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I posted this image on a Google Plus group called “On Taking Pictures” which is a postcast that I listen to every week. They started this google group as a way to get the community together and get some honest feedback about work. I don’t post much there but I decided to share because I just shot these photos and was really excited about it. In the response, someone asked how I shot it so I thought I’d make a blog post about it.
For this shot, I used a Croma Key Blue backdrop. It looks ugly as a color image but you get some great gray tones when shooting for black and white. I only have 2 flashes, Nissin Di866. Using them with Pocket Wizards allows me to shoot at a high speed sync so I can stop motion and shoot at a wider aperture.
So, knowing that, it’s pretty simple that the light from the flash above the cat is causing the shadow and allowing the ears to glow. I set the above light to be at 1/16 power and the flash in the soft box to 1/4 power. Because the light bouncing around in soft box, it will loose two stops. Next shot I do, I’ll most likely set the one above to 1/32 power.
We spent over 2 hours doing these shoots and both cat and owner was pretty tired of all the lights by the end. We were really happy with results and got some great photos. I know I did it right when the client says they don’t know which ones to pick because they are all so good. (Nice ego boost).
For some of the photos, I did some post work and if needed will do more as I continue to work on them.
Rumple. Hairless cat and paper butterflies.
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