Pets

Learning goal

You will be able to portray a cat that does as it pleases, without forcing it, by fitting in with its time and its space. You will plan the shoot around the cat's daily habits and wait quietly in the places it loves, at its level. You will turn down the camera's sound, give the cat a chance to get to know the camera, and use the sounds that catch its attention from the weakest to the strongest, and only when needed. By rewarding the cat after the shoot you will link the camera to a good experience, read stress signals in its ears, tail and eyes, and let go of the shoot at that moment. When photographing a cat together with the person who loves it in the same frame, you will look after the bond between them and the tone of each together.

The question

The children want the house's tabby in the photo too. The tabby has other plans: for half an hour, only two bright eyes have been visible from the darkness under the sofa. In the end it comes out, but when your friend takes a step, it raises its tail and walks off to the kitchen. The children call, wave candy, wave a feather; the cat looks once and yawns. Your friend had managed to catch the running grandchildren, but this small animal won't join any game. Why are cats the hardest models?

Context

In the taster pets lesson you worked on the shutter speed that freezes a moving animal, getting down to the animal's eye level, attention-getters that direct the gaze, and the exposure of black or white fur (Lesson 16.9). You know from the eye tracking lesson that the camera can also recognize and follow an animal's eye (Lesson 10.4). And in the previous lesson you tried catching running children at a prefocus spot you prepared in advance (Lesson P.9).

This lesson puts the cat itself on top of that knowledge. A child can be called to a game, an adult can be directed; a cat, on the other hand, often appears only when and where it wants. Photographing it isn't fitting it to the photo, but the photographer fitting themselves to the cat. For this you need a method, a little knowledge and a lot of patience.

Simple explanation

When and where is a cat photographed?

A cat's routine is the whole of the habits a cat repeats during the day, the hours and places where it sleeps, suns itself, plays and waits for food. Many cats have short times in the day when they are more open to play; their energy can rise after waking from a nap or before mealtime. The window ledge where it suns itself, the basket where it curls up to sleep, the balcony door where it watches outside are scenes it has chosen itself, and it often finds the best light there too. Photographing the cat in the place it loves instead of moving it somewhere else both keeps it relaxed and carries a piece of its character into the frame.

When entering the cat's space it is important to move slowly, sit on the floor and wait for it to come. Many cats are wary of a person coming toward them; they get used more easily to someone they can approach themselves. Putting the camera on the floor, somewhere the cat can sniff it, gives it a chance to get to know this new object. A cat may hide for the first ten minutes; but in time it comes over to someone sitting quietly on the floor.

How do you catch a cat's attention?

Silent shooting is turning off the camera's mechanical shutter sound and shooting with the electronic shutter or silent mode. Many cats are sensitive to sudden, sharp sounds; a cat that runs off at the first shutter sound may not come back the same day. The electronic shutter can cause distortions in the image when shooting a fast-moving subject or under some artificial lights; with a cat sitting calmly, on the other hand, it mostly causes no problem and makes the shoot invisible to the cat.

A sound ladder is using the sounds that catch the cat's attention from the weakest to the strongest, and only when the framing and focus are ready. A cat often looks at a new sound once or twice, then gets used to it and no longer reacts. That is why the strongest sound, the rustle of paper, the clink of a food bowl or a feather waved right above the lens, is saved for the moment the frame is fully set. First a light click of the tongue, then a rustle, last the sound of the bowl; each one only once, each at exactly the right moment.

When is the shoot let go?

A stress signal is body language showing that a cat is uncomfortable or frightened: ears flattened back or to the side, a tail tip swishing hard and fast, enlarged pupils, a body crouched low to the floor, fur standing up, or fleeing to hide. Seeing these signals says the time has come to let go of the shoot at that moment. No frame is worth an animal's fear; the frame of a cat that is held by force or chased looks tense and unhappy anyway.

The reward is most often given not during the shoot, but at its end: a food it loves, a game, a stroke. That way the camera becomes, in the cat's eyes, not a bad experience but a sign of something good, and the next shoot becomes easier. A direct, popping flash can also startle many animals; for cats, window light or a soft light bounced off the ceiling makes for a calmer shoot.

When photographing a cat with the person who loves it, the subject of the portrait is the bond between them: the way a hand rests on the fur, an exchange of looks, a body relaxing in a lap. You must not force the cat to stay in a lap, and you need to keep both the person's face and the cat's face readable; the exposure is chosen so that neither the person's skin nor the cat's fur loses its detail.

Visual evidence

In the first half hour your friend chases the cat: under the sofa, another room, a doorway. In the frames there is a tail, a back, a blurred ball of fur. With every shutter sound the cat moves a little farther away; its ears flatten back, the tip of its tail swishes hard.

Your friend switches the camera to silent shooting and asks the children to stop chasing. They know the window ledge where the cat suns itself in the afternoon; they sit on the floor near it and put the camera on the floor. After a while the cat comes, sniffs the camera and curls up on the window ledge. Your friend gets down to its level, sets the focus on the near eye and only then rustles the paper once. The cat lifts its head; the sun is in its eyes.

Then the master's small dark-skinned grandchild slowly sits down beside the cat and puts a hand on its fur. The cat half closes its eyes. The exposure suits the grandchild's face and the tabby's brown stripes together. After the shoot the cat gets its food.

Common mistakes

Summary

Cats are the hardest models, because they can't be directed and appear only in their own time and their own place; the photographer fits in with the cat's routine, sits on the floor in the place it loves and waits for it to come, sets the camera to silent and uses the attention-getting sounds one by one, from the weakest to the strongest, when the frame is ready. When stress signals are seen the shoot is let go, the reward is given at the end of the shoot, and when the cat is photographed with a person, the subject of the portrait is the bond between them.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will photograph a cat, or if you don't have one, another pet, by fitting in with its routine.

1. For a day, observe and note where and when the animal rests, suns itself or plays.
2. At that hour, sit quietly near the place it loves, set the camera to silent shooting, get down to its level and wait for it to come.
3. When the frame is ready, catch its attention starting from the weakest sound, watch for stress signals, and after the shoot reward it with something it loves.

Check yourself

• Did you chase the animal, or wait for it to come?
• Were you able to save the strongest sound for the right moment?
• When you saw a stress signal, did you let go of the shoot?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Where is usually the best place to photograph a cat?

• A) A backdrop the photographer brings
• B) The place the cat has chosen itself and loves
• C) A dark room
• D) A place the cat has never known

2. Why is the strongest attention sound saved for the frame?

• A) A cat looks at a new sound a few times and then gets used to it
• B) Strong sounds damage the camera
• C) The light changes
• D) A cat never reacts to a strong sound

3. Which of the following is a stress signal?

• A) Half-closed, relaxed eyes
• B) Curling up and lying on a window ledge
• C) Ears flattened back and a tail tip swishing hard
• D) Sniffing the camera

4. When is the reward most often given to the cat?

• A) Never
• B) Before the shoot, all the food at once
• C) After every frame, interrupting the shoot
• D) At the end of the shoot, to link the camera to a good experience

Answers

1. B — A cat is relaxed in its own place, and those places often get the best light.
2. A — A cat that has got used to a sound no longer reacts; the sound must be saved for the right moment.
3. C — Flattened ears and a hard tail movement show discomfort; relaxed eyes are ease.
4. D — The reward at the end builds a positive bond that makes the next shoot easier.

Summary card

• Don't chase the cat; fit in with its routine and the place it loves.
• Sit on the floor, let it sniff the camera, wait for it to come.
• Silent shooting; a sudden sound can drive a cat away for the day.
• Sound ladder: weak to strong, each once, while the frame is ready.
• Ears, tail, pupils: let go at a stress signal; the reward comes at the end.

Bridge to the next lesson

The tabby is now asleep on the window ledge. Your friend had made a promise to the florist's owner: a portrait showing their shop, their buckets and their flowers in a single frame. But the shop is narrow, the buckets are everywhere, and either the owner ends up too small or the flowers get lost and only a face remains. Telling someone's world in a single frame: is it possible? The next lesson takes up the environmental portrait, which builds the person, the place and their occupation together.