Mary Ann
Aug, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in my living room early one winter afternoon in February 2015, shortly after I'd treated myself to a (then new) Sony A5000 camera.Time
It was the worst time of day to take photos: just after noon on a bright but flatly-lit winter's day, as my cat Mary Ann was waking up from nap #2 that morning. But I was desperate - I'd had the camera for two whole days and I hadn't really used it yet.Lighting
Nope! It was a flat, winter's day, bright but dull, and I used the available natural light while the cat was cooperative.Equipment
My Sony A5000 mirrorless camera (which came with a 16-55 mm lens) is the first 'real' camera I've owned in many years. I'm a small-framed woman with some neck problems and the weight of DSLR cameras had restricted me to a point-and-shoot for more than a decade. I was very curious about mirrorless cameras because they're so much lighter than the DSLR and I decided to go with the Sony model because it had a comfortable feel in my hands, similar to my old Minolta SLR.Inspiration
I have two cats - Ginger and Mary Ann, each of whom live up to their Gilligan's Island name inspirations. Ginger is a gorgeous redheaded diva who wants the attention of everyone in the room, while the brunette Mary Ann (pictured here) is filled with love but more demure, and often gets overlooked despite her quiet beauty. Inspired by a chilly afternoon outside and Mary Ann's sleep-warmed attempts to attract my attention inside, on this particular afternoon I decided to take an extended lunch to play with my new camera and start to learn its settings.Editing
I admit to being a post-processing luddite, so there was nothing done with this shot.In my camera bag
I have two camera bags - a small backpack that carries everything I own (it's not much) and a tiny camcorder-sized "day bag", which I take when I need minimal equipment. The backpack holds my Sony A-5000 body, the 16-50mm 3.5-5.6 Sony lens that came with it, a Sony 55-210mm 4.5-6.3 zoom, and a Sony E 30mm F3.5 Macro lens. Because Sony's lens selection is expensive and not extensive, I also picked up a Sony e-mount to Nikon lens converter, which I use to rent high-end lenses for specific purposes (like a longer zoom to shoot the moon). I always carry a Joby Gorillapod and a shutter release so I'm somewhat prepared for low lighting, as well as my charger and an emergency power source. The one "odd" thing I carry is a small, portable light, about the size and shape of an egg, that can be turned on/off by banging it against your palm. It makes a great hand-held diffused light source that allows you to focus up close on an object in low light - a must when shooting macro.Feedback
Be patient, especially when taking pictures of pets. Although I got this shot of Mary Ann in my first few attempts on that particular day, there have been others where the best shot of one of the cats came after shooting hundreds of frames. If your pets are anything like mine, when you make eye contact with them their first instinct is to come over for some love, not sit and pose at a distance. Indulge them, let them get it out of their system, and eventually they'll settle down and become the adorable creatures they are every time the camera is just out of reach.
