CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Cats typically sleep for 12 to 16 hours a day. They can spend up to a third of their waking hours grooming.

Gabby on film by Paul Sager, on Flickr


A house cat’s genome is 95.6% tiger, and they share many behaviors with their jungle ancestors. These behaviors include scent marking by scratching, prey play, prey stalking, pouncing, chinning, and urine marking.

Gabby in B&W


When your cat drapes its tail over another cat, or you, or even your dog, it's a symbol of friendship.

Gabby on film


Abraham Lincoln had four cats that lived in the White House.

Gabby in B&W


Male cats are the most sensitive to catnip, while kittens under 3 months old have no response at all.

Gabby on film


A group of kittens is called a kindle.

Gabby in B&W


There are roughly 94 million household cats in the US, more than the roughly 90 million dogs. Both are less than the 139 million freshwater fish that swim in American homes.

Gabby on film


Images shared in this post replicate many of the same digital techniques used with the same lenses and focal lengths. The films range from expired stock from 2003 through fresh film purchased in 2020. The color images are Fuji NPH 400 (expired May 2004) and Kodak Portra 400 (loaded as ISO-200), and the B&W from Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired Jan 2014). Adjustments were made to the ISO setting when each roll was loaded to an EOS 1v. Details on the exposure and lenses are provided in the EXIF data from Flickr, just use the image titles as URL links to Flickr. The scanned JPEGs were processed in Adobe Lightroom v6.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Seeing my favorite gal is a great way to start the day. These are all excellent shots and Gabby is a love!❤️ Nice cat facts, too. Living with three of them, I understand that they are far more than just pretty faces.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Very interesting.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Gabby is a beauty and dialog was very interesting. Amazing capture of Gabby's eyes in the first one.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

G’morning Paul,
What scanner did you use; how true to the film images were the initial scans prior to PP? I assume these were 35mm shots, but all the films you mention are/were available in 120 as well, so I’m uncertain.
These are nice shots, and a fun exercise!
Bye the way, were the old films kept in a freezer, or in any special circumstances?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Mike! The scanning is done professionally along with the developing. I can only say the JPEGs come back as 5035x3339px images (17MP). I can't speak to the scanner. I use mail-order processing with North Coast Photo in California and pay extra for the high-def scan. All the film is 35mm negative print film. I have no interest in slides nor larger format, although I am coming to appreciate the lower grain and higher resolution of medium format film. I only use AF-capable equipment. My eyes just waste film trying to manual focus nowadays in an SLR viewfinder.

The JPEGs are then edited in Lightroom to look acceptable, that was the purpose of having them scanned at a high resolution. The expired film tends to have a color tint that needs to be corrected. There isn't any color correction / brightening in the scans, so my edits tend to be whitening of whites and blackening of blacks, giving more contrast and punch. I edit to a finished image, not feeling a need to 'hold true' to the scan result.

Other than fresh film bought from B&H or Amazon, the old film is bought in bulk with the understanding it has been kept frozen, typically. The bulk purchases arrive 2-day priority and goes right into my freezer after being added to an inventory tracking spreadsheet. The 'word' (and now my experience) is B&W is less impacted by age, assuming freezer or always refrigerated storage.

Today's new color film has virtually no gain, from the expensive Kodak Portra and Ektar to the more consumer grade Pro Image and Gold 200. Fuji's Pro 400H was just discontinued, so there's not a lot of color film options beyond Kodak. I've bought a lot of Fuji NPH 400 that was the prior name for Pro400H, but exactly the same film. Other than exposing as ISO-200, that film is virtually grain free and looks like digital, even for rolls dating from 2003.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Bill, Carol, Architect1776, Jim, Mike! I mention 'replicating' the digital shots since I'd never take on these close-ups in film without a few week's prior practice in digital. In digital I might shoot for 10-minutes to half an hour at a time, trying different settings / approaches, picking out and processing only the few that worked. Film is just 1 to 5ish shots depending on how cooperative Gabby is at the moment, hoping neither she nor I moved as I lined up the focus of the shot. Glad you enjoyed the results.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I am really sorry that you are not enjoying your relatively new cats, but work on it, Paul, they will grow on you (LOL).

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

Beautiful Paul - know ahat you mean our cat could sleep for England lol!!

Michael1079 Loc: Indiana

Nice set!

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Beautifully photographed; excellent detail and sharpness.

merrytexan Loc: georgia

the last shot is so cute...looks like she is giving you a little smile for the pic.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

That cat just loves the camera, Paul, great series.

HillbillyHiker Loc: Cookeville, TN

Shooting cat's photos is great fun. It looks like you have one that completely enjoys your company. I do photos of our animal shelters cats each week. It is really fun and challenging.