Anyone with a black pet of any species knows how hard it is to get a decent photo of their baby. Andy and Dougy are no different, and the challenge of capturing the subtleties of their coats as well as a recognizable image is daunting.
Yesterday afternoon, when I took the photos in post 356, I wasn’t totally satisfied with Andy’s photo. Sure, it captures his quiet side, but I wasn’t satisfied with the color of his coat: Too dark!
So, I went back to work. Here’s a first effort, which apparently was in a darker spot because the flash triggered:
Umm. OK enough, if not an improvement over the one of Andy in yesterday’s Post 356.
I’d like to blame the point-and-shoot camera for any technical issues or lack of art, but knowing one’s tool, a simple pinhole camera can make fantastic, beautiful photos. The more technology one has behind a photo, the less one has to think about what one’s doing. Even so, that $3000 Nikon just takes snapshots if one doesn’t know the tool and trusts all the decisions to the camera.
My little Nikon Coolpix S100 is adequate technology for my amateur use, yet it, too, can create interesting and beautiful photos! Then again, many times the “best” shot with a point-and-shoot camera is more accidental than planned, and the effect achieved – if only one could duplicate it – transcends the simple technology used to make it. It approaches art!
Andy as ethereal being.
It’s not a literal rendering of Andy’s beautiful coat, but it is a pleasing image to me, easily my favorite photo yet of Andy.
Love both photos of Andy and in some photos Alis black looks almost like a dull red.
That kind of surprises me since Ali looks like a very beautiful black cat. My cats have a mother who is kind of light brown with reddish tabby markings and a Birman father. Though they “read” as basically black cats in person and in many photos, there are hints of the reddish color of their mother’s tabby markings and the black points, legs and lighter colored body of their Birman father, depending on how the light hits them and how strong it is.
Andy looks quite annoyed in the first pic but love the wink in the second ! His colors are so unusual and I can see why it’s difficult to have just the right lighting to capture his beauty !
Andy and I play blinky-face with each other quite a lot. I hadn’t noticed until I pulled this off the card that he was giving me a blinky-face at the time of took his photo! I know that’s part of what I like about the second one.
Free tools like Picasa can do a little to repair a shot that needs a little help.
I have Photoshop, and do use that to crop and manipulate color to what seems more natural. I’m not expert in it’s use, though. The biggest problem I deal with is how their faces disappear except for the eyes because of their dark facial color.
Incidentally, I strongly recommend readers of this blog check out your site for the delightful photos of your cats! I especially have enjoyed watching your kittens grow up, and mourned with you when one of your beautiful elderly cats passed: She was magnificent! If every garden should have a cat, then your garden (lovely to see in your photos!) is especially blessed.
http://threecatyard.wordpress.com/ Here’s the link.
Boy can I relate! Great shot by the way. I know what you mean. Some of my best shots of the black ones, are purely accidental! I try and set one up and just end up getting a black smudge. 🙂
Yeah, I have lots of those black smudge photos – and videos, too! Thanks. I like to say I intended to get that effect, but it is 100% accidental. 🙁
Andy is a gentle soul, but he often looks screaming mad in his photos. I think that’s one reason I like the second one so much. Dougy usually looks smug and self-pleased in his, which is close enough!
Oh yes! Its all about the face. 90% of my posts are created by looking at the facial expression. For example, this mornings “Mr Know It All” Tsuki had that look of arrogant wisdom.
Yeah, that’s one of my favorites of your blog photos! (I enjoy your blog site a lot, incidentally! All cats all the time…what’s not to like?!)