From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cats & Cameras
Date: 10 Sep 92 18:28:15 -0500
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <EefvQ5u00UzxE4fbtb@andrew.cmu.edu>, Diane Gibson <dg0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> On a related note -- my neighbors want a good picture of their cat
> before he says goodby (he's very old and has a BAD case of FUS which
> they can't totally control).  I tried to take pictures of him, but he
> was totally freaked out by the camera (he hides when I come over now). 
> Is this enough stress to bring on an FUS attack?  I'd really like to
> give them a good picture -- they take care of my cat whenever I go away,
> and it's the least I can do -- but I don't want to kill poor old
> Butterball!

Probably not, but I don't think anyone *really* understands FUS.
Over the years, my cats have become used to the whine of a flash
unit (except for Catkin the Craven)-- the major reason they don't
mind that much is that it rarely flashes at them.

For animal pictures, I prefer to use available light whenever possible,
which often means using high-speed film, sometimes pushed one or
two f-stops ("pushing an f-stop" means that you tell the camera that
your ASA 100 film is ASA 200 film.  Then you tell the film processor
that your ASA 100 film was shot at 200.  If you push 2 stops, ASA
100 would be rated at 400.  Then they know to develop it a bit longer.)
(and ASA 400 film could be rated at 800 or 1600.)

I also case the probable picture sites ahead of time.  If one side of
a favorite sleeping spot is well lit, but the other side is dark, I'll
put a piece of white paper on the wall on the dark side to reflect some
of the light back on the cat.  I also simplify the background as
much as possible-- I've gotten some great kitten photos by spreading a
sheet on the floor and up onto some furniture -- then I don't have to
look at furniture legs and cats!  Finally, I leave the camera out for
inspection for several days...  Sometimes I just haul it around with me
not intending to shoot-- just to get everyone used to the idea.


And then, as you say, comes the big-game-stalking...   Get on the same
level as the cat -- you might even wind up belly-down on the floor--
the pictures will look like the ones you see in your mind, not "topside
of cat looking up at me."  ...As I figure it,  color print film and 
processing is cheap, and if I get one good shot out of a roll of 36, I 
figure I'm doing OK.  If I get anything decent, I send the negative back 
for custom reprinting at a larger size.

Probably the most forgiving film of all (in terms of exposure mistakes, etc.)
is black and white.  But you need someone to custom print for you, and that
isn't cheap these days.  Color slide film needs to be *properly* exposed--
no slop allowed -- to get a good picture.  But most color print films can
handle up to 1.5 f-stops too light or too dark and still give acceptable
prints.  If your prints come back and you've got a good shot, but it's
too light or too dark, take the negative back (preferably to a photo
store, not a K-Mart or Walmart-type place) and ask to have it reprinted.
Take your old print along and circle important things that need to be
brought out (like the cat) and things that don't matter if they get
lost (like the edge of the lamp).  That gives the person who is running
the photo-printing machine a fighting chance of figuring out what
you really want and how to give it to you with minimal pain and suffering.

In my experience, you can go to the K-Mart-type photofinishing places
for initial prints, then take the best to a photo store for reprinting.
If you have "red eye" because the flash was mounted too close to the
camera, a little judicious application of artist's magic markers can
take care of it...

Finally, if you get a really great picture you know you'll treasure for
years and years, get a couple of prints made.  Hang one up and put the
other in a cool dark place for the time when (inevitably) the one
hanging up turns strange colors.

Kay Klier  Biology Dept  UNI
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats