Black Cat Magic for Beginners

Capturing the perfect photo of a black cat is a bit like chasing a shadow, it can be challenging, mysterious, and occasionally you end up with a blurry ‘void’ with eyes. But, when you get it right, it’s pure magic so, whether you are rocking a smart DSLR or just snapping away on your smartphone, let’s unlock the secrets to making your mini-panther shine.

Ready to create some black cat magic? Follow me…

Introduction

As a weaver of visual spells, you must gather your ingredients with care. Start with your Camera of choice, add a spark of Light and the fine tuning of your Camera Settings. Scatter in a touch of sharpened Focus and wrap the magic in a touch of Composition.

Armed with these ingredients and a touch of human confidence you are ready to create black cat portraits to be proud of.

Light is Your Best Friend

Light is the primary element any black cat photographer needs, whether you’re shooting under the open sky or inside. Let’s start by finding where the natural light is and, if your environment is lacking ‘natural light’ I can reveal a couple of tricks to help you forge your own light from the darkness.

Abundant Ambient Light

I love the description don’t you? Abundance makes me imagine a cornucopia filled to overflowing with light that spills into nooks and crannies, and burnishes surfaces to a bright glow. OK, reality will be a little bit more grounded but what you are looking for natural and diffused bright light (or open shade outside in a garden or catio).

Here is Taz posed outside in a front facing portrait. He is bathed in mid-morning sunshine that is not too bright. The sunlight comes over my left shoulder and defines his face, shoulders and the sides of his body. Later in the day, towards midday the light would be much stronger and the highlighted fur might ‘blow out’. This means any details in the bright areas might be lost.

Light from the Side or Back

You do not have to rely on facing the light to get a good portrait in ambient light. If your black cat’s fur is beautifully lit from the side or the back this will only change where the light touches your cat’s fur. Remember, these touches sculpt your cat’s body by outlining its features, this is the magic of light.

You can see the surprisingly effective look on a black cat being lit from the back here as Taz leans on a dining chair to say hi to his dad. The light defines his ears, back and shoulder as well as touching his left paw as he leans forward. A quick snapshot but a delightful and fun capture for me.

Say No to Flash

Until I can provide you with some helpful information and how-to’s about using this specialised piece of equipment I can only warn that your camera’s built in flash will create unflattering light that might bleach out black fur highlights or even create the dreaded ‘red-eye’ effect.

Smartphones, like my iPhone 12 or a DSLR cameras all have a small but strong built in, pop up flash. I would only use these for fill-in flash which is gentler and may be helpful for external shots with low light when you are trying for a shot before light fades.

• Not seen fill-flash at work? These sample images show you how effective it can be.

Natasha is not a black cat but the effect you can achieve is the same. In the top image she is posed outside with strong backlight casting her whole body into deep shade. Below is a closer shot of her with fill flash from my Canon DSLR – the results are very satisfying.

These images were taken on the same day, in the same conditions.

TOP TIP: During the golden hour, the angle of the sunlight creates long shadows and a warm glow that enhances textures and colors. To make the most of this magical time, position your cat near a window or an area where sunlight filters through gently. [Link to Recommended Indoor Lighting Post].

The Feline Factor

Indoor Locations

Flash doesn’t mean indoor locations without natural light will not work, there are several options for the indoor cat lover low on natural light.

• With a DSLR camera you can experiment with a higher ISO than the standard 100/200 you might start with.
• Smartphones allow you to adjust lots of their camera functions including exposure settings. You may get some digital noise if it is quite dark (a slightly grainy look) but experiment and explore to see what works with your light.
• You can use a soft box to successfully diffuse nice clear light.
• A clip-on or small adjustable light with variable settings can add a touch more light.

Remember, soft boxes come in a smaller size so you don’t need a whole photography studio.

Camera Settings – Keep It Simple

With camera settings it can feel overwhelming with so much you can change, and where do you start? Don’t be intimidated or give up- this is a camera not a battle with a magical monster. Let’s review some beginner friendly setting suggestions.

Starter Settings Suggestions – DSLR

My favourite DLSR camera mode for cats is Aperture Priority – Av or A (aka Aperture Priority) is my go-to and it works very successfully.

With Aperture Priority you control the depth of field, and how much of the photograph is in focus. The camera works out your shutter speed for each photo and you can review successful shots to find out the shutter speed with a right click which brings up the shot’s EXIF data [Definition below].

• For portraits with a sharp in focus cat and a blurry background, like Taz (below) use a wider aperture (yes, I always have to look that up) such as f/2.8, f/5 or f/5.6 depending on your camera and lens.
• For a sharp cat with a clear captured garden or bright inside shot, jump up to a narrower aperture f/8 or f/11.
• If you can use Shutter Priority 1/60th of a second will work for a posed cat, but you will need to increase your speed to 1/125th or even more for black cat movement. I have ventured to 1/250 and higher when experimenting. This is a bit more challenging but try it and see!

Munro here has a very shallow depth of field a narrow band close to his head and face are in focus.

Starter Settings Suggestions – Smartphone

For a Smartphone I suggest that you explore your settings to see what your camera can do. Each ‘phone is different but the level of quality is very high.

Being confident when you use your settings makes all the difference to successful black cat shots. Start with knowing where your menu is for portrait mode, fast adjustment of exposure, and where to turn off flash.

Remember that smartphones now have an impressive capacity to take photos in lower light but you do need some kind of direct light to bring out the highlights of charismatic black fur.

ISO

This setting controls your camera’s and smartphone’s sensitivity to light.

You might have a favourite go-to setting for your ISO already so start there. I try to work from ISO 200 on my DSLR and increase to 400 if the light seems low. I will jump up to 800 if I can’t hardly see a cat in my viewfinder, or I move to a darker location.

Trust your judgement. Let the light you see guide your ISO choice on the day not what a rule book says is the right thing. This fun photo was originally much darker but I was able to lighten it as a fun shot.

Composition and Focus

After introducing you to some simple settings, which I hope you will try over time, here are two ideas to give your photos a spellbinding touch.

Focus on your cat’s eyes. A cat’s eyes hold a magic all their own so make sure your focus point is on your cat’s eyes or nearest eye. For a smartphone tap your smartphone screen to focus). You can set your camera mode to focus in a single point which works best for cat eye focus. Take several continuous shots or a burst of shots – this way one of your shots or more will have a sharp eye.

Compose your black cat shot. If you want an engaged and appealing look you might need to kneel, lie or crouch down for a more intimate shot. You got the light, you have your shot framed, now don’t spoil it by pointing your camera downwards. I often sit on the ground and while I am there look for as many photo opportunities as I can with our black cat Taz nearby..

Finally, when composing and focusing your shot, don’t forget to be conscious of your background. Try to aim for a tidy background, use settings like f/2.8, f/5 or f/5.6, or use ‘Portrait Mode’ on your smartphone to softly fuzz the background like this photo of Taz on our deck railing. Yes, it’s a smartphone photo and wow does portrait mode work!

Black Cat Photo Summary

If you feel overwhelmed, try one thing at a time. One different camera setting, or take photographs with your black cat in different areas of light and shade. You are building skills, not cloning a new you as an ‘instant expert’.

With the northern hemisphere spring and summer seasons approaching, remember you will have some great light, just avoid the middle of the day if you can, or work in shade. Wndow locations are great for indoor black cat poses, or for the outdoor adventurer, greenery in the garden can frame a black cat beautifully, so you have some great options.

Just remember, getting it wrong in part of the fun. No-one likes a ‘smart alec’ who never puts a pawstep wrong!

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Definition of EXIF Data

(EXchangeable Image Format) Descriptive data (metadata) in an image file that include the date the photo was taken, resolution, shutter speed, focal length and other camera settings. Developed in 1995 by JEIDA for JPEG images, EXIF data was later added to TIFF, RAW and other formats. Most digital cameras support EXIF and save the data in the file headers. However, when an image is edited, the EXIF data may sometimes be removed by the software. PC Mag