I am thrilled to report that I have received a copy of the publicity material for Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe that shows my first photo in print. I am so excited. How did I manage this?

A Really Special Cat Portrait

We all know that taking photos is partly a matter of skill, and partly a splash of good luck – right place, right time, and even an expert will admit to grabbing a photo that was more luck than deliberate photo practice.

This precious image of Richelle Okada and ‘lady boss cat’ Tiger Lily was partly a lucky shot thanks to using ‘sport’ mode, and partly my remembering a couple of things as a cat photographer.

Ground or ‘cat level’ shots, and getting close means your cat photos stand a much greater chance of working. This works for dogs too!

• I mentioned this tip in my cat close-up post and it paid dividends with this picture.

The owners of Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe asked if they could use the image in their publicity brochure and I was happy to give them permission. I have received credit as the photographer too.

As you can imagine, I am thrilled my photograph is good enough to be in print alongside professional photographers’ work.

Taking a Successful Photo for Print

I will do a post on the requirements for submitting a photo to a print publication but briefly, this is what I did to ensure the picture was as print-ready as I could make it.

• The photo is sharply in focus.
• The resolution of the photo is very high.
• The settings are ISO 3200 F 3.5 1/125
• I made a few slight adjustments to lighten the picture as the background is very pale.

As I am becoming a big black and white photography fan I experimented with a cropped black and white version too.

Do you have a special image that captures the special human-animal bond?