Black cats present opportunities for the amateur photographer to experiment with light. Feline photography adds to the challenge because cats won’t obey commands "sit" or "stay." Although the ideal is an outdoor photograph in natural sunlight, sometimes a cat must be photographed indoors. It may be an indoor-only cat or in a shelter awaiting adoption or the outdoors may be inhospitable. Therefore the lighting must be created. Simply using black and white effects unfortunately won’t resolve the problem of light and the black cat.
Using the Camera Flash
There are contrasting schools of thought whether the room should be bright with bulbs at high intensity or whether a flash should even be used.
With the camera set on auto, the flash goes off to brighten the mass of darkness (black cat) targeted. The result may be a bright solid black cat but lacks the nuances of individual sparkling hairs. The shadows of silky inky fur of the undulating cat are lost in a flash of brightness. Then the eyes squint in response to light or have an odd cast from the flash. Cats’ eyes reflect blue not red.
A remedy might be to have the flash bounce of a lighter surface and then onto the cat. For example, aiming on a lighter wall will cause the flash to bathe the cat in light without changing eye size or color in reaction to otherwise direct light. Higher ISO settings help in low light but the cat may appear grainy.
Paul Brody, a Tampa photographer, suggests using the highest shutter speeds possible believing anything less than 1/200 will produce a blurred photo. Possibly photograph without the flash and use auto setting, then add slight exposure manually up to 3.
Perspective for the Cat and Photographer
Shooting standing over the cat may give a 2 dimensional effect. Shooting eye level, unless the camera has incredibly fast shutter reaction, often results in the cat walking toward the photographer (if both are friends). The opposite is worse than a blurred photo and that is the cat walking away form the camera and the result is a butt shot. Every amateur photographer has multiple shots like this.
The photograph of someone holding the animal looking in to the camera sometimes gives a choked look portrait. It is preferable to have the cat resting over someone’s shoulder or to grasp the nape without pulling the head back (shocked look).
Standing a few feet from the cat and zooming in on the face is an option. Zooming in on the finished digital print and cropping around the area desired to bring it to the forefront is another option.
Best Black Cat Digital Result
Decide first what effect is to be created, whether the face, the whole body, at rest or play, etc. is desired. Feral cats must be captured quickly since human presence is frightening to them. Pet cats will hang around longer and briefly enjoy the attention.
If not using the outdoors with preferred early morning light or early evening light, photograph indoors with normal room lighting and try a flash. Project the flash above the animal’s face. Use contrasting light colored background. Use shutter speeds over 1/200 if possible. Increase the auto ISO. Experiment with color or black and white. Guard against death grip posing but pose the animal if possible over a shoulder or couch. Crop and zoom to bring out detail. Try finishing the photo with online photo programs to sharpen, contrast or brighten, and fine tune.
Take lots of photos. Don’t be afraid to discard most of them regardless of admiration for the cat’s time and beauty. Get opinions from other photographers and finally, enjoy the results.
Amy Andersen - Amy Andersen, MSN, ARNP, family & pediatrics certified, practices yoga and explores the inter-relationships of mind body fitness and ...
Join the Conversation