Alley Cat

[klbphotography]

Taken in the alley behind my house. Let me know what you think!

 

[dxqcanada]

Cat is not in focus.
The thing on the left is distracting ... crop it out.

 

[mishele]

The cat looks pissed off....lol I'm assuming that why you did get any closer.....

 

[klbphotography]

Well with cats like this as soon as you try to approach them they run away. And I know the cat's not in focus. The thing on the left is a dumpster. I left it there because it shows that it's a true alley cat and not just a cat sitting on the side of the road

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Poor OOF kitty.

I agree with losing the bin. I thing the weeds and bushes and trees suggest wild. I think the cats stance and stare reads "ferrel".

I do like the shot, but even if you left the bin in, the kitty has to be the focus point. Especially with that stare.

 

[klbphotography]

Yeah it makes sense that the cat should be in focus. With the settings I was using though I feel like if I focused on the cat, so much of the foreground would be out of focus and might take away from the picture. I know the cat is out of focus but there is just something about this picture that I love

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Don't get me wrong, I do really like this image. I like the scale of the kitty, and it's placement in the frame. We are just naturally drawn to sharp areas of focus.

You could have used a smaller aperture for greater DoF. Are you familiar with Hyperfocal distance?

It's also possible that people would be more accepting of the bin in the composition, if it were slightly OOF.

 

[klbphotography]

Thanks. My camera was actually set to the smallest aperture possible. And the cat was far away. I zoomed in as far as I could. I have a different lens I could've used but by the time I would've switched it the car would've been gone. I only got to take 2 pics before he left

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Understandable.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

But the EXIF says 1/1000, f/5.6, 1600.


F/5.6 isn't small.

 

[klbphotography]

That's the smallest that lens would go to at that time with the lighting outside. It's times like that where I miss my 35mm and I controlled everything.

 

[dec11ad]

I like the story here. the cat, dumpster, and gravel road. and also the crop, even though I feel it's a touch too long on the right side. what I don't like however is the background. the bushy background seems to be the distracting feature. try to imagine if you could replace the bushes with a brick wall, it would really simplify this photo and it would also be rid of the mixed feeling of a wildlife cat or a Heatclif cat

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

But you had plenty of room to move! You shot at 135mm, with 1/1000. You could easily go down to 1/250 or 1/200 and avoid camera shake and increased your DoF.

You shot in aperture priority, which means you had control of the aperture!

 

[klbphotography]

I like the story here. the cat, dumpster, and gravel road. and also the crop, even though I feel it's a touch too long on the right side. what I don't like however is the background. the bushy background seems to be the distracting feature. try to imagine if you could replace the bushes with a brick wall, it would really simplify this photo and it would also be rid of the mixed feeling of a wildlife cat or a Heatclif cat

Thank you! And yes a brick wall would've been nice but I'm stuck with people's overgrowth haha

 

[klbphotography]

But you had plenty of room to move! You shot at 135mm, with 1/1000. You could easily go down to 1/250 or 1/200 and avoid camera shake and increased your DoF.

You shot in aperture priority, which means you had control of the aperture!

I was on the AV setting for what I was shooting when the cat strolled into alley. I didn't really think of changing my settings. And on my camera the lowest aperture I could go to was 5.6. If I would've been on manual I could've done aperture and shutter speed. Maybe it's my lens that prevents me from going lower than 5.6. I'll have to check in the morning. Next time I see the kitty I will try again