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This is our tabby cat Toulouse seen in profile pose.

For those of you working on your DSLR skills this picture was taken using my Canon 55-250mm telephoto lens using settings ISO 200 (which helps you retain the best colour), 178mm F5.6, and 1/40.

Why does this matter?

F5.6 is as low as my telephoto lens will go to give me a shallow depth of field, using the settings above, and natural light. The settings give the lovely ‘Bokeh’ soft focus effect for my tabby cat portrait.

If you have to use indoor lighting or shoot inside for any reasons, I suggest trying adjusting your White Balance. This may be currently set to AWB on your camera as ‘AWB’ is a good general setting for your light – always check your manual or online if you are in any doubt.

• NOTE: Using flash is a separate skill. Your camera’s flash is great for fill flash (see my post here) but try adjusting white balance first.

The white balance adjustment comes into its own when you need to compensate for Tungsten (3200K) or Fluorescent (4000K) or are in heavy shade. These lights give you the dreaded blue or orange colour you see in a lot o vintage snaps – and a little experimentation means you can avoid them forever! [The K number in brackets is the Kelvin light measure that might be shown on your camera menu.]

• Check the settings under AWB or White Balance in your camera menu.
• What is Kelvin – “The Kelvin definition is “the SI base unit of thermodynamic temperature, equal in magnitude to the degree Celsius.” Scientific jargon aside, Kelvin is used in lighting to measure the color temperature of a particular light bulb. And in short, the higher the Kelvin rating (expressed in K), the whiter the light will be. – Lumens

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