bdk wrote:
I was asked to come to a shelter and just shoot the black cats.
Im told they cant get a good pic of black cats, they say the never look good. They just use pop up flash on a point and shoot
so IM taking my soft box and the small softbox that fits my speedlight and im going to give it a try.
anyone have any suggestions on other lighting, positioning the lights etc...
and of course IM sure some of you will suggest heavy gloves, or bolting the equipment to the floor when the cat takes off from the flash...
I was asked to come to a shelter and just shoot th... (
show quote)
I do lots of shelter animal photography. This is what works for me.
1. Bring lighting. Cats don't care about flash after the first pop or two. Either a portable studio with a muslin backdrop and off camera lighting, usually an umbrella and a large white reflector for fill (makes sense if you have a lot to shoot), or just a simple camera mounted flash with a rotating head that you can change the angle on. Relying on natural light will must certainly result in lots of blurry images. Using continuous light can work, but you'd need some powerful units to allow you to use a lower ISO and faster shutter speed. Leave the tiny softbox home. If your other softbox is at least 2-3 ft long, that should be ok. You might want to use a grid to control light spill.
2. If you are using a bare flash, do not bounce the flash at the ceiling - it results in deep shadows where you don't want them. Better to point to the side or behind and slightly above you. It will look like natural light.
3. Whenever possible, borrow one of the shelter's staff who normally works with cats to assist you in handling them. They will have toys and other things to attract the cats' attention.
4. Let the cats get comfortable. Most of the time they are socialized, and don't get anxious with strangers. Watch them for a few minutes, try to capture their personality when you shoot them. With relatively few facial muscles, as compared to dogs, you are less likely to catch an "expression" but body position, eyes, ears, whisker positions and other subtle features will provide "personality" and uniqueness to each cat. A nice advantage of using flash is that their pupils will be wide open, which can be quite captivating.
5.I have photographed hundreds of cats - I have yet to have one bolt on a flash pop. Your experience may be different.
6. For black cat exposure, it is ok if they are a little lighter than black, as long as nothing is blown out. Shoot raw, so you have more options in post processing. This will give you more to work with in post to bring out the structure and texture of the fur. I like to shoot them against a black or dark background, it makes for a very dramatic, low key shot.
7. Not all cats respond to catnip, but it's good to have just in case they do.
8. Try to shoot them individually. Sometimes you will have a bonded pair, and they will be happiest if you shoot them together.
I'll post a couple of examples later.