Whats that clicking noise? (click to embiggen)
A friend from work got herself a blue burmese kitten for Xmas, flown down from the North Island. She didn’t name him until she had a chance to get to know him. Everyone, please meet Puff the Blue Burmese Kitten!
He is incredibly full of energy and also very snuggly and has loud purr for such a small creature. I spent some time getting to know him, and then we draped some black sheets over the bed to provide a neutral background.
Was shooting with my 17-55 F2.8 lens on, but the available light was very limited and even with adjusting my ISO up to 400 I still wasn’t getting sharp shots, not with a kitten moving at high speed!
I prefer not to use flash with animals, as it can scare them, and it also has a harsher light. I didn’t actually take my big flash for this reason, so these shots are just with the popup flash.
Oddly once I started shooting Puff sat still and stared at the camera for a minute or two, and wasn’t too bothered when I popped off a few flash shots. One of the benefits of using flash is it does darken the background a lot, so with the black fabric down you have no idea I am shooting in a bedroom with one window to my left in the middle of the day 
Puff was too playful and showing no sign of slowing down, so I didn’t bother for trying for more shots for too much longer. Patience is a key thing when shooting animals, especially a kitten with a lot of energy and a habit of pouncing on anything that moves
I hope his new mum likes these shots, hopefully I can go back when he is a bit older and calmer. Despite having to use the flash I am pleased with these shots.
Do you like them? Is the flash effect too much?
Puff is a real cutey! I love the eyes in the first shot – you’ve captured the colour in them well with that one.
The flash really does change the colours in the fur doesn’t it? There are so many more tones and colours in the fur when you can capture a picture without the flash. But if the situation is such that you have to use the flash to get any sort of shot, then you accept that and the results. You are lucky Puff sat so still with the flash going off. One of my cats ran away every time the red-eye light lit up on one of my cameras let alone the flash.
I think the flash also takes away some of the softness that would come through without it. The stark contrast between the background and the cat (which is all illuminated and shimmering) is very strong, particularly in the full body shot. Maybe if the background hadn’t been black, the contrast wouldn’t have been so much? (Just a thought)
He looks very intelligent, like he’s trying to work out what you are doing. A neighbour had a Burmese and he would knock on our door to come in and visit, sit next to me on the couch for a pat and a snooze and then meow near the front door to let me know he wanted to go home again. A very intelligent breed that one.
yes he was clearly thinking about the camera, after these shots he came up and sniffed all over it (nose prints on my lens!) so yes a bright boy.
The background would have been dark either way when using the flash, but the bedspread was a very loud red colour and I wanted a more neutral colour to balance the shiny kitten
Yes I always prefer not to use flash when i can use natural light but it just didnt quite work, it was an oldfashioned house and not a lot of windows, poorly placed and really narrow, so you do the best you can with what you can work with.
His mum isnt a photographer and just wants some nicer photos than her phone could take, so I think these will do the job.
They are beautiful photos – I wasn’t taking away from that, more talking about the use of flash
I think that Puff’s mum will love these! Is he allowed to roam outside? You’d have to be prepared to lie down on the grass to capture him there but that could be fun another time.
Too little to go outside yet, and they just moved out to the country on a lifestyle block so lots of garden to roam, trees to climb and birds to chase when he is old enuf
Absolutely stunning!!!!! I’m partial to burmese as I have a sable
Thanks Erin, he is quite the sweety I have to say
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