Great shot, love this cat. I am a pet photographer and love all animals.

I love it!!!

I love all these shots. I am always looking for a lot of texture to tell a story and these shots are magnificent. They really do tell the story.

I find most of my barn for photos just by going out for rides. Another option is to ask your local police officers as they are always out patrolling the local roads and can give you directions to them. Good Luck.

Nice job with these barns.

Thanks Richard for your suggestions. Many of them I have already tried over the past three years volunteering. I was a little hesitant when picking the background but after doing sooo many different backgrounds I start to run out of ideas. Everyone seems to enjoy all he different backgrounds. My mini van is so full of blankets and props I can't even use it to get my weekly groceries. Just not enough room left.

We have a very large turnover of animals each week so we use a lot of props. I'll have to try your suggestions that I haven't tried yet. Some we just couldn't use because of the small space we have to work in at the shelter so we do the best we can with what we have to work with.

You have an interesting background, I lived in Bethlehem, PA for 5 years, right at the Allentown town line.

PS, I'm 71.

I volunteer weekly to take photos of the dogs and cats at Salem Animal Rescue League in Salem, NH a no-kill shelter. Each week I stop to have lunch at Coffee Coffee, a coffee roaster. I asked the owner if I could have 2 of the burlap coffee bags to use as backdrops for one of my photos of the cats. Because we change the background and props for each animal, I am constantly looking for new ideas and thought this would be a great change. What are your thoughts? Also I would welcome any ideas for future props. Thanks.

Coffee Cat

Oh, you are right, she is very unusual. What a beautiful cat. I have two cats and also volunteer at a local no-kill shelter SARL in Salem, NH. I take their animal shots for their web site and Pet Point. I shoot one day each week of the new animals that came in. I love it and find it so rewarding. We are very luck and have a great turnover. Seeing them get adopted so fast really makes my day and feel wonderful to be a part of it. I also volunteer in their kitty city taking care of the cats, cleaning litter boxes and doing laundry.

It's amazing how friendly they were. What a surprise. Glad you got to get these photos.

I found ACDsee software out of Canada to be very easy to use and quite inexpensive. I used their regular version for many years and switched to their Pro version a couple of years ago. You might want to check it out. I believe they offer a trial version also.

If you shoot their head from the side the nose will not seem as noticeable.

I agree with Angler, I #3 does look juicer, but I would go in tighter for the shoot.

If you think children are hard to photograph try doing pet portraits, dogs and cats. I take photos of the animals at our local animal shelter each week of all the new animals. They are so stressed out and in an unfamliar place. It is a true test of patience. I find shooting children and pets takes patience, patience, patience, and more patience to get the shots you are looking for. GO FOR IT!!!

Thanks Bill for the shot, what a beautiful capture.

Oh, what an awesome photo this is. Thanks for sharing.