Cat Walk

I don’t think I’ve blogged pets for a wee while so here’s a few photos from a pet session I did on Monday afternoon. When it comes to portrait photography in Edinburgh I would say children and babies are the most popular sessions that get booked followed closely by couples and individuals. Family groups are also a favourite but do of course take a little bit extra effort in getting all the different family members together at the same time. Many of the baby photography sessions are couples who’s wedding I’ve photographed and they now have me back to photograph their first child. As a wedding photographer in Edinburgh this is always a lovely experience, and it’s always nice for the couples themselves to have someone they already know and trust to photograph another major milestone in their lives.For some reason I don’t receive a great quantity of pet requests. I think that is probably due to the fact that I am mostly known for my wedding photography. However, I do enjoy photographing pets and have photographed an assortments of animals from hamsters to birds of prey. If you’re interested in booking a pet session or any other portraits session I am running some really good offers this weekend at Ocean Terminal which I will mention at the end of this blog piece. Firstly, here’s the account of Tilley’s photo shoot...

I love cats and I love photographing them. However, whenever I first arrive for a cat shoot I deliberately ignore them and just get on with unpacking my gear and setting things up. Virtually all cats being notoriously curious cannot resist the urge to peak at what is going on and I find it’s far better for the cat to approach me than the other way around as this ensures they do not feel in any way threatened by anything. To achieve professional studio style photographs I set up a white collapsible backdrop and lay out a white sheet. I use three mobile studio lights to create the high key effect which I think looks great for cats, even white ones.In Tilley’s house the room we used to set up the mobile studio had light coloured walls so I didn’t need the backdrop but instead just increased the power of the back light so it would blow the background to pure white. Of the two front lights one does the same job on the foreground whilst the other is set up to light Tilley herself. I have a little electronic contraption thingy (not sure if that’s its official title, lol) which affixes to my camera and allows me to control the lighting directly from the camera. When everything is in position and ready and it’s simply a case of positioning the cat in the triangulated zone between the lights. Easier said than done, eh?It is quite amazing how many times the cat walks right into the perfect position and sits posing for their portraits. Of course many of them do this but deliberately sit with their backs to the camera laughing quietly to themselves. With Tilley however she just kept right out of the way. I don’t mind this at all as it simply gives me opportunity to get a good mixture and variety of differing shots. I work with two camera’s so I’ll lay one down in the studio area all set up and ready to fire as soon as the model walks into place. The other camera I have fitted with a telephoto zoom which allows me to just tag along wherever they want to go and photograph from a distance far enough away that I am not encroaching into their space.

The first photograph here illustrates this beautifully and is one of my favourites from Tilley’s session. After a wander into the kitchen and then back out into the corridor she sat towards the far end with her back to me. I was still in the living room at this point but rolling onto my back I was able to look down the corridor and zoom in towards Tilley and she sat on the edge of a pool of light. The way the natural window light was falling had backlit her quite dramatically and it was just a matter of patience and timing to wait for her to turn and look behind into camera. A couple of minutes after this shot Tilley swivelled around and decided to sit on the opposite side of the pool of light as you can see in the fourth shot. I gave this one a slight tilt to retain the naturalness of the setting. Next it was time for Tilley to go to work in the studio.

Having had enough of the corridor Tilley came through to the living room and sat on the edge of the studio area carefully avoiding stepping near the zone that I needed her in. However, she couldn’t resist my toy chicken that I’d brought along! I placed this smack in the middle of the 'zone' and after eyeing it up for a few seconds Tilley decided she’d have to pad into the zone to check him out. I grabbed a couple of quick shots before Tilley realised with scorn that he wasn’t a real chicken and batted him out of the way. Oh well, time for the string!I am often amazed with my own cat, and over the years a few cats, how no matter how much you spend on fancy cat toys string and empty boxes are their favourite things! Fortunately, Tilley was no exception and with her owner dangling the string within the triangle of lights I was able to get plenty of good shots as she played, stalked and watched it. My four favourites are shown here.

So if you want to book a portrait session for yourself or a loved one, a baby, child or your cat, dog or elephant come along this weekend to the Debenhams Wedding Weekend at Ocean Terminal where I will be running a £50 Portrait Session Gift voucher give-away over the whole weekend. I will also be giving away three FREE Engagement Shoots each day and three FREE Portrait Sessions each day! The free offers are on a first come first served basis. The event runs between 12 noon and 4pm. I’ll have plenty of sample wedding albums too if you are looking for idea’s or want to discuss your wedding photography. You can still make a booking even if you can't make it along to Ocean Terminal at the weekend just give me a call or drop me an email :)