:: Meet Me At Mikes : Good Stuff For Nice People:

Don't call me crazy-cat-lady! That is such a boring cliche - and besides, I'm not a "lady"! Good, now that we've got that cleared up - I can openly tell you that my cat CUBY is one of the best things ever. And I very much dig his everyday expressions and nutty things that he does.

Unfortunately, I'm not that awesome at capturing this on film (or in pixels as the case may be). But I've been trying out different bits of experimental magic for taking nice kitten and pet snaps. This is some of the stuff I've worked out.

- Don't use a flash. Don't even think about it. Even the little red focus sensor light makes my cat wince. If you have this red sensor light problem, here is what I do: press the shutter button half down to focus on an object just NEXT TO your pet, once the focus is set, swivel to shoot your buddy.

- Use a fast shutter speed to capture movement. Don't have a manual setting? Well, have a look, your auto-digi probably has a setting called KIDS or PETS / KIDS which acts fast too.

- Perspective. Get down low on your buddy's level, or rock an unusual angle.

- Paws are cute. Zoom in on those little feet.

- You are not gonna get the awww-factor if your fur-baby is lost midst the clutter of your loungeroom. Zoom in or crop like crazy. Don't let ugly furniture get in the way.

- Conversely, a crafty prop can be a good distraction and a cute photo op.

- Crazy close-ups are cool, but so are random compositions where just a little bit of the animal's body is poking in. (This tail belongs to the infamous and illusive "MIKE" from Meet Me At Mikes!)

- Sometimes the weird, out-of-focus action shot can be kinda excellent. Happy accidents can happen if you are patient and not too uptight.

SO! What are your pet snapping secrets?

Love PG x x x

:: If all else fails you can always put stuff on your cat: http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

:: And then there's Airborne Cats of course: http://www.flickr.com/photos/junku/sets/303691/

:: Nice article on photography and documentation by Dudecraft over here

Pin It