Cat Portraits with LightSphere II "PhotoJournalist"

[tomcat]

These are some shots of my cats taken when I was testing out my newly acquired LightSphere II "Photojournalist" diffuser.


Micky


Cookie


Miu Miu


Ki Ki

[slaam]

WOW! great shots!
heh saw the product email from cathay but didn't think anyone would buy so fast..
heh how close was the flash to the subject and what focal length were you using for the shots?
all indoor i presume? and flash pointing up?

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by slaam WOW! great shots! heh saw the product email from cathay but didn't think anyone would buy so fast.. heh how close was the flash to the subject and what focal length were you using for the shots? all indoor i presume? and flash pointing up?

Thanks. The close-up shots like #1 & #2 were taken at the tele-end of the zoom lens at 150mm at the closest focussing distance possible (~ 5ft). I tried different flash head positions but find that pointing the flash at 45 deg to the vertical seem to work best for my camera and flash setup.

[Shiro MS08th]

The lighting is good in #1-3 pics.
#4 can see abit shadow.

Maybe I should go try out the diffuser too, but abit expensive to buy.

OT: What type of cat is in #1?
Tabby?
Like that cat, looks like garfield!

[Shiro MS08th]

*edited press post too much when the server was busy*

[Shiro MS08th]

*edited press post too much when the server was busy*

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Shiro MS08th OT: What type of cat is in #1? Tabby? Like that cat, looks like garfield!

He is a Bengal... a breed that is created by crossing the Asian Leopard Cat with the domestic cat. Doesn't actually look like Garfield apart from the colour.

[Caussway]

You bought it in CP ? I think S$70 is a bit too ex.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Caussway You bought it in CP ? I think S$70 is a bit too ex.

Well, Gary Fong the creator of the LightSphere is selling at US$39 before shipping. I had bought the older version from him before and the total cost came up to nearly S$80.

The recent MO conducted by sgdavid resulted in a price of S$75 each. So, comparatively CP's price of $70 is quite good, don't you think? Especially when you can buy it on the spot and use it immediately and don't have to wait for weeks to get hold of it.

[zcf]

Originally Posted by tomcat Well, Gary Fong the creator of the LightSphere is selling at US$39 before shipping. I had bought the older version from him before and the total cost came up to nearly S$80. The recent MO conducted by sgdavid resulted in a price of S$75 each. So, comparatively CP's price of $70 is quite good, don't you think? Especially when you can buy it on the spot and use it immediately and don't have to wait for weeks to get hold of it.

Just to clear the name, sgdavid's MO is actually slightly cheaper than $70, he refunded some excess payment to us while we collecting the LS II PJ.
But the effect of LS II PJ is indeed good.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by zcf But the effect of LS II PJ is indeed good.

Yes it sure is. Actually much better than the older dome version which sometimes gives a warm cast and cuts off too much light.

[Shiro MS08th]

Originally Posted by tomcat He is a Bengal... a breed that is created by crossing the Asian Leopard Cat with the domestic cat. Doesn't actually look like Garfield apart from the colour.

ooh.

Got any full size pics of him?
haha!

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Shiro MS08th ooh. Got any full size pics of him? haha!

Sure. Here's a few of them.

[Caussway]

Man this is cat or a mini tiger / cheetah beautifull

[Shootingnear]

Originally Posted by tomcat These are some shots of my cats taken when I was testing out my newly acquired LightSphere II "Photojournalist" diffuser.

Your cats are beautiful.

[hazmee]

Hi tomcat,

Those cats are really adorable. I too got myself the Lightsphere PJ II from Cathay and was kinda disappointed with the results. I expected too much from it I guess. Cheers!

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Shootingnear Your cats are beautiful.

Originally Posted by hazmee Hi tomcat, Those cats are really adorable. I too got myself the Lightsphere PJ II from Cathay and was kinda disappointed with the results. I expected too much from it I guess. Cheers!

Thanks. They are very photogenic.

Hi hazmee,

I think you need to experiment a bit with the postion of the flash head. Although Gary Fong's instructions seem to say that we should bounce the light off the ceiling when using this LSPJ II, I found that the flash could also be used in different positions very effectively with this diffuser.

For example, if the subject is far away enough, the flash head could be directly pointed at them, or at a 45 deg to the vertical position for best lighting effect. I have also found that when I take macros/closeups of fishes in their tanks, the use of the LSPJ II (pointed directly) gave better overall exposures than not using it. Of course, this could also be related to the power of the flash.

[Timber Wolf]

Hello tomcat! Lovely pix you have there =)
One qn: Are your cats really that colour? Cos some of them, esp the cheetah one, seem a lil oversaturated to me. Lovely lighting though!

I'd love to shoot them. Try going a lil lower, so that you see the cat from a cat's perspective.

Cheers
QX

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf Hello tomcat! Lovely pix you have there =) One qn: Are your cats really that colour? Cos some of them, esp the cheetah one, seem a lil oversaturated to me. Lovely lighting though! I'd love to shoot them. Try going a lil lower, so that you see the cat from a cat's perspective. Cheers QX

Hi Timber Wolf,

I usually try to get the colours as close as they really are on the cats. Some are really difficult to get correct and surprisingly, it the off-white ones like Miu Miu that are the most difficult to capture colour-realistically. The pic of Miu Miu in this thread above is probably one that I am most satisfied with amongst all her shots. Coincidently, it was lit with the LSPJ II ...

The colours of Micky the Bengal are correct as they are and no additional saturation were added in the post-processing of his pics. The colours of Bengal cats are quite unique and I have never seen such colours in our local stray cats. I suppose that even if there are indeed stray cats with such colours, they wouldn't be strays for long.

As I have all the opportunities in the world seeing that I have in-house 'models' at my beck-and-call' whenever I felt like shooting, I have taken pics of my cats from all kinds of positions, even lying flat on the floor with my camera on the ground like in this shot...

[eAgles]

Exceptional!!