I had originally entered Eddie , (another friend's pet) in 5 senses, and was happy. Then I did this shoot and couldn't resist. Gren is a gorgeous redhead (but the crop seemed to fit the mood I was going for), and got the ringmaster outfit just for the shoot. Modi is a Savannah and is HUGE. I fell in love with him and his smile :-)
This is actually my first cat portrait, even though I am a cat fanatic. I knew that of all the pets I would be photographing, cats would likely be the toughest. I knew that I would not be able to use strobes (contrary to Gren's reassurances), because most cats would completely freak out, and would then go into hiding, putting a prompt end to the shoot. So I shot with continuous light (I used 3 heads for the first time - up from 2), and turned the room into a sauna.
I also knew I had a brief window of opportunity to capture everything I wanted before the cat would simply refuse to do anything at all. However, I did not anticipate that Modi would freak about about the camera itself. He avoided it very carefully, despite all the toys we waved at him. We finally did get several fabulous shots (this being one of them), by coaxing him into place with snacks of baby mice and baby chicks. I've spared you the gory details.
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[Jul. 27th, 2011 12:02:35 PM]
A note about the lighting. I saw the harsh shadows when setting up (this was one of the first shots of the session). I was about to fix them but decided I loved the look, and added to the "circus"/performance effect I was going for. The hand motion is both a flaw and a quirk I can justify as part of the storytelling that got the cat to "laugh"
[Jul. 27th, 2011 12:06:49 PM]
Also, I really felt this would score well, but after rollover and an initial 7, it plummeted to 5.8 before I gave up in disgust. Woke up to a 6.8 this morning, and am now at 6.9, so the world is a better place :-)
[Jul. 31st, 2011 12:54:27 AM]
I am SO enjoying all your comments!!! And here I am, sitting on a 6.9. Will it go to 7...?????
[post-challenge]
Thank you all SO much for such an avalanche of comments and fabulous votes. The blur, in case you haven't figured it out, is because I had to use continuous light. Even with a relatively high ISO, it was not enough to freeze motion.
Statistics
Place: 4 out of 62 Avg (all users): 6.8442 Avg (commenters): 8.1000 Avg (participants): 6.4242 Avg (non-participants): 6.9587 Views since voting: 3116 Views during voting: 379 Votes: 154 Comments: 43 Favorites: 10 (view)
Sorry to say that I did not get a chance to vote on this challenge and just now seeing this. I love it! I wish I could come up with that kind of vision. Congrats.
Wow! I am happy that between two trains I stopped to see this challenge! After the voting ..... But at this point who cares about placement! You got here a one of a kind shot.
such a weird one this! nice composition, very surreal image and almost plastic like.. uneven painting along skirting board and the models blurry fingers keep drawing my eye making this score a little lower than i would have normally, tho an 8 from me!
This was my only 10 for the challenge as it really appeals to me. The composition is great but it’s the cat’s expression that really appeals to me. The shadows work well for me too. It’s a pity her right hand has slight motion blur but I doubt you could redo the shot and get the cat to give that look again. Well done!
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