This week’s short post is a super tip! How to empower your cats and create pawsome portraits. It is is inspired by our friend Brian and his sister Dolly’s selfie. In her portrait, the camera is pointing upwards at Dolly’s face and she looks spectacularly fluffy and gracious.
Dolly’s portrait reminded me of something my online photography course tutor said:
Looking up at a portrait subject empowers them, pointing your camera down at your subject diminishes them.
Looking Upwards at Your Cat
With Dolly’s portrait in mind, I thought I would try to take an upwards portrait myself by pointing the camera towards this week’s subject – Toulouse.
I had to zoom in and make as effort to consciously tilt my camera upwards, not just move it a little bit. Toulouse is lit by bright ambient natural light so I did not have to worry about dark shadows and I was pleased that I managed to focus on his eye and capture a lot of detail.
The photograph was processed as a RAW image in Affinity Photo. This allowed me to make some adjustments to his fur, after that a little lightening and his portrait was ready for the world to see. What do you think? I bet you could capture something similar with your cat. Try looking up at a sofa arm or a window ledge.
Cat Looking Downwards At Camera
I wanted to show a second, slightly more dramatic shot of a cat face, to show you what you can do.
This is Tiny from the local cat cafe Neko Ngeru, who are relocating in Lower Hutt. Because of the angle of the shot Tiny looks more like a giant than a petite tabby cat. But, her eyes are in focus and with some gentle cropping at either side, her pretty face fills the frame and her eyes are sharp.
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Marjorie Dawson
Marjorie is a motorbike riding blogger and award winning cat photographer who believes that everyone can create impressive cat photographs and fun movies with the camera they carry.
She is a Professional Member of the Cat Writers Association, Kuykendall Image Award winner and published photographer at the Guardian newspaper.
I don’t think I get too many photos from that angle because I can’t get down that low! MOL! I need to try it out soon.
Ah, yeah, doesn’t that make awesome shots? I discovered photographing from below when my dog couldn’t walk, and I would lay around with her in the grass. As I laid there watching her, I thought that could make some great photos. And it does.
This is BRILLIANT to hear!
Your posts always encourage me to experiment and try different things with our pets. I bet taking a photo this way would really make Miss Pippen look like royalty with all of her fluff! I mean, she IS the queen of our house… Thanks for sharing and inspiring me once again.
Discovery is about learning. This can be from using your camera, reading a blog, or buying a photobook. We never stop learning.
Beautiful angle, Toulouse looks epic! XX
I love this photo! I never thought about empowering vs diminishing portraits, that is an interesting perspective & I do see it here. Toulouse looks so majestic in this photo!
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Nice empowering photo of Toulouse! These techniques are also using in filmmaking. Have you ever noticed shorter actors being filmed from below to make them look taller or equal height to a taller costar? These are clever tricks in photography and film. It’s nice to see how you executed these principles in your cat photos. Well done!
I remember reading in a movie book that vintage movie actor Alan Ladd famous for his westerns had the person beside him stodd in a trench becasue he was short.
Lovely photo! I like to take photos of my dogs at this angle too. I’m sure my neighbors think I’m crazy when they see me outside on the lawn, laying in the grass so I can get the perfect shot of my pups.
That is a great shot. XO
I shall try that idea with my pups! I hope…
I can’t wait to see what you come up with when the boys start to play!
That’s a wonderful tip, Marjorie! I will try to remember this when I am photographing the PAWS cats!
I reckon the one reason PAWS cats get adopted in the lovely photos on the PAWS blog!
Toulouse looks absolutely wonderful and I’m glad you liked the Dolly portrait, the Mom too it. Thanks for joining our Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
Stunningly beautiful portrait of Toulouse!