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kitty cat
kitty cat
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Jul, 2014Views
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Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
One Of A Kind
Exceptional Contrast
Great Find
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
Jaw Dropping
Genius
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Behind The Lens
Location
As an amateur photographer who enjoys nature shots I was lucky, on this particular day, to capture this image at an abandoned lot just a few blocks from my home in Upstate New York.Time
I had developed a strong rapport with several Blue Jays by feeding them peanuts daily around noon and then photographing them. It was my intention this day to accomplish more Blue Jay photography, but it would be something else if I gained a nice capture of other songbirds or even critters, beside birds, that might happen upon my shooting territory.Lighting
Knowing full well that mid-day photography presents the greatest lighting challenges I set-up for shooting in the shade of several trees. The available diffused lighting was perfect for taking bird photography.Equipment
This shot was taken with a Canon T2i SLR with a Tamron 70-300 lens and mounted on a Manfrotto monopod. For me, a monopod helps capture shots that occur spontaneously without the weight and cumbersomeness of a tripod. No flash was used as I prefer natural light when outdoors.Inspiration
Bird photography is my favorite, especially the colorful and very characteristic Blue Jays. But on this day the Blue Jays were keeping their distance. They saw the peanuts, flew about and squalked but would not attempt a landing. Something was wrong. I looked about and quickly discovered why; a beautiful little kitten was hiding in the grass nearby patiently waiting for the birds. I knew I had a great shot of this cat with beautiful green eyes to match the green grass it was hiding in. I set the camera for shallow depth of field to blur the green background, aimed and took the shot. Quickly, the cat was gone but I had my capture!Editing
This shot was nearly perfect straight from the camera but I did adjust contrast/brightness and sharpened it a tad.In my camera bag
Along with my camera of choice, the Canon T2i, I always carry two Tamron lens which covers nearly every shooting situation: a F/2.8 17-50mm and F/4-5.6 70-300mm. Additionally, I carry a Canon 1.8 50mm lens when I need absolute sharpness for a regular shot. Carry a flash but rarely use it as the Canon's on-camera flash is sufficient for indoor shots.Feedback
Lighting is everything with nature photography no matter what camera and equipment you use! Because I take most of my photographs during the problematic mid-day lighting I have learned how to overcome the harsh and picture-flattening sunshine by doing the following: using clouds, clouds provide great photographic opportunities although you need to set-up quickly and patience is necessary to capture the right moments; useing shade whereever it can be found (trees, buildings, etc.); and always having a lens cover attached. All this has worked for me and I have been able to capture some terrific images despite going against the grain of not shooting during mid-day.
