Maine Coon Smiling
Taken with a Super Takumar 105mm f2.8
Taken with a Super Takumar 105mm f2.8
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Mar, 2016Views
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InTranzit
March 07, 2016
You've really captured the 'smile'! Beautiful capture with lots of personality. We used to have a Maine Coon living with us - still miss her! They're stunning creatures.
nbordega
May 02, 2016
Very sad to say that my Maine Coon passed away this weekend after nearly a two-year battle with hyperthropic cardiomyopathy. I am glad I was able to capture moments like while he was still around.
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Behind The Lens
Location
Murray, my Maine Coon, had jumped up on top of the breakfast bar during the late afternoon to beg for an early dinner -- some Fancy Feast. At that time and place, I was nearby in the kitchen with my camera and a telephoto lens attached as I was planning on heading outside to take photos. I noticed my wife pet the cat with both hands to scratch him near his ears -- his favorite spot. At that moment, we had some overhead flood reflector lights on and the overhead lights just happened to narrowly illuminate Murray's head and my wife's hands. I was able to get into position and snap a photo right at that moment.Time
This was shot late afternoon.Lighting
This was an unstaged shot where the cat happened to be sitting right at a spot on a breakfast bar counter where the overhead flood reflector lights narrowly illuminated the cat's face but did not otherwise illuminate the background.Equipment
This was shot with a Pentax K-50 with an M42 Super Takumar 105mm f2.8 lens without a tripod.Inspiration
Cats -- especially Maine Coons -- can be beautiful to photograph but hard to capture in the right moment. This was a moment that I was in the right place at the right time, and I was able to capture the cat's joy at being petted in his favorite spots. This photo is particularly meaningful to me because Murray passed away only a few months after this photo was taken from a fatal heart condition. This photo is a memory that I am able to cherish.Editing
I shoot RAW and usually do some minor post-processing in Lightroom. Here, the background in the shot was dark, but not not completely black. Using the adjustment brush function, I turned the background black. For this photo, the black background draws attention to the cat's expression and to the hands that are petting him.In my camera bag
I started out using a Pentax K-50 and shot with a lot of old m42 manual Takumar lenses. Since then, I have upgraded to the Pentax K-1 and most often have a Tamron 24-75 f2.8 or a Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 in my bag. From time to time, I will shoot with a Takumar on my K-1.Feedback
Be flexible and look for unexpected moments and opportunities when shooting. Before I shot this photo, I had no intention of shooting indoors with 105mm lens. Here, I saw the moment present itself; I took the shot, and it came out better than I would have expected.
