Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Bengal Leap for TICA's Annual in Germany

We set up this shot about seven times with different modes (ladder, chair, Mark tossing), then the owner, Mark Pennington, ended up tossing the Bengal onto the table from one foot away while standing on a chair -- just to get the right angle. I don't know how many times Mark tossed Derringer onto the table but I was lucky that Mark was a strong man! We tried Derringer leaping from a ladder but he landed too far to the right. I didn't feel comfortable about moving the ladder farther away from the shooting table so we decided to have Mark stand on a chair instead. The image was for a graphic which advertised a big International cat show "landing" in Germany in 2006 (the TICA Annual, Hannover, Germany), see below.

In reality, the cat's head was turned too far to the rear of the table, so a head from another shot was substituted. This was the best angle I caught of the body, albeit with "feathery looking" britches! My shutter speed was 250 which links to my studio lights. I could have moved while holding the camera, but don't think so on this shot as the rosettes on the body were in focus as were the front legs. It's a problem with a very active cat, but one I was willing to live with!

Here is the final poster:
The cat is RW SGC Drinkwater Derringer of Mystre, a Brown Spotted Tabby Bengal Male, owned by Mark Pennington of Mystre Cattery in Houston, Texas, photographed in New Braunfels, Texas, at TICA's Mission City Cat Show, 3 April 2005.

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