Ginger Otis Stars in a Paper Bag

Today’s selfie you may have seen before as part of a series at the cat cafe here in New Zealand. But, today I want to focus in on this this cute and fun ‘selfie’ of Otis because it shows you something important.

The Important Thing

You can be brave and fearless and get really close and, as long as you have a decent level of focus, you can create a spectacular closeup that will make you proud and impress your cat loving friends.

• TIP: Improve smartphone focus by tapping your cat’s eye on the screen.

Did I make any edits to Otis?

Yes, small ones.

• I added a little more light to his right eye – facing us
• then very lightly added a touch of light to his whole face.
• I finally added a subtle vignette (soft dark border) around the edge to draw our eyes to the centre and his curious look.

Otis is a well cared for ginger cat at the cat cafe and, as you know, a well cared for ginger really glows without a cat photographer needing to enhance their fur at all. So, I have not retouched his fur, and thankfully the camera shot is sharp enough no sharpening was involved.

Be Fearless

Try closeups. Yes, and then try even closer closeups!

At some point you will reach your camera’s limitations and it will gurgle and dissolve into a blur of defeat but, you will have a series of images that will allow you to judge how close or far away you need to be for a successful closeup.

If your cat isn’t the kind that lets you get too close, try zooming in. Remember digital zoom magnifies camera shake and you have two options. Either take a calming breath and focus in being still, or lean/support yourself on something solid. [I usually take a breath and tuck in my arms to support my camera and lens.]

Give it a try. Practice makes the perfect cat closeup!