Black and white cats...over or under exposed.

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kabooi

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I have three black and white cats who are my world, but gee, they are hard to photograph, for a few reasons.

They move. And fast. One has the tendency to wack my camera lens in self defense. Or try and rub himself against it. The pictures I have of my cats are of those rare moments I manage to see them still. But, I want some action shots and my pictures always end up with a blur, so what is actually considered a high shutter speed and what would you reccomend to freeze the shots?

Also, THEY ARE BLACK AND WHITE. I dont know the technical term, but when I focus on the white bit, my meter (?) goes bat **** crazy, and when I focus on the black bit, it is serverely under exposed. I mainly shoot in manual and adjust but im playing more with the settings on my camera than getting any decent shots.

Also, any tips on a cats personal hygiene? My camera picks out all the dirt, dust and grubby bits on one of the cats....guess I cant complain about my cameras performance :D:lol:
 
I would set it at matrix metering then bump up exposure comp bit by bit until you are happy. Try the 3d tracking autofocus. You will need high shutter speeds if they are running around which means high iso's which isn't ideal. Can't you shoot them near a window relaxing?
 
I appreciate you might not get the time to do this, but what I do is spot meter off the white, over expose about 1 2/3 stops.

Seems to work

A Sunny Spot by simon ess, on Flickr
 
I know this is a really stupid question but what is the difference between all the metering options :thinking:

I dont mind high iso's, my camera seems pretty good at it, but what is actually classed as a high shutter speed....100, 200, 300, 400? I cant find a smiley for an ashamed face, but trust me, this is embarrassing!
 
Hey, don't be embarrassed. I've got more stupid questions to ask than I have answers.

Actually, there's no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers.

I might be able to help with metering.

There's matrix, where the meter surveys the whole scene.

Centre weighted, where it favours the central part of the image.

Spot, where it meters only a small eerrrm, spot.

By using spot on the white of the cat the meter is trying to make it mid grey so, overexpose to bring it back to white and the black will start to come right as well.

It sounds more complicated that it is - honestly.

Shutter speed? I guess it depends how fast your critters are hurling themselves about the place.

An example that springs to mind is a flying duck - bare with me.

1/800 sec. will freeze the wings with a touch of blur at the tips.

I would guess look to about 1/250 for a leaping cat. That is a guess though as mine hardly moves.
 
kabooi said:
Also, THEY ARE BLACK AND WHITE. I dont know the technical term, but when I focus on the white bit, my meter (?) goes bat **** crazy, and when I focus on the black bit, it is serverely under exposed. I mainly shoot in manual and adjust but im playing more with the settings on my camera than getting any decent shots.

QUOTE]
if the camera is taking a meter reading from the black bit , then its more likely to overexpose ,,( turning the black to grey )
Click to expand...
 
I imagine its best to focus on the white of the cat with some - EV compensation.
 
Naphta said:
I imagine its best to focus on the white of the cat with some - EV compensation.
Click to expand...

if you take a meter reading from the white bit you would need + ev comp
because it will underexpose ,,,,and try to make it ......................grey again
:D
 
donutagain said:
if you take a meter reading from the white bit you would need + ev comp
because it will underexpose ,,,,and try to make it ......................grey again
:D
Click to expand...

I totally agree,its like taking shots of white snow the camera will try to under expose the white & you have to over expose by maybe 1 or 2 stops.
:)
 
I have a D7000 like you, and it usually gets my black and white cat spot on.

One advantage is that she's a fat lazy thing, so I can take a bit more time with the shot, but I focus on the eye or her nose, and it tends to get exposure just right.

One thing you could try is take a generic shot of the room to get the exposure right, and then dial those settings in manually.
 
If you set up the camera to back button focus and separate the metering from the focussing then you can lock the exposure on a suitable mid-tone subject before you focus on your cat and take the photo. I have a B&W cat and I found it very difficult to get a decent shot of him before I changed to BBF. I find it easier but it's not for everyone, give it a try and see how it works.
 
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