Little balls of fluff! - Page 111

coolcat · 14th February 2023, 20:37

Managed to photograph all six of our cats today for Valentine's

Cubby...

Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Boris...

Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Molly...

Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Morris...

Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Fliss...

Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Leo...

Leo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 20th February 2023, 18:53

Molly can't decide which is her best side

Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

stevestrat · 21st February 2023, 14:57

Suzy loves having her photo taken!

The look in her eyes says it all, "get that bl00dy thing out of my face!"

coolcat · 28th February 2023, 13:00

My, what big eyes you have Miss Molly...

Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 16th March 2023, 06:22

A few pictures of our Pud Tats over the last week or so...

Fliss...

Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Cubby...

Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Boris...

Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Morris...

Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Molly...

Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Leo (and Molly)

Leo and Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 16th March 2023, 06:42

Four out of our five relaxing in the conservatory

Conservatory cats by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 25th March 2023, 06:33

Our Pud tats from the last few days...

Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Leo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 27th March 2023, 20:01

Molly has had a super lazy day chillin'

Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 1st April 2023, 13:37

A few from this week...

Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Leo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

coolcat · 1st April 2023, 14:21

For anyone interested in how I take my cat environmental cat/dog/people portraits this gives you an idea.

Oh yeah.... Environmental just means in any location setting other than a photographic studio. I.e. in the home, place of work, outside etc. In the studio I would approach this with very different settings.

BTS (Behind the scene) snap of our Molly posing for her photo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

So first thing to do is to get your camera level with your subjects eye. Not always necessary but for me, makes for a more pleasing composition. Same applies when shooting people

Keep in mind the background is not full of too many distractions where possible.
I always shoot in manual mode and Raw. This gives me control over the 'look' of the image and more flexibility in post production editing.

I tend to shoot on or near my cameras max flash sync shutter speed. In the case of my camera that is 1/250th of a second. If I need to go above that then I can shoot in High Speed Flash.

BTW, I always use flash, even outside in daylight. It just helps to 'pop' the subject , soften shadows and put catchlights in the eyes.

Whilst we are on the subject of flash. When using on camera flash like in the picture. I put a diffuser on the top (white dome) and aim flash at ceiling.
This means that the majority of the light hitting the subject is coming from the light bounced off the ceiling which becomes a much larger source of light. The larger the light, the softer and more pleasing the light.... in the case of fluffy pet portraiture anyhow. Please note. If your ceiling isn't white, any light bounced from it onto the subject will cast the colour of the ceiling onto your subject!

Also, my flash is in manual mode rather than ETTL. This allows me to be in control of the light exposure on the scene and keeps my shots consistent. I will sometimes 'meter' the exposure but generally I can pretty much guess how much power I need from the flash. Usually sits around 1/16th power.

What I'm aiming to do with my environmental images is to balance the ambient light (be that sunlight or artificial light) with my flash. In the studio I aim to remove all ambient light and just use my studio strobe lights to expose the image (mostly).

With aperture I like a shallow depth of field to render the background and any foreground nicely out of focus. I tend to open the lens up to its smallest F stop number then dial it back a couple of stops. This allows me to hit what I consider the sweet spot to what I think should and should not be in focus. This is of course subjective and open to your own choice.

The final part of the exposure triangle is ISO. If I'm running and gunning I set my iso to auto and let the camera decide and leave me to control the aperture and shutter. If it's a more considered shoot. Like in the photo. Then I'll us the lowest ISO I can get away with after dealing in my other two settings.

With focusing. I have the camera set to single spot focus and I aim the focus point over the subjects eye nearest the lens.

Hope that might help with anyone using a camera you can take manual control over to then get the photos you want rather than the camera making the decisions.
Most cameras (including smartphones) you can opt to manually control these things should you so wish.

This is the sort of result you would get from following the above.

Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr

Taken from the viewpoint you saw in the first image. The only difference is the use of a different lens.

This was shot with an 85mm F1.4 prime (non zooming) lens at F2.5 aperture. 1/200th second shutter and ISO 100. Flash power was at 1/16th
.
You can see by using these settings how the wardrobe doors in the background have become less defined and the fluffy bed sheet in the foreground is also very soft.

Hope that hasn't bored you all. All of this can be applied to any subject you like.
Remember also, the further the subject is from the background, the more you can make that background less focused by changing your F stop number, should you wish to do so

If you want to investigate this further. Google 'Exposure Triangle' and there will be plenty of info on how these three things all work together in your image taking.

14th February 2023, 20:37	#1101
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	Managed to photograph all six of our cats today for Valentine's Cubby... Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Boris... Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Molly... Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Morris... Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Fliss... Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Leo... Leo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

20th February 2023, 18:53	#1102
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	Molly can't decide which is her best side Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

21st February 2023, 14:57	#1103
stevestrat This is my second home ZT260 #243 (resting) Join Date: May 2010 Location: Prestonpans Posts: 22,484 Thanks: 650 Thanked 4,624 Times in 3,358 Posts	Suzy loves having her photo taken! The look in her eyes says it all, "get that bl00dy thing out of my face!" __________________ Steve T4 Location Map

28th February 2023, 13:00	#1104
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	My, what big eyes you have Miss Molly... Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

16th March 2023, 06:22	#1105
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	A few pictures of our Pud Tats over the last week or so... Fliss... Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Cubby... Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Boris... Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Morris... Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Molly... Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Leo (and Molly) Leo and Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

16th March 2023, 06:42	#1106
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	Four out of our five relaxing in the conservatory Conservatory cats by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

25th March 2023, 06:33	#1107
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	Our Pud tats from the last few days... Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Leo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

27th March 2023, 20:01	#1108
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	Molly has had a super lazy day chillin' Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

1st April 2023, 13:37	#1109
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	A few from this week... Miss Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Fliss by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Morris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Cubby by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Leo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Boris by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr __________________ Jeff.

1st April 2023, 14:21	#1110
coolcat This is my second home Audi Q3 TDI S-Line Quattro Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Clacton On Sea/On the boat somewhere Posts: 51,166 Thanks: 9,890 Thanked 12,235 Times in 8,232 Posts	For anyone interested in how I take my cat environmental cat/dog/people portraits this gives you an idea. Oh yeah.... Environmental just means in any location setting other than a photographic studio. I.e. in the home, place of work, outside etc. In the studio I would approach this with very different settings. BTS (Behind the scene) snap of our Molly posing for her photo by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr So first thing to do is to get your camera level with your subjects eye. Not always necessary but for me, makes for a more pleasing composition. Same applies when shooting people Keep in mind the background is not full of too many distractions where possible. I always shoot in manual mode and Raw. This gives me control over the 'look' of the image and more flexibility in post production editing. I tend to shoot on or near my cameras max flash sync shutter speed. In the case of my camera that is 1/250th of a second. If I need to go above that then I can shoot in High Speed Flash. BTW, I always use flash, even outside in daylight. It just helps to 'pop' the subject , soften shadows and put catchlights in the eyes. Whilst we are on the subject of flash. When using on camera flash like in the picture. I put a diffuser on the top (white dome) and aim flash at ceiling. This means that the majority of the light hitting the subject is coming from the light bounced off the ceiling which becomes a much larger source of light. The larger the light, the softer and more pleasing the light.... in the case of fluffy pet portraiture anyhow. Please note. If your ceiling isn't white, any light bounced from it onto the subject will cast the colour of the ceiling onto your subject! Also, my flash is in manual mode rather than ETTL. This allows me to be in control of the light exposure on the scene and keeps my shots consistent. I will sometimes 'meter' the exposure but generally I can pretty much guess how much power I need from the flash. Usually sits around 1/16th power. What I'm aiming to do with my environmental images is to balance the ambient light (be that sunlight or artificial light) with my flash. In the studio I aim to remove all ambient light and just use my studio strobe lights to expose the image (mostly). With aperture I like a shallow depth of field to render the background and any foreground nicely out of focus. I tend to open the lens up to its smallest F stop number then dial it back a couple of stops. This allows me to hit what I consider the sweet spot to what I think should and should not be in focus. This is of course subjective and open to your own choice. The final part of the exposure triangle is ISO. If I'm running and gunning I set my iso to auto and let the camera decide and leave me to control the aperture and shutter. If it's a more considered shoot. Like in the photo. Then I'll us the lowest ISO I can get away with after dealing in my other two settings. With focusing. I have the camera set to single spot focus and I aim the focus point over the subjects eye nearest the lens. Hope that might help with anyone using a camera you can take manual control over to then get the photos you want rather than the camera making the decisions. Most cameras (including smartphones) you can opt to manually control these things should you so wish. This is the sort of result you would get from following the above. Molly by Jeff Cranwell, on Flickr Taken from the viewpoint you saw in the first image. The only difference is the use of a different lens. This was shot with an 85mm F1.4 prime (non zooming) lens at F2.5 aperture. 1/200th second shutter and ISO 100. Flash power was at 1/16th . You can see by using these settings how the wardrobe doors in the background have become less defined and the fluffy bed sheet in the foreground is also very soft. Hope that hasn't bored you all. All of this can be applied to any subject you like. Remember also, the further the subject is from the background, the more you can make that background less focused by changing your F stop number, should you wish to do so If you want to investigate this further. Google 'Exposure Triangle' and there will be plenty of info on how these three things all work together in your image taking. __________________ Jeff. Last edited by coolcat; 2nd April 2023 at 07:52..