Thursday, March 28, 2024
black catscat photographscatsdaily photoFantastic Fourgiuseppejelly beanmewsettemr. sunshine

Daily Photo: Four For a Nap

four cats sleeping
Four in a Pile

The Four curled up so nicely on the floor, looking sweet and happy, Bean in the lower left, Mr. Sunshine slyly looking over Bean, Giuseppe pressing his face up against Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette curled in a donut on the lower right. I used my flash to make sure I could get all their details, but it reflected off the glass of a framed sketch just next to them and did very strange things to highlights and eyes and such and looked as if the sun was rising just behind Bean, a little hard to look at. It’s never a loss, though—I can always apply a filter that can help to even out the highlights and shadows, and after a little poster edges they look all sweet and wonderful again.

Then I decided to try out a filter I actually enjoy using and finally found one it would work well on with my black cats—glowing edges. In its basic application it finds what seems to be the edges of the main subject and a few other details and applies a bolder line in white or pale yellow, then finds other details within the main subject and applies finer lines in other colors. In this case I had to lighten up the basic photo in order for it to find such strong main edges and details like ears and eyes, and because of that it found more details in the highlights in the cats and in the backgrounds. Yowza, I like this! It looks like a few pattern fills I’ve been playing around with. All this while they happily slept.

four cats with glowing edges
The Glowing Four!
We’re part of the Caturday Art Blog Hop hosted by Athena Cat Goddess!

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What other photos were featured on this date?

Sunny Space, 2013
black and white photo of cat looking out window
A Sunny Space

Mimi had the sunny space all to herself today.

My house is partway up a hill, so the view from the second floor window includes the deck roof, the back yard, the neighbor’s yards and most of the little valley where Carnegie’s business district is. Quite a lot of birds and people and other cats to watch from up there.

Much light comes in this window which faces southeast. The corner of the wardrobe is a favorite vantage point.

I converted it to black and white to emphasize the brightness of the window and all the minor details that make up a fairly simple scene; color was distracting.

. . . . . . .

Approved By Mimi, 2013
black cat with cat paintings
Mimi “approves” of these two paintings.

Mimi gives two framed pieces her face rub of approval, and now they are ready to wrap and ship.

Under the careful supervision and assistance of Mimi, I photographed these two pieces in my “outdoor studio” this afternoon. It just happens that on a bright overcast day, or even a sunny one, when the sun has gone behind my house, my back yard is perfect for photographing in natural light.

black cat with cat paintings
“This lighting is just not right,” Mimi says. She is very bossy sometimes.

The framed pieces are just to document the mats and frames for future reference, but I also photograph my unframed original art out here, anything that won’t fit in my scanner. Pieces that I want high-quality giclées prints of and ones that are difficult, like pencil drawings, I have professionally shot, but my little outdoor studio has served me well in all seasons—as long as it’s not precipitating or windy and there are no shadows from the surrounding trees, I can easily photograph just about anything.

In this case it was a framed print of “World Cat” and the original sketch of “Quiet Sunday”. They’ll soon be traveling up to Canada!

Of course I’ve always had an outdoor photo studio supervisor and assistant. Mimi was carefully taught by another outdoor photo studio supervisor and assistant…

tortoiseshell cat walking in front of painting
Cookie as my outdoor photo assistant in 2011.

I can just imagine her telling Mimi, “You must walk in front of the painting and reinforce that you, and all cats, are the only true subject for art.”


Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy.

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy


All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Bok Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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