Thursday 5 August 2010

Team Up Thursday Photography Challenge!


Back again with the challenge "Furry Friends"!

I spent quite some time trying to photograph Cocoa, who puts her ears back every time a camera is near & then resembles an owl rather than a cat lol...so I was grateful to finally get a few decent shots of her which I will treasure as she's not the most photographic of creatures!

Taken with my portrait lens @ 1.8 f.stop & a shutter speed of 1/60 sec on an ISO of 800 without a flash. The only editing done is to desaturate slightly. See my partner Tania's blogpost over here & links to everyone else taking part at the bottom of this post. See Tania's photo collage below.

This is what Tania has to say "Helen chose our topic this week, "furry friends". Now, I have a few and decided to do a tribute to them, by making a collage. These photos were taken over some time, the are not edited in any way, except for some cropping."

I've included a few more "next best" shots from the selection I got. Here Cocoa suddenly popped her eyes wide open & I didn't have time to compose the shot too well - I was just keen to click quickly before she closed them again lol!

I got this just as I changed my lens back to the one I usually use, so was annoyed as the other one would have given me more close up clarity - oh well. Still like how the right eye {& side} is more focused than the left...

And this one is too precious. No editing at all. I rather liked the pinky hue & this is the cutest photo if you know this cat. She is so shy & here it shows with this coy pose - tucking her chin to her chest. This was the last photo I took & she was really 'retreating into her shell' & saying "Go away, you've been bothering me for at least half an hour & I've played along as best I can, now leave me to sleep!"

I never get to doing these challenges too far ahead of deadline due to time constraints but whenever I do I learn something new about my camera, so appreciate the invitation to join in, thanks Tania! I know I could have done it on my own but you know what it's like, if you have a partner it forces you to do it & do your best...

My partner Tania http://littlethingiesofme.blogspot.com

Stefanie http://semplydone.blogspot.com
and Lynette http://creativemoments-lynette.blogspot.com

Andrea http://andrearobertsontoo.blogspot.com
and Claire http://www.mcgeers.blogspot.com

Berta http://rboice.blogspot.com
and Corey http://livingandlovingeveryminuteofit.blogspot.com

Megan http://mentalinventory.blogspot.com
and Melody http://thehipmommasjournal.squarespace.com

Cat and http://juggelingactoflife.blogspot.com
Shayne http://scrappy-time.blogspot.com


Joanne http://worth-it-all.blogspot.com




7 comments:

Stefanie said...

Beautiful, great shots of your kitty. They can be a real challenge to shoot and I know from experience how lovely it is to have many photos of that special furry friend when they have move on to happier hunting grounds.

Shayne said...

Beautiful pic Helen - kitty's aren't easy to photograph. Luckily my new baby is a very willing subject, so i have a million pics of her! Thanks for sharing the others too!

tania said...

These are STUNNING Helentjie:)
She is beautiful and i love the soft touches you added, you can enter her for Animal Talk's mag, great model.
Thanks and I will start thinking again. . .

Lynette Jacobs said...

Great photos Helen...you will be able to give us some lessons soon.

Andrea said...

Awesome - well done on another great week guys!

Ella Swan said...

Thanks girls - good idea Tania - will see if that mag has a website. Only editing was a bit of desaturating of the colour as her darker patches are a bit orangey lol! That portrait lens is fantastic - bit of a schlep to use as it has no zoom or autofocus but you get crisp & clear at the front & totally blurry at the back - just as I like it - without having to edit!

Pearl said...

o my !! what a purty kitty ! i do have a soft spot for cats ! lol .