Curiosity Doesn't Always Kill Cats
photo and story by bernd zeisberg
I have made many pictures of my cat, and over time developed a specific technique to get good photos.
Usually cats are very curious animals, so it should be no problem to get a good portrait shot.
Some of them are very shy, so they have to habituate to the camera. If this is the case, go slowly forward to the cat. If the cat looks fearful, don’t move on. Talk all the time with the cat. A soothing voice takes the fear of the unfamiliar situation.
After a short time the cat will accustomed to the camera and you can go closer to the cat. If the cat once remarked that there is no risk of the camera, it will behave naturally.
Try to be at the same height as the cat with the camera (or even lower than the cat). In this way you will get a good perspective and the shot looks very interesting. Thus it can ever be necessary to lay on the belly to make the shot! :-)
Very good photos can be make if the cat is feeling unobserved, as it was in this shot. My cat Minka was exploring our garden. She especially investigated quite a few withered roses.
I lowered the DOF in this shot with Photoshop, so that the cat is in the Spotlight of the photo. To ensure that the colors do not distract from the subject, I have retrofitted the photo in b&w conversion.
Bernd Zeisberg can be found on flickr as zeisberg. He has been working on a very cool series with castles and cathedrals called “It’s a Kind of Magic”
