My Cat as Model

[Fiji-Fujii]

Because she's actually a great one, believe it or not. She doesn't always like to have her picture taken, but when she does, she makes sure I do great shots! (Or so I think, not sure what you guys will think, haha!)

Some of these are from last year, some from this year. For those interested, her name's Suki and I got her in October of 2011, at around 12 months. She was part of a family of six, had 4 siblings who looked very much like her except for one who was black and white. She's shy, especially towards visitors, but a goofball and I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world!

Camera + lens used: Sony SLT-A58 + DT 3.5-5.6/18-55 SAM II, 0.25m/0.82ft, ⌀55

 

[waday]

My favorite is #4

@Braineack is going to love this..

 

[Braineack]

@waday, Braineack DOES love it!

 

[Fiji-Fujii]

@abarko, @waday & @Braineack: Thank you guys, you're all too kind!

 

[mmaria]

Leeeoooonnnoooorrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee heeeeey!!!!!

a cute cat in here!!!

@limr

 

[binga63]

gorgeous cat

 

[Fiji-Fujii]

@mmaria & @binga63: Thank you guys, I'm glad you like her!

 

[limr33 2]

She is beautiful! Love the eyes.

As for the shots, the strongest ones for me are the two of here in the red "cup" followed by the one in the bowl. They're well-composed, great color, great focus on the eyes, especially in the one with the blue bowl. The one with her in the snow is playful and fun, too (though I might have cropped it tighter.)

The background is too busy in the shots on the couch. When she's in the mood to pose on the couch like that, consider removing that flowered cover to simplify the background and keep attention on the little cutie.

Oh, and kiss her little nose for me

 

[Fiji-Fujii]

She is beautiful! Love the eyes.

As for the shots, the strongest ones for me are the two of here in the red "cup" followed by the one in the bowl. They're well-composed, great color, great focus on the eyes, especially in the one with the blue bowl. The one with her in the snow is playful and fun, too (though I might have cropped it tighter.)

The background is too busy in the shots on the couch. When she's in the mood to pose on the couch like that, consider removing that flowered cover to simplify the background and keep attention on the little cutie.

Oh, and kiss her little nose for me

Thank you so much for the helpful tips, I didn't even realize that the blankets on the couch might be too distracting. I'll try to remember that next time. In the case of the one with her in the snow, I wanted to capture the snow falling around her as well because that was last year's first snow of the season where I live.

Haha, and I will! Thanks again, critiques are greatly appreciated since I'm a total noob, I'm happy about all the help I can get!

 

[JacaRanda]

Yup, a beaut and #4 FAV. Sweetness!

 

[Fiji-Fujii]

Yup, a beaut and #4 FAV. Sweetness!

Thank you kindly, glad y'all like her sticking her little tongue out!

 

[Derrel]

Gorgeous kitty! My favorite shot is the fifth one...with her inside the red enameled cooking pot.

 

[DarkShadow]

All Very Nice but #5 for me.

 

[limr33 2]

Thank you so much for the helpful tips, I didn't even realize that the blankets on the couch might be too distracting. I'll try to remember that next time.

Oh I get it - you're so focused on how cute the cat is that you don't notice the other stuff around her

In the case of the one with her in the snow, I wanted to capture the snow falling around her as well because that was last year's first snow of the season where I live.

I like that too and I didn't mean to crop so tightly that you lose the context, but for example, you only really see the snow against that green door, so I would lose some (not all) of the dead space to the right of the cat, and maybe enough from the left just to remove the door (wall?) that is a little distracting. Finally, just to balance the composition, I might take a tiny bit from the bottom (but not the top.) I'm wondering how a square crop would look.

Edit: It's about making sure the important elements of the photo are included and highlighted, and the unnecessary elements are not included or do not distract. For me, this picture is mostly about the look on the cat's face, and so the snow is necessary - you need to include enough to make sure that is a clear part of the picture. It's also about color and texture - the wall, the cup, the green door. The bit of wall or window or door on the left is not necessary, but it's also distracting, so that's why I would crop it out. The wall to the left is good, but we don't need that much of it. The amount of space doesn't really serve a purpose in this picture (as opposed to, for example, if you wanted to highlight how small something is, then the space would have a purpose), so that's why I'd crop some of that out as well. And as I said, taking some from the bottom is just to balance the composition a bit.

 

[Fiji-Fujii]

Thank you so much for the helpful tips, I didn't even realize that the blankets on the couch might be too distracting. I'll try to remember that next time.

Oh I get it - you're so focused on how cute the cat is that you don't notice the other stuff around her

In the case of the one with her in the snow, I wanted to capture the snow falling around her as well because that was last year's first snow of the season where I live.

I like that too and I didn't mean to crop so tightly that you lose the context, but for example, you only really see the snow against that green door, so I would lose some of the dead space to the right of the cat, and maybe enough from the left just to remove the door that is a little distracting. Finally, just to balance the composition, I might take a tiny bit from the bottom (but not the top.) I'm wondering how a square crop would look.

Haha, yeah, she's so fluffly, I'm gonna die!

Ah, okay! Thanks very much, I might give that a try, then. I'll repost them when I get to it.

@Derrel: Don't eat my cat! xD

@DarkShadow: Thank you!