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02-19-2014, 09:10 PM   #1
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Is it just me or hard to focus on kittens...

Is it just me or... does anyone ELSE notice that fuzzy black newborn kittens seem to have some sort of stealth technology to prevent autofocus at any ISO?

02-19-2014, 09:13 PM - 1 Like   #2
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They come with cloaking devices built in.
02-19-2014, 09:49 PM - 1 Like   #3
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It's not just the black ones, lol. Black cats in general are a bit harder to shoot. You have to get it just right or you get a black blur. Or they end up looking brown. I always get better results with mine from natural sun. Seems to work better when she's outdoors. Or outdoors for her anyway, in the screen porch. Flash never works either...
02-19-2014, 09:59 PM - 2 Likes   #4
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For me, whatever the exposure, the cat just looks black. Like a black smudge. That's why I mostly shoot my orange cat

02-19-2014, 10:11 PM - 2 Likes   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by ausmoose Quote
For me, whatever the exposure, the cat just looks black. Like a black smudge. That's why I mostly shoot my orange cat
See? Cloaking device!
02-19-2014, 10:41 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Don't shoot until you can see the whites of their eyes.


'course, they don't have whites of their eyes...
02-20-2014, 05:02 AM - 4 Likes   #7
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suggestion "cat breading"

for the AF system to work more effectively you probably need to have a bit more contrast.

Have you tried this:



pic credit catbreading.org

02-20-2014, 05:39 AM - 1 Like   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by steve1307 Quote
for the AF system to work more effectively you probably need to have a bit more contrast.

Have you tried this:



pic credit catbreading.org
Klingon toasted cloaking device!
02-20-2014, 05:45 AM - 1 Like   #9
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Obviously you don't know how to communicate with your subjects....just a firm, no nonsense "Sit Kitty" should do the trick.
02-20-2014, 02:12 PM - 1 Like   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by altopiet Quote
no nonsense "Sit Kitty" should do the trick
Oh right, that's where I've been going wrong all these years.
02-20-2014, 10:57 PM   #11
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I tried chasing around my black smudge today to take some photos. Still only black smudges. So I returned to taking photos of my orange smudge...
02-21-2014, 01:18 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by ausmoose Quote
I tried chasing around my black smudge today to take some photos. Still only black smudges. So I returned to taking photos of my orange smudge...
Oi, take some time and clean your lens once in a while!
02-21-2014, 08:35 AM   #13
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It can be done. Check out my "Loki" and "Beebs" threads for some inspiration. Loki has been an incredibly tough kitten to photograph actually. He just hated the camera at first. He would literally attack it and run. It took me ages to get him to even stay in the same room with it but persistence won out in the end. In 9 months though I've only gotten maybe 10-12 shots of him that I think are decent. He moves so fast and so often it's near impossible sometimes to get him in the frame and focused. I have tons of shots where he is just a little orange and cream blur. Lily is better but she's got her own set of issues when it comes to photographing her because she's black and long haired and it can be hard to get any detail sometimes with her. With cats It's usually a question of the right light and a whole lot of patience. I've been known to sit for an hour with them just watching them play and waiting for the right shot. You can't really force a cat to do anything, let alone pose on cue, but in the end, when it works, I think it's entirely worth it. :P
02-22-2014, 08:09 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by calsan Quote
Don't shoot until you can see the whites of their eyes.


'course, they don't have whites of their eyes...
That's what they want you to think.. This isn't a crisp photo, but I reckon his soul is clearly visible...
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02-25-2014, 04:05 PM   #15
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Time to go all manual.. exposure, focus
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