekdays I generally don't get to see my cats in much natural light. On the weekends, however, I will try to catch some shots of the cats either in direct sunlight through a window, or through diffused light near the window or caused by overcast conditions. That generally gives me some relief from night shooting with the flash indoors.

Anyways, to handle the normal dim indoors conditions, I turned to my trusty flash, AF540FGZ, in bounce flash setting. I generally point the flash up and angled slightly behind me, so the bounced light will mostly come into the subjects front side (e.g. face), rather than from directly above. I prefer shooting in Manual power mode, usually 1/8 or 1/4, sometimes more or less, depending on my chosen aperture, the height of the ceiling, and size of the room. I will sometimes use P-TTL if my lens have the 'A' setting, usually dialing in some positive flash compensation because it has a tendency to underexpose to my liking. As mentioned above, I don't like using flash at full or 1/2 power because it takes too long to recycle the capacitors or whatever, and plus it just makes me feel bad for my flash .

To capture the moments, I generally have to be on the floor (prone style, laying down, supported by elbows) to get down to the cat level and make the shots feel more personal. You really need to be able to see eye to eye with an animal to really get consistent impact in the images. Different perspectives can be good for a change, but I find getting down there with the cats provides the best opportunities time and time again. Trying to capture fast action can be difficult, and it really does take some patience. I've accumulated countless hours laying on the floor, half of the time playing with the cats, the other half waiting for good photo ops. Maybe it makes me seem crazy, but it's fun and photographically challenging. To get the really interesting shots, you really have to be able to predict exciting moments, knowing exactly when to trip the shutter in order to get the cats in mid-air. This is what takes time and patience, and maybe a little bit of swearing as you miss a few awesome opportunities...but don't worry, you will be better prepared next time!

Focusing indoors is always a chore, particularly for moving animals. I have done a lot of shots of the cats walking toward the camera, and for this, I mainly get ready on the floor, and pre-focus on a spot on the floor that I can recognized easily (eg, transfer from kitchen to carpet, or door threshold, debris on the floor , etc) and wait until the animal is just coming into the focus spot, then snap the shutter. Of course to do this right, you have to get used to your shutter delay, and account for differences in animal velocity so that you get the exposure at just the right time.

I hope these comments on my techniques are helpful. I'll be glad to describe some more if anyone wants to know more.

I will continue to share more of my cat shots over time, and there are some very interesting ones that I'm sure you guys will enjoy!

Oh! And a photo for your pleasure. Here is Belle, being chased by Ivy (hidden behind Belle and blurred way OOF). Shots like this are very difficult to time properly. I shot with with SMC Pentax 135mm F2.5 (probably shot at F2.5) and bounce flash. Excuse the debris that is blocking Belle's legs, the house was a mess at the time .

[ninemm]

Thanks for the thoughts and tips! I'll try and put them to good use. Wish I could see the photo you posted up, it states "Content Protected by Owner" for me though.

[arpaagent]

Thanks for the thoughts and tips! I'll try and put them to good use. Wish I could see the photo you posted up, it states "Content Protected by Owner" for me though.

Fixed! Sorry about that, I had not originally intended to share that photo, but I kind of liked it when I saw it again today.

[Fritz]

Some snaps of the dog and kitties from yesterday.







Super Takumar 85mm f1.9

[ovim]

what are you looking at?

[rparmar]

Not sure which I like best. This was the last day we had Thursday before he was re-homed. And the first day I had my K-x.


Thursday & Schweppes 2


(Shot with the FA 43mm Limited.)


Thursday & Schweppes 3


(Shot with the FA 43mm Limited.)

[samski_1]

I'm new to this thread so here is my first post. One is a pet and the other a work dog. I'm sure you can determine which is which.

Cheers,
Sam

[Oro]

Man there needs to be some more dogs in this thread! Cats are taking over

I am more a dog person, but cats are SO much more fun to photograph. I'll do some of those later, but since the limit is one a day, let me introduce not only another species, but an entirely different Order altogether. Perissodactyla. Horses have huge memories, comparable to elephants, and enormous emotional ranges - vastly more than dogs or cats in my opinion. Once you know a horse thoroughly, you can read their faces as clearly as humans. I can't read all horses, but I can mine. This expression is the horse equivalent of striking a pose. He knows I'm paying unusual attention to him and he's trying to look sexy. He actually thinks like that; he is a bit vain. But unfortunately he's also drop-dead sexy, so it's a dangerous combination. That classic line "he's got muscles in places others don't even have places" is completely accurate. BTW, his name is "Oro" and that is why my forum name(s) are that. We are quit close.

Joe Watt Wilderness, southwest of Thorpe, WA, c. 6/2008: