Catmas Wishes - Getting That Perfect Photo

It's the holiday season and people all over the world are posting photos of their furry family members on social media and sending holiday cards with their cats or dogs featured! I'm always amazed how well some of these photographs turn out, especially with cats! I can easily take 100 photos and only have one that will be clear with the girls facing the camera. Do you ever have this problem? How do you get those photos that can be shared around the world and kept for those precious memories?

Truffle and Brulee with their Cuddle Clones Plush Clone

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a professional photographer. There are times my photos turn out beautifully and others where they just aren't quite right. Take the photo above - It's a cute photo of the girls, but the only thing really in focus in the box and the Cuddle Clones® Plush Clone Brulee on the bottom left. What were some thing I could have done differently?


Why did I use the photo as a leading photo? To be honest, I recently had knee surgery and was trying to get a photo of the girls with their Plush Clones from Cuddle Clones. Normally, I would get down on the ground at eye level with the photograph and try to have natural light behind me. These are some of the recommendations I've read from blogs where I've admired photographs. 

Brulee with natural light from the afternoon sun behind me

It's difficult to get great photos of Truffle and Brulee, especially Brulee, because of their white fur. They have beautiful green eyes and I can only truly show their various shades of green if I can capture the natural light from the afternoon sun coming through the window behind me. The trouble is, the girls don't always cooperate by sitting or resting in the correct position. The photo above was quickly captured one afternoon when Brulee was behind me on the chair and I turned around and grabbed my cell phone to take a photo. It's still not a perfect photo because her fur isn't clear and only one of her eyes is clearly focused, but you can begin to see the two shades of green on her left eye.

Brulee under the chair with the late afternoon sun coming through the side door

Rick Reichenbach, a Louisiana-based photographer who concentrates primarily on cityscapes, urban decay, travel photography, and pet portraits spoke at the 2018 Cat Writers' Association (CWA) Annual Conference and shared some of his recommendations for taking photographs of cats. Rick is a professional member of CWA and author of How to Take Beautiful Pictures of Your Cat.

Rick recommended that you capture a picture of your cat doing what she wants to do. If you try to make a cat pose with a particular background or product, nine times out of ten, the cat isn't going to cooperate and the photo won't be successful. I've resorted to keeping a camera in almost every room in the house, but usually keep my cell phone close by because that's when I can capture the best photos.

Brulee investigating her Plush Clone

The photo above isn't a clear photo because I didn't place the stool in a location in the room with the sunlight behind us, but you can get an idea of Brulee doing what comes natural to her - being curious. I'd just opened the Cuddle Clones Plush Clone of Brulee and sat it on the stool and Brulee immediately jumped up on it and proceeded to check it out. Rick also reminded us that cats crave routine and want safety and security. If you are trying to take photos around something new, you should give the cats time to become accustomed to it before trying to take photos. If you have the opportunity to be at home during the day, begin noticing where your cats tend to be throughout the day. This way, you can prepare for photo shoots in areas where the cats are comfortable already during a certain part of the day. One recommendation Rick gave us was to use stuffed animals of the same coloring to test photos for lighting. I immediately thought of the Cuddle Clones Plush Clones of the girls. I received a Plush Clone of Truffle last year and knew I wanted to get another of Brulee so I could try out this theory. Brulee's Plush Clone didn't arrive until a few weeks ago and I was in the middle of preparing for my surgery, but I now have to Plush Clones to work on setting up photo shoots to use hints and photography strategies to get the perfect shot. You can read more helpful hints from Rick Reichenbach about taking photos of cats at The Cat Site in an article "Cat Photography 101: Turning Your Cat's Habits to Your Advantage."

Successful Photographs

I've used some of these recommendations from Rich and from other cat bloggers who I've admired their photos to capture some of the photos below.

Other key pieces of information about photographing cats:

• Don't use a flash
• Use natural light, when possible
• Test the photos with a stuffed animal of similar color and look for problems with lighting and stuff in the background
• Get down on the level with your cat to capture a photograph
• Consider using a backdrop behind your cats. Make sure it's placed in the location well in advance of your photo shoot

Some of my favorite photographs of the girls in 2018

Cuddle Clones Plush Clones

I've already shared a review of the Cuddle Clones® Plush Clones this past June. I was very impressed with the likeness of the Plush Clones to Truffle and Brulee. As I stated in the past, it's important to select the best photos of your cat to show her unique features. Cuddle Clones goes out of their way to get the coloring and features of your pet correct. Eye color is the one thing that you must choose from a selection given to you. You have the choice of having your pet sitting or lying down. Truffle and Brulee are silver shaded Persians which means they have a base coat of white fur with gray tips that give the appearance of being silver. Cuddle Clones did a great job with the correct shading on their faces and backs. The eyes and mouths were the hardest to get right, but I am happy with the result. Brulee has that Persian pout and her Plush Clone has more of a frown, but it's obvious it's Brulee.

Brulee with her Cuddle Clones® Plush Clone

Truffle with her Cuddle Clones® Plush Clone

I'll be sharing more photos of the girls with their Plush Clones so you can see how similar they are. I'm also going to try using the hints I learned from Rick at CWA when I can get back down with my knee.

I wish you the best as you try to capture those wonderful photos of your cats.

Giveaway

I truly appreciate Cuddle Clones willingness to sponsor this post about hints on taking photos of your cats, especially using a stuffed animal to help you. They've agreed to let us host a giveaway where one of our lucky readers will have the opportunity to win a Cuddle Clones Plush Clone of their pet. This is a $249 code that will allow you to build your clone on their website. The process may take a couple of months because of the holiday, but we know you will be pleased.

Plush Brulee and Plush Truffle

Giveaway Guidelines

No purchase is necessary. The giveaway is open to residents Internationally. Yes, you heard us correctly! This is open to our friends from around the World as long as you 18+ years, except where prohibited by law. The giveaway will run from December 21 - December 31, 2018 and end at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter (powered by Random.org) and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim her prize; failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize and a new winner will be randomly chosen. To qualify for the giveaway, a comment must be left on our blog post (make sure you indicate you commented on the Rafflecopter app). Since this is an International giveaway, everyone will be required to answer a simple question before having access to the optional entries. Other entry options are available after a comment and an answer to the question is left.  Please check your email and be sure to add sweetpurrfections@sc.rr.com to your address book!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway