OT How to get good cat pictures
MAEPGH
of it on film. My problem is that my pictures of my cats always come out with
"glowy eyes." When others post their pics (which I always love!) I don't see
this problem. So, my question is, how do you take a picture of a cat and
capture the color of their eyes and not get big orbs of glowing light?
Anna
Cat
awesome pictures of my cats outside..... I lie down on the grass and get on
their level, and do some nice close ups. The ones where the grass is the
only background really look nice. I have an awesome picture of my deceased
Sam which I enlarged as a tribute to him after he died. It's a gorgeous
pic.
If your cats aren't very good outside, try and take pictures near a window.
Place a chair just in front of a window (make sure the sun is not glaring in
from behind, but at an angle) and put your cat on the chair, crouch down a
little and have someone else coax the cat to look pretty with a treat or
something.
I find I get the most problems with glowy eyes, when it is too dark and the
flash goes off on the camera. This is usually the culprit for glowy eyes.
HTH,
Kelly
"MAEPGH" <mae...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020211113217...@mb-fn.aol.com...
Yngver
It depends on how seriously you want to get into cat photography (meaning it
depends on how much you want to invest).
As someone else pointed out, you can eliminate the problem of the flash
reflecting from their eyes by taking photos in natural light. This can be
outdoors or in a sunny room indoors.
You can also try the "red eye reduction" feature on most point and shoot
cameras, but in my experience this works a lot better with people than with
animals. You will probably get some reflection even with the red-eye reduction
feature.
What pros do is use a camera on a tripod and position or bounce the flash off
the wall or something similar, so that the flash isn't reflected directly into
the cats' eyes.
Again, depending on how much you want to get into this as a hobby, you can buy
an SLR and use fast film to take photos in relatively low indoor light.
Basically, the point is to avoid having a flash reflect directly into the cat's
eyes, and there are a number of ways to do this.
MAEPGH
pictures (though I think we've seen our last sunny day for a while!).
Anna
Darnit7
>What pros do is use a camera on a tripod and position or bounce the flash off
>the wall or something similar, so that the flash isn't reflected directly
>into
>the cats' eyes.
I'm not quite sure I understand this. What does putting the camera on a tripod
make a difference? What do you mean, bounce the flash? All I've got is a
point and shoot, but I do have a tripod. Also, I have tried the red eye
reduction, but it really didn't make much difference.
_________
=^..^=
See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/mickey4paws2000
Yngver
>I'm not quite sure I understand this. What does putting the camera on a
>tripod
>make a difference? What do you mean, bounce the flash? All I've got is a
>point and shoot, but I do have a tripod. Also, I have tried the red eye
>reduction, but it really didn't make much difference.
>
If you don't have a detachable or stand-alone flash, the tripod won't do much
good--although if your cat will sit still long enough, you might be able to
take a picture indoors using a tripod and no flash.
With an SLR, you can put the camera on a tripod and use a separate flash unit
that won't fire directly into the cat's eyes.
Bouncing means you aim the flash at a reflecting screen or something similar,
so that the light "bounces" from that to the subject.
But with a point and shoot, you can't really do much other than try to take a
picture in natural light. I didn't know what kind of equipment you were working
with when I mentioned the other techniques.
Rene
Hi (again!) Anna,
I'm no pro when it comes to taking pictures, but I've had good luck
with taking pics where Tucker isn't looking at the camera directly.
That way, the flash doesn't bounce off his eyes. Something like a side
shot, or a shot of him playing or looking to the side. And sometimes,
I've just had dumb luck in getting a good pic where he's looking at
the camera.
What hasn't worked for me is using the red eye feature on my camera.
It sends two flashes, but with a cat, after the first flash they move,
so you don't get the picture you want.
Rene
Darnit7
>If you don't have a detachable or stand-alone flash, the tripod won't do much
>good--although if your cat will sit still long enough, you might be able to
>take a picture indoors using a tripod and no flash.
No detachable flash unfortunately. Maybe I'll try the tripod in some natural
light. I'm so tired of a picture coming out really good except for the glowing
eyes, lol. Thanks, Yngver
Lauren
Anastasia Felix
MAEPGH wrote:
Hi! I have one of those cameras that you can "develop" the picture on the
computer. I sometimes use a program called MGI PhotoSuite (that came with my
scanner) to remove red - eye or "Pet Eye". If you have a regular camera (use low
light film), try to get your film developed onto a disc, that you can place into
your computer, and see if you can edit some of those pictures using any photo
editor you have (Or download a trial for a photo editor... there are others out
there) and then play with the picture until you get the results you like. (This
will require a lot of time depending on the effect you'd like, or how much work
you'll need to do for the photo) I have been able to remove the red eye, in some
of my pets pictures and still keep their natural eye color intact. I've been able
to remove things from the background (a beer can for instance) and you'd never be
able to tell. With my type of camera I'm able to see the picture, and if I don't
like it, I can re~shoot it. Unfortunately before I got this camera I was using
the disposable cameras, and had to take my chances, so I didn't have the luxury of
a re~shoot of that "perfect moment". I did get my pictures developed onto disc,
and whenever I have time now I try to go back and edit the old photos (Kitten
Photos of my 5 year old cats). I keep my cats indoors, so I've had a lot of
problems with red eye in low light situations. Bringing lamps into the area can
help (this should be done way before you see your cat doing something wonderful ~
You wont get the shot...), I have a white cat and a black & white cat and a tabby,
the white cat can "Get lost" on a white background, the black & white one gets
lost in a dark setting ... the tabby .. if she'd stay still long enough... turns
out too dark at times. I think some planning & experimentation of colors, that you
could place around them would help in getting that perfect photo, try for example
to take a photo of your cat near a houseplant and see what the effects might be.
Getting back to the red eyes though, if you have a way to get your cat near a good
light source, overhead lights turned on, curtains wide open, try to take the
picture without a flash. The nighttime photos are a whole different animal. I had
a miniature christmas tree for years and I'd place my cats near that to take their
pictures at night (around christmas). Once while visiting my sister, I took some
pictures of her cat, and when I got them developed her cat looked like she had
headlights for eyes (not just the red eye).... much editing would not make the
photo look natural... I deiced that the cat photo should remain untouched,
sometimes the bad pictures look cool.
Well I hope this helps ya,
Anna
MAEPGH
>computer. I sometimes use a program called MGI PhotoSuite (that came with my
>scanner) to remove red - eye or "Pet Eye".
<snip>
Thanks for all the good advice! Now if I could just get the cats to *pose*!
Anna