Never work with...

It occurred to me not that long ago that there might be a gap in the market in Edinburgh for high-end pet photography. Only one problem: I haven't taken a photo of a pet since that phase everyone goes through when they get their first camera and take terrible pictures of everything that moves. So I need some practice.

"Go away. I am trying to sleep."

Enter our neighbors' two lovely cats, whom I'm feeding at the moment while their owners are on holiday. This evening, I lugged a bunch of gear downstairs and set up a black seamless, a softbox for a main light and a bare strobe for some furry backlighting, and set to work.

This evening, I have learnt the following things:

1. Herding cats is a bit like herding cats. They do not sit where you want them to sit (this is why there is no furry backlighting. I had time to quickly move my softbox but not the backlight before my subject got bored and wandered off).
2. Autofocus is tricky when your subject is black on black and you're working by the light of a 0.5W energy saving lightbulb.
3. Cats have dandruff, and retouching fur is a proper hassle.

All in all, I made a couple of frames I'm reasonably happy with, one with a cat actually looking where I wanted her to and one that isn't really adhering to the "cat portrait" brief, taken after she'd dosed off on my seamless:

I pretty much failed in my mission to make a well lit, captivating cat portrait, since none of them are either of those things! All in all, I think a bit more practice is needed, and perhaps a rethink on whether I'm the right person to be getting involved in pet portraiture...

That said, I do know someone with a snake that might be up for the next shoot...