Everybody Focus ....

Sometimes, the most interesting images of kittens are when they are not interested in looking at the camera, but doing their own "thing." These guys above, 8 weeks old and brought to me for photos by Cari and Pete Tucker, is a good example of that. They look soft and fuzzy and only one of the eight is looking at the camera. That they are all facing forward was a big plus for me!

Another example of none of the kittens looking at the camera!

And here we have the majority looking at me, thanks to Ken teasing them toward the lens. These little guys were eager to please, but they weren't quite sure what we wanted them to do! It was a hoot. I love photographing kittens. They have no fear and are fascinated by stimulus. Plus they look so cute! The publishers usually want the cat or kittens to be looking in the lens of the camera and will take that pose over an action shot.

Thanks to Cari and Pete Tucker for bringing over their 8 week old litter of eight Maine Coon kittens for me to photograph! And thanks to Ken for teasing them so well!

Background for this Maine Coon litter of eight: Claret.

The Blue Shoot: Mishikoonz 8-week old Maine Coon Kittens

Here's Mishikoonz Stripey, an 8 week old Black and White Maine Coon male.

And here is the whole group! Five Black Silver Classic Tabbies with White and three Black and White Maine Coon kittens from Mishikoonz. Cari Tucker and her husband, Pete, brought them over for their first photo session. Pete was a quick study and turned out to be a very good "Tosser" as well as Kitten Wrangler, making sure there was no "air" between the kittens and prompting them to walk across the photo table.

This was Cari's first litter of Maine Coons so photo documentation of each kitten was very important. What sweet little Coonlets ... it was a fun shoot!

The Background for this sitting was Cobalt Blue.

Tomorrow I'll post a shot from the Claret Red sitting.

Happy Halloween

"Tanstaafl Cashmere," a young Black Maine Coon female, shot at the TICA Gulfport Mississippi Cat show in January of 2003 with small pumpkins that Ken and I brought to the show just for this sitting.

Background for Cashmere: Black

On Your Mark, Get Set ....

This is a Ruddy Abyssinian, "Nobgoblin" intent on getting the pheasant feather that Ken is using to tease him across the shooting table. Abys are wonderful photographic subjects: their fur is ticked, like a squirrel's, which makes their musculature more defined for the camera, they are VERY active cats and not afraid of being photographed or new situations. Ken calls them "monkeys on crack" ... because they are all over the shooting table. To get a shot of an Aby in a formal posed position is very difficult. An action shot is much easier! I love their look: inquisitive, curious, in the moment, and affectionate. They have a sweet face and always play in an entertaining fashion.

Nobgoblin was a good example of the activity of this breed. His back leg and tail were actually out of frame so I had to do some cloning of background to make the image publishable.

He was photographed at TICA's 2008 Jersey State Cat Show in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA.


Background for Nobgoblin: Sage

Maine Coon Kittens on Purple

Here are the kittens from the Saturday shoot on our Purple Background, one with a butterfly added during post processing (since they're looking up at the cat tease which Ken is holding out of frame), and the other, below, is a shot with the trunk. The trunk is very dark so another layer of the same shot was added with the trunk lightened. In this layer, everything but the trunk was erased so the kittens were the correct exposure but the trunk didn't look black!

Ken and I are working on developing a future post about what happens during retouching. For example, tails were added to the kittens on the ends to create a more pleasing image.

We don't usually bring this trunk on the road to cat shows, but we do use it for studio shoots.

Background: Purple.

Five 10-Week Old Silver Classic Tabby & White Maine Coon Kittens

Yesterday, an old customer and friend of mine brought over five 10-week old Silver Classic Tabby and White Maine Coon Kittens for Ken and me to photograph. We needed some kittens to "stand" on a title, "Cats on Blue" for an ad we're doing - or to be a panorama at the base of the ad, so I composited the group shot with (left to right) 2 kittens, then 2 kittens, then five kittens, and finally, a two kitten shot. You can click on the image and see it much larger.

Above is one of the males from the shoot. We were very pleased with the ease at which these kittens played with the cat tease Ken used to get them to look at the camera.

We shot some more on our Purple background, but that will have to be posted later.


Background for these Maine Coon kittens: Imperial Blue

New Cover on Russian "Cats.Info" !

I recently found out that I have the cover of a Russian cat magazine, "Cats.Info." I asked how to say it in English since I don't have the keyboard for the Cyrillic alphabet and I don't understand Russian anyway, even if I did! The above image is Sheryl Koontz's Safari cat, Marechal Xspotica, a 10 month old F1 Black Spotted Tabby Safari female.

Below are some of the other images published in the October 2009 issue.

Wildkatz Bwana Bushwah, an F1 Brown Ticked Tabby Chausie Neuter, bred by Sandra Cassalia of Wildkatz Cattery.

ZenDada SunDog, a Brown Marble Tabby Bengal male, bred by Julie Gracie Moseley of ZenDada Cattery, on our Sage background, above.

Willowind Shekinah Glory, an 18 month old Black Spotted Grizzled Tabby Chausie female, bred by Tammy Isaacs of Willowind Chausies, photographed on our Imperial Blue background, at left.