Lens Flare #6 - Cat Photography
My Secret Obsession
I don’t like pigeonholes
I always describe myself as a genre-agnostic photographer. I refuse to pick a niche or specialize in a particular type of photography. Whether we are talking about portraits, landscapes, street photography, or wildlife, I want to dabble in all of them. This is one of the advantages of not having to make a living from this hobby. However, there is no denying that there is one type of photograph that dominates my Lightroom catalog. A quick review has alerted me to the fact that around 25% of my images show cats.
It is, of course, a cliché for cat-owning photographers to test any new piece of gear on their cat. Bought a new lens? Try it on the cat! However, there is no denying that I have taken this further, toward a type of macro project, or even specialization. I even have lenses that I bought specifically for shooting cats.
My two main subjects
I work mostly from home, which means I am never far from our two cats: Leia and Anakin (guess which is which from the photos). Naturally, this means that I know their habits intimately, they trust me, and it is not hard to get cute photos of them. They have even learned to pose. There always is a camera with a 50mm lens attached close to me, programmed for animal eye detection autofocus. At him, I am always ready to capture the cats doing something or resting in a patch of light.
To be honest, these photos get boring quickly. There are only so many spots in a flat where a cat can pose, and let’s face it: house cats don’t do anything exciting most times, eating my tax declaration (see below) being a notable exception.
Street Cats
Where it gets slightly more exciting is outside, where I frequently try to capture environmental portraits of cats. Drop me in Istanbul, and instead of documenting thousands of years of history and a cultural melting pot, I will come back with hundreds of images of the city’s cat population.
Most street or feral cats are less trusting and think of me as a threat. Therefore, a longer lens is usually on my camera for this type of shot. A 90mm prime lens is the sweet spot for me.
Housekeeping
Admittedly, this edition is a bit of a filler entry. Not too much has happened over the last few weeks. I did manage to finish the actual shooting part of my long-term project documenting an ancient port, but I now need some time to work on the presentation before publishing anything. Hopefully, I will soon be able to share this work.