Pet Photography: Cats Advice?

[weepete]

Hi all,

After the last time I posted looking for advice on photographing my sisters dog as part of her Christmas present, I got what I consider a great result after the fantastic adive given on here and she loved the final version. It's now in a framed 8x10 in her living room.

A very good friend of ours saw the photo and has asked me to do a portrait of her cat for her. She'd love one as she gets pretty attached to her cats and has never had one before other than the usual snapshots.

Obviously I want to do the best job I can on this so I'll be trying to produce as near to a professional quality shot as I can manage. I've got two cats myself so am pretty comfortable with the beasts.

This seems an entirely diffeent prospect to my wee sis' dog however as where I was pretty confident I could get the dog to work with me, cats are.......well......cats.

I also now have a bit more kit to play with. I have a couple of speedlights, stands, shoot through umbrellas and a big assed reflector.

So any advice on how to get a cat to pose or anything in particular I should watch out for in positioning or framing?

 

[pgriz]

They are really easy to pose when they are stuffed.

(says a guy who has had live-in felines for the past 40+ years, so never mind the arched eyebrows).

 

[tirediron]

Sell your camera, use the money to buy a fake passport and leave the country under an assumed name. Even if you're caught and spend 25 years at Her Majesty's Pleasure as a terrorist it will still be easier than the alternative.

 

[weepete]

Oh and initially I will be using a Canon 7D, first choice will be a 50mm f1.8 or ideally my MF 135mm f2.5. I'll also have a sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 on hand in case some improvisation is needed. I intend to use OCF in manual (got some wireless triggers and a long cable JIC too)

 

[weepete]

I don't mind wasting a few weekends on this but doubt she'd let me actually shoot then stuff her cat. Though it would make things a damn sight easier!.

 

[pgriz]

Jokes aside, I've never really got great cat shots. Like little children, they don't respond much to direction, and you'll probably have to bribe or distract to get them not to be focusing on you. I suspect patience will be required. Lots of patience.

 

[limr]

Have a second person behind you with a variety of toys so they can wave a toy over your head to get the cat to look up. You need different kinds of toys, because as you know, the cat will lose interest or just blatantly refuse to look unless it's Just The Right One. Little brats

Also treats. Lots of treats.

 

[limr]

Oh, and you might want to spend a little bit of time one day just hanging out with the cat with the camera but not taking pictures - or taking just some snaps to get the cat used to the presence of the camera and the sound of the shutter

 

[weepete]

Yeah, I'll press gang my mate into being there. Hopefully she can get the cat to stay for a few shots. And of course there will be lots of treats.

I'm thinking of persuading her to leave a setup for the cat in her house for a week or so before to get him comfortable with the environment, play with him in it etc. My Mrs has taught one of our cats to sit for a treat so it can be done but I think this will be s real challenge

 

[dxqcanada]

I agree with Leonore ... get them used to a camera pointing at them.
My cats know that something is up when I grab my camera and cover my face ... in my case they want to figure out what happened to my head.