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Archive 2014 · Photoshoot with Leo

  
 
SargentRay
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Photoshoot with Leo


This was a first for me, my work partner asked me to take some pictures of his new Bengal cat, Leo. It was an on location "assignment" so not knowing what to expect i brought way more stuff than i needed (again). I ended up shooting with only one Einstein strobe in a white umbrella with it's silver lining for added power. All taken with Nikon D3s - Nikkor 24-70 f2.8 at 200 iso 1/125th sec at f6.3. The main difficulty was to get the 24-70mm to focus, it had difficulty interpreting the subtle patterns in the cat's fur (then again my 24-70 always struggled for focus, especially in low light), then it was a bitch to keep an even rendition of colours across the series, although everything remained the same during the shoot. I attributed this again to the subtle differences in hue/colours of this still immature kitten and it's fur. Indeed some of the yellowish colour in the front part of his body would come out more at certain angles despite my very diffuse lighting. I'm still happy with the results for a 1st try that is.

The client insisted on these points: He wanted to see action, emotions and most importantly good enough shots to really show the attribute of the race; Colours, shape etc.

he saw the series and is very pleased with it, he knows me so he gave me permission to use them in forums such as this one before i even asked :-)

CC more than welcome.

1-)

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4-)

5-)

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12-)



Dec 25, 2014 at 01:03 PM
KCollett
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Photoshoot with Leo


Neat set.


Dec 25, 2014 at 02:44 PM
Tom In Arizona
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Photoshoot with Leo


Hi Raymond...

As someone who adores cats, I have to say that all of these are wonderful. Bengals are beautiful cats, and you've captured a great range of expressions.

Number 5, for me is the first among equals for its inquisitive expression followed closely by #7.

Thanks
Tom



Dec 25, 2014 at 02:53 PM
SargentRay
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Photoshoot with Leo


Thank you very much KCollett and Tom. I think i was a tad lucky to get such a wide spectrum of expressions in the little time i had. I shot for an hour but Leo was loosing interest every five minutes so we had to put him down from the table each time after 20 or 30 shots. I shot 200 frames including my control shots and the separate individual prop shots. The owner are super happy and i suggested doing such shoots (maybe with variable Backgrounds) every 3 months until Leo has completely mature with the goal of having a coffee table book containing all the shots. Wouldn't it make for a great conversation starter ?

Thanks to you both for dropping by, and merry Christmas :-)



Dec 25, 2014 at 03:56 PM
morris
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Photoshoot with Leo


Is Leo lion hearted?

Cute as can be Raymond

Morris



Dec 25, 2014 at 10:10 PM
SargentRay
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Photoshoot with Leo


morris wrote:
Is Leo lion hearted?

Cute as can be Raymond

Morris


Ha ha ha would fit the bill Morris, although Bengal cats are originally a cross between leopards and cats. I didn't know much about the race before getting schooled by my partner Rick. The first successful breeding was done by Mrs jean Mill in California. It's really growing here in Canada, i wish i could do these kind of shooting more often, i would elaborate different background set ups or go green screen and change them at will.

Thanks for dropping by, much appreciated and merry Christmas to you too, from Montreal :-)




Dec 25, 2014 at 11:08 PM
SargentRay
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Photoshoot with Leo


For the sake of information, here's a before and after shot. Like you must have guessed we had to lure the cat with something in order to get interesting poses and expressions, but what you might not know (i certainly didn't) is when the cats leave the litter, serious breeders will bring the cats in their own house for a socialization period before giving the cats to their owners. Since they sometimes have many cats all over the house, the put plastic caps over the animal's claws to prevent them from scratching the furniture. These are held in place with a drop of glue and the caps fall off after 3 to 4 weeks. But Leo still had one and the owners didn't dare pull it off in fear of hurting their kitten. So i had to correct this in Post using a colour layer, picking a matching colour from somewhere in the kitten's fur. I purposely left it there in shot #8 (front left paw) since it was less apparent as a reminder of how the cat was when they first got him.

Before and after



Dec 25, 2014 at 11:24 PM





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