ajacobs2
Offline
Image Upload: On
|
My neighbor wants me to photograph her black cat (champion up for stud) against a black velvet background. Not normally a problem, but I will not be allowed to use strobes OR lights. This is to be inside her house by a window with natural light. I tried to convince her of bounce, or hot lamps, but she is antimate of NO lights.
Should I just kiss this one off, or can someone recommend something?
Finally a thread that makes sense today. In fact It's priceless...I like your last option. Personally, I would tell her off but shes your neighbor. She's asking you to do her a favor and telling you the rules. Thats about three maybe four seconds in my playbook. Because the clue is there. She's got the PICTURE in her mind and no matter what you do it won't be the PICTURE her imagination see's.
You will wind up like that cat only he's capable of licking his balls for entertainment. This is really a very simple shot. Several ways to do it.
1) One involves a cattle prod, the only problem I'm debating as whether cattle prod the neighbor into some common sense or cattle prod the cat into glowing colors then shoot by daylight.
2) Hand her a black piece of children's construction paper with the word "cAt" spelled on it and tell her her cat came out beautiful. Take her money and run to the nearest bar and have a few.
3) Call the ASPCA and have her committed. She obviously has a thing going with the cat. With her gone approach the cat with a pair of scissors. He'll cooperate.
4) OK , I'll get serious. You will need some gauze cloth, a goodly amount to drape the window so as to make a tent around the backdrop holding the velvet up and back to the window. You are tenting the cat. Using the directional light which will only light up lint, dander and dust. You want light coming in through the window and then diffused enough to balance the picture so that should give you enough definition between the black of the velvet and the cats cherished fur coat and his studded balls.
When you get two objects the same color you use texture and diffusion to seperate them. We use this technique with long time exposures, actually using moonlight on one with IR film at 4 am on fake old paintings that may be suspect to being alteered. It shows the layers of paint. This will be quite a long exposure, so tire the cat out by just bringing a Bull Mastiff over. Let them play for a while Again this will be a long exposure in time so be patient with the cat.
I really really wish you luck, but it's funny because we gave no consideration as to what the cat thinks of this whole deal. That could turn out to be a whole new thread. They got their own minds.
Edited on Oct 11, 2005 at 01:52 PM
|
