the first litter

[SmartWombat]

a friend is a breeder of Norwegian Forest cats
this is her first litter

and my first attempt, using the new flash diffuser.
Anyone got any tips on photographing black cats?

[Tom_Proctor]

Awww I want the 2nd black one and the 3rd one

[point*break]

they are too cute!!!! i want them all!!!

[flowremix]

The 2nd one reminds me of a puma for some reason. Hehee.
I didn't notice the other cat in the 3rd pic. I can't believe they fit underneath that drawer or whatever.

Those are cool pictures.

[Greg McCary]

I'm not much for cats, but the photos are great. You did a good job with the new flash..

[ChowChi-Ching]

Super Cute Kittens. I love Norwegians. They are so funny. Their personalities stand out so much.

Anyway, having to black cats of my own, I have found the best way to get them is to have two light sources. I prefer Natural light as my second source but anything will work, the combination can make for some real nice shots.

Here are some examples of my cats -
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...oddessAsha.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...heelBarrow.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...gz/Glutton.jpg

[drg]

I am not a huge cat fan. (Lucky who I've posted a pic or two doesn't know he's a cat) But these are cute little ones.

Black cats are just like black dogs who are just like any dark subject,

Decrease the metered exposure by 1 to 1.5 stops. .
I learned a long time ago the rule for Exposure overide - Bright is more, Dark is less.

Like snow which wants to turn gray because of underexposure, dark subjects conversely tend to become overexposed.

Now about getting the animals to sit still - You are on your own! (That's actually a whole chapter in Animal Psych)

[GB1]

Very cute. I really like the second (from the top) shot cause it seems the little guy will be able to take care of himself when he grows up (if not sooner). The bottom shot is also really good. All of them are very sharp and clear.

[SmartWombat]

Thanks everyone.
Here's a 100% crop, these were all shot with the 1DSmkII and that explains the sharpness.

I invested in a Lastolite flash diffuser, the smallest 8x5 size.
Do you think the flash is diffused enough?
It's removed the sharp shadows I think, and yet retained a good catchlight.

[SmartWombat]

I learned a long time ago the rule for Exposure overide - Bright is more, Dark is less.
Like snow which wants to turn gray because of underexposure, dark subjects conversely tend to become overexposed.

Thanks, I tried with the flash at -3 for the black one and while it didn't over-illuminate - the background is so much darker it doesn't really look good next to the properly exposed tortoiseshell cats, you can see the floor exposure is different.

I may have to try again and use a portable background, then tempt the little darlings into the shot rather than chase them all over the room !