Paparazzi stalking my cat, Marcus

[SimonB197408]

Dawn wanted to see some photo's of my cat, Marcus (he's a 5 year old Abyssinian), so I trawled through my Images directory and found some from a few weeks ago that I hadn't PS'd yet.

I was just fooling around, trying different exposures, focus points, with and without flash and got these Paparazzi style photo's!

From the laundry, through the vertical blinds which was challenging due to having to get the focus on him, and not the blinds:



Through the kitchen window, between the fern fronds:



And, finally, snapped this one while he was chasing a fly behind the vertical blinds in the dining room (isn't this a guilty look):



Comments, critique (honest) appreciated, always!

EXIF data (as I still haven't got around to following thruthelens' advice), I have removed settings where they're at defaults:

1. 1:

Flash Used: Yes
Focal Length: 52.4 mm
Exposure Time: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/4.1
ISO Equivalent: 200
Metering Mode partial: (6)
JPEG Quality: (6)
Exposure Program program: (2)

1. 2:

Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 41.1 mm
Exposure Time: 1/55 sec
Aperture: f/3.9
ISO Equivalent: 100
Exposure Bias: -1
Metering Mode partial: (6)
JPEG Quality: (6)
Exposure Program program: (2)

1. 3:

Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 8.9 mm
Exposure Time: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO Equivalent: 100
White Balance: (4)
Metering Mode partial: (6)
JPEG Quality: (6)
Exposure Program program: (2)

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^

 

[thruthelens]

While I'm not the "Dawn" for whom these were posted, I wanted to offer my comments anyway. Simon, you have one very nice cat there. He looks to be full of personality and mischief.

You were right to relate these shots to a paparazzi style, for the first two, especially, have the feel that you were hiding in the bushes and zoomed in to get a rare glimpse of this celebrity.

I especially like the first one, and I know what you mean by the challenge to get focus to lock beyond the foreground elements. It has a nice effect. It looks as though someone has placed a nice little sleeping pad on the patio table for Marcus. Wonder who that would be. ;-)

I've seen that guilty "I'm not doing much of anything back here behind the window shade" look a hundred times. And it's always priceless.

I noticed you used flash in the first one. Did that help keep the vertical blinds from being silhouetted? Did you use fill flash? Whatever the technique, it appeared to work.

Thanks for sharing, Simon. Marcus is going to start charging you a fee to use his images. BTW, did you get a release form from him? Best to err on the side of caution, just in case he makes a big deal about it later. ;-)
--
Dawn
FCAS Member #89

With camera in hand, I see what I might otherwise overlook

C P 5 7 0 0; SB-50DX; WC-E80; TC-E15ED
pbase supporter
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[Dawn156666]

Simon and Dawn,

Just got back to the list. Thank you Simon for this glimpse into the life of Marcus, he's fabulous. Your title of "Paparazzi stalking" says it all with these shots. It's like you're a peeping "tomcat" the way you seem to have slipped up on him through the blinds and ferns. I love the look of the foreground out of focus. I want to try that technique.

Dawn, your comments are always so right on, and you express them so elequently. Even a beginner like me can tell you have hands on knowledge of what you're saying. I always enjoy reading what you share. I have been embarrassed more than once when people on this list assumed I was you and asked me something. The only similarity is the name, so I try to write "the other one" by mine most of the time. Happy to know you do the name proud.

Dawn (the other one)

While I'm not the "Dawn" for whom these were posted, I wanted to
offer my comments anyway. Simon, you have one very nice cat there.
He looks to be full of personality and mischief.

You were right to relate these shots to a paparazzi style, for the
first two, especially, have the feel that you were hiding in the
bushes and zoomed in to get a rare glimpse of this celebrity.

I especially like the first one, and I know what you mean by the
challenge to get focus to lock beyond the foreground elements. It
has a nice effect. It looks as though someone has placed a nice
little sleeping pad on the patio table for Marcus. Wonder who that
would be. ;-)

I've seen that guilty "I'm not doing much of anything back here
behind the window shade" look a hundred times. And it's always
priceless.

I noticed you used flash in the first one. Did that help keep the
vertical blinds from being silhouetted? Did you use fill flash?
Whatever the technique, it appeared to work.

Thanks for sharing, Simon. Marcus is going to start charging you a
fee to use his images. BTW, did you get a release form from him?
Best to err on the side of caution, just in case he makes a big
deal about it later. ;-)
--
Dawn
FCAS Member #89

With camera in hand, I see what I might otherwise overlook

C P 5 7 0 0; SB-50DX; WC-E80; TC-E15ED
pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/dlane/

 

[thruthelens]

Dawn, your comments are always so right on, and you express them so
elequently. Even a beginner like me can tell you have hands on
knowledge of what you're saying. I always enjoy reading what you
share. I have been embarrassed more than once when people on this
list assumed I was you and asked me something. The only similarity
is the name, so I try to write "the other one" by mine most of the
time. Happy to know you do the name proud.

Dawn, thank you very much for your kind words. I learn a lot by offering feedback to others, because it often requires me to double-check the validity my advice. ;-) I also find that I'm more critical of my own work if I make a practice of looking closely at all works. It's easier to be objective with the works of others, and it's good practice for when I approach my own work.

No need to feel embarassed by mistaken identity. The mistake is not yours, but someone else's. ;-) BTW, Alina has grown into a beautiful and confident looking kitty cat. Like cats have a way of doing, I'll bet she helps make your house a home.

--
Dawn
FCAS Member #89

With camera in hand, I see what I might otherwise overlook

C P 5 7 0 0; SB-50DX; WC-E80; TC-E15ED
pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/dlane/

 

[Bud Guinn]

Nice looking cat....and that's usually how I have to shoot my dogs is to sneak up on them.

--
bud guinn....FCAS charter member
Hummingbird hunter/gatherer
Nebula and DSO chaser
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Astro stuff at
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[SimonB197408]

While I'm not the "Dawn" for whom these were posted, I wanted to
offer my comments anyway.

Dawn, although not "The other Dawn", you're more than welcome.

Simon, you have one very nice cat there.
He looks to be full of personality and mischief.

Yes, he's gorgeous and he knows it. When I first got him, he was shy and would hide from visitors. However, as he's grown older, he's far more comfortable with people and now comes and rolls around on the carpet, runs around and generally makes himself the centre of attention!

You were right to relate these shots to a paparazzi style, for the
first two, especially, have the feel that you were hiding in the
bushes and zoomed in to get a rare glimpse of this celebrity.

In fact, for once, the style was pre-decided I took the photo's knowing what effect I wanted. There were a lot more, some worked, some didn't!

I especially like the first one, and I know what you mean by the
challenge to get focus to lock beyond the foreground elements. It
has a nice effect.

Thanks, I am happy with how that turned out.

It looks as though someone has placed a nice little sleeping pad on the
patio table for Marcus. Wonder who that would be. ;-)

Yeah, that's his pet futon. It's actually meant for a dog, but he doesn't mind. He won't take to baskets or those 'igloo' things, so this in the winter and the dog beanbag in the summer seem to be his style. It's usually in front of the heater but, again, I planned ahead.

I noticed you used flash in the first one. Did that help keep the
vertical blinds from being silhouetted? Did you use fill flash?
Whatever the technique, it appeared to work.

Yes, you've got it. When I tried it without flash, the foreground was too dark, so I just had a play with different effects and that looked the best. It wasn't fill flash, just 'normal'. I think I had EV dialled down some too, from memory. I usually have it set as -.0.3 as a default.

Thanks for sharing, Simon. Marcus is going to start charging you a
fee to use his images. BTW, did you get a release form from him?
Best to err on the side of caution, just in case he makes a big
deal about it later. ;-)

Hehe, yeah, I will need to think about that, but I'll remind him of the vet bills while he was a teenager and fighting neighbourhood cats and flu shots and meals along the way

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^

 

[SimonB197408]

Just got back to the list. Thank you Simon for this glimpse into
the life of Marcus, he's fabulous. Your title of "Paparazzi
stalking" says it all with these shots. It's like you're a peeping
"tomcat" the way you seem to have slipped up on him through the
blinds and ferns. I love the look of the foreground out of focus. I
want to try that technique.

Hi Dawn #2, the technique's not hard if you use the zoom at a suitable range. As my previous reply to Dawn #1 (haha) stated, you may have fun with lighting, but it's not too difficult to play with digital

Thanks for your kind comments.

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^

 

[SimonB197408]

Nice looking cat....and that's usually how I have to shoot my dogs
is to sneak up on them.

Marcus's problem is that he stops what he was doing that made you want to take a photo!

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^