Not everyone is fortunate enough to have pet cats, but you can always still have a chance photographing stray cats around your neighborhood and city! Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.
Finding cats:
In some countries there are many stray cats. In Israel- where I live and photograph stray cats- There are quite a lot of cats. If you don’t know where to find cats, it's best to take note of every cat you see day to day. For example, if you are walking to work, or to a bus stop, and see a cat, or a large amount of cats then you should remember where you saw these cats and return later. Though the cats may leave the place, stray cats usually stay in the same area. Remember, they might be under cars!
Getting cats to cooperate:
Street cats are very shy and hard to photograph, especially if they run away when you come near them! Here are a few tricks to get a perfect shot without scaring the cats away.
Bring food:
If you don’t have cat food- or don’t want to buy any- leftover pieces of meat, leftover bones from meat, or even a bowl of water are a great way for the cats to stay and not be so scared of you in particular.
Please do not feed the cats anything that isn’t suitable for cats.
Bring a zoom lens:
If possible, bring a lens that can zoom in closer. Usually when I photograph cats, it’s better to zoom in and have just the face, but if I stick a camera in a cats face it will probably scratch me (it’s happened, true story)! A big lens is ideal for capturing a photo of a cat from far away.
I would have probably never gotten these photos without a zoom lens, stray cats are shy and no cat wants a camera shoved in their face!
Get gradually closer:
One thing that I almost always do is take photos from far away, and get closer slowly. This way you won’t be a surprise to the cat and you'll get multiple shots of the cat from different angels.
Interesting angles and photograph ideas:
Photographing the same cats can get boring. Here are a few ways to add something special to your photo.
Lighting:
Photographing outdoors gives you the advantage of natural lighting; the lighting at different times of day gives you many different ways to take photograph .
When you photograph the cats underneath cars, the lighting is darker and gives an interesting result.
Don't focus on just one thing:
Focusing on the whole face can get boring and repetitive, maybe try photographing just the eye, or maybe the paws. Feel free to mix things up!
Explore different surroundings:
Going to many different places is a great way to get great photos, and also a great way to explore your city. Public parks and busy places are excellent places to find cats and photograph new surroundings.
Group photos:
Getting a photo of one cat is hard enough, getting a photo that has more than one cat but still manages to look good is hard to capture but ends up looking great; so if you see two or more cats together, get out your camera!
Photographing kittens:
Kittens are very cute and almost always turn out good in photos, just watch out from mother cats, they are usually very protective and will probably scratch you. Its also best not to pet the kittens.
That's it! Get your camera and go outside. I hope these tips have helped you get started with photographing stray cats and cats in general. If you have any questions or need advice, send me a note!
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