A Short Introduction
Cisco met a vole today...it was a very brief introduction.
Cisco met a vole today...it was a very brief introduction.
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Jul, 2014Views
539
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Awards
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
Great Shot
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Great Find
Magnificent Capture
One Of A Kind
VIP Favorite
All Star
Jaw Dropping
Genius
Peer Award
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
LauraFransen
July 30, 2014
Thanks for only posting the beginning, but I would have preferred to believe they walked off into the sunset together.. :|
PRO+
DaveLoucks
August 25, 2014
With my cats the mouse always wins. Sorry no pictures to ashamed. Great Picture
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I love this photo. It might be the best picture I've ever taken - certainly the one I've had the most feedback on from other people. It was taken in my former Upstate New York backyard in the late Spring. Cisco was still pretty much a kitten and I loved taking pictures of him, so I would sometimes let him roam about behind our house which backed up to a woodsy area, while I followed him around capturing his play and exploration.Time
This afternoon, just after lunch, I opened the door and let Cisco out onto the deck. While I was grabbing my camera, he jumped down onto the stone walkway and as I came outside, I saw that he was inspecting something. Fortunately, I had a long lens on my camera, so I zoomed in, to take a closer look, and couldn't believe what I saw. I didn't waste much time with camera settings, just started clicking and was glad the last time I used the camera, it was on continuous shooting. The "brief encounter" only lasted a minute or less and I was so happy to find that at least one of the images had great focus. It was the perfect moment when Cisco and the Vole took a split second to size each other up.Lighting
This was taken outdoors in daylight...an overcast day. No attention to lighting was considered.Equipment
My camera is Canon 60D and the lens I was using was a Canon EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II. It was the first telephoto lens I owned and it convinced me that I needed to get longer and better lenses, which I have done since.Inspiration
This was a completely lucky shot, but the best photos often are. They key is to be prepared for luck to come your way. I always have my camera near me. I rarely leave the house without it. My cat is one of my favourite subjects and whenever I am with him, I keep an eye out for opportunities to capture a new image of him. I've taken thousands of pictures of him in his three years with us and he even has his own Facebook Page - Cisco the Cat - so that his "fans" can enjoy the best of my images of him. I also sell pictures of him on note cards, in mats and in frames. This picture called "A Brief Introduction" is my all time best selling photo. It pleases me to think of the number of people who have loved this photo enough to buy a copy of it.Editing
Very little post-processing was done to this image. I use Lightroom and besides cropping it, I made small adjustments to the exposure, clarity, highlights, sharpness, etc. - basically a few tweaks.In my camera bag
If I'm heading out with a particular shoot in mind, I generally take three Canon lenses - 18-55mm, 10-18mm and 70-300mm. If I plan to shoot birds/wildlife, I'll swap the long lens for my even longer Sigma 150-500mm. If I will be shooting indoors, I will usually add my prime Canon 50mm. I also have a Canon 60mm lens for macro shooting.Feedback
It would be hard to give advice to anyone wanting to capture this kind of image as it was probably a once in a lifetime shot. However, you're not going to get this kind of picture if you don't have your camera with you and ready to go. Take your camera everywhere and make sure it's ready to shoot. Also - find a few four leaf clovers and carry your rabbit's foot. ;)
