Photographing a large number of cats over the past month has given me a chance to ponder the difference between working with “professional,” “house,” and “rescue” animals for my advertising projects.
As a rule, I’ve opted for “professional” trained cats when a specific action is required. On a recent project to create the imagery for a line of cat food packaging, pros were the natural choice. Having an animal repeatedly “hit the mark” made composition, lighting, and camera setup much easier, and gave the client a level of comfort that we would deliver the shot they anticipated.
Amateur and rescue cats are another important part of my talent pool when a simple action is needed or maximum spontaneity is required. During the casting process, our animal handler will carefully determine each cat’s disposition and skills. Once we’ve found a selection with the personality we desire we can concentrate on a specific “look”. In most cases we select 2 cats for each shot, a first choice and back-up, in case our hero decides to act… like a cat! From then on it’s repetition, anticipation, and patience: the three ingredients required to capture the perfect image.
At the end of the day, having so many rescue animals around calls into play my self-control; My studio is only so big, and I simply can’t adopt every animal that my heart tells me to!
Great shots! Meow!
Always great !! Thanks for sending them to me
Such beautiful cats! Repetition, anticipation and patience. I’ll remember that. Our girl is a shelter cat and I fear she would not be a good candidate for a photo shoot. It’s not that she’s not photogenic – she is just lovely. It’s just that she’s a little shy and well, yes . . . hissy for the role.
These pictures are amazing!
Awesome as always. I love the blue cat with the gold eyes-reminds me of Church from Pet Sematary.