A few weeks ago we announced our fourth CYC Alumni Challenge! In this challenge, designed especially for Conquer Your Camera participants so they could get some creative practice and learn from each other, we asked alumni to submit a photograph of an animal. (Any kind of insect or animal, creature, etc.) Next, we chose the finalists and AGP friends voted for their favorite. Be sure to check all the finalists if you haven’t already -they were fantastic!
After tallying up the votes we are happy to announce that Dave Johnson won this challenge with very nicely composed kitty cat photograph also displaying a terrific use of directional light! Please read below about Dave, his photo and how he got the shot!
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My name is David Johnson and I live in Palm Bay, FL. This shot is of a friend’s Bengal cat, named “Rainbow Skittles” by their two young daughters. While visiting their house to see their newly remodeled kitchen, Rainbow Skittles jumped up on this rustic wooden chair and was staring at the camera as I pointed it at him. The colors of his fur against the dark wooden cabinets behind the chair he sat on just seemed perfect. And I just loved the catch lights from the recessed lighting in the kitchen! I’m not sure what caught his attention…maybe he saw his own reflection in the lens. Either way, Skittles was more cooperative than my own kids! 🙂
Camera: Canon 6D
Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Lighting: Recessed kitchen lights and there is a glass sliding door at camera-right
Settings:
- Mode: Aperture priority
- ISO = 10000 (yes, 10K!)
- Aperture = f/4
- Shutter speed = 1/40
- Format: RAW
- White Balance = Auto
Post processing in Aperture 3:
- RAW tuning:
- Sharpening = 0.75
- De-noise = 0.5
- Increased Black Point to 8.0
Thanks for your votes!
– Dave
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Congrats and thanks to Dave giving such a great description of how he captured this shot! And thanks to everyone who entered images and voted! Watch for the next challenge!
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