# Little Bear



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

I was messing around, taking pictures of my kitten, Bear, and this one is so cute I just had to post it! (Please ignore the little speck of food on his ear... he's very enthusiastic about eating, and sometimes I miss a piece!) :-D On another note, anyone have any tips for avoiding eye-shine in pics? In most of the shots I get of him, his eyes are glowing like he's some kind of little furry alien...


----------



## aniela26 (Apr 2, 2012)

Super cute!! I've found that my cats photograph best in good lighting, no flash. Good luck!


----------



## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

He's so cute!! How old is he?


----------



## 510picker (Aug 30, 2012)

Bear is adorable! The only way to get eyes to look natural is to turn off the flash. To do this, you will need to take the photos in a well lit area. Try taking a photo of Bear using natural light from a window or a door. Try to position him where he is facing the window to get the maximum amount of light into his eyes. Hope this helps!


----------



## Delders (Aug 24, 2012)

Sooo cute... I have yet to get a decent photo of my very fidgety kitten! Xxx collar matches fur perfectly!


----------



## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

minikin44 said:


> On another note, anyone have any tips for avoiding eye-shine in pics? In most of the shots I get of him, his eyes are glowing like he's some kind of little furry alien...


I posted on this the other day. If you're going to use flash, don't shoot directly into the eyes as there's a sort of mirror at the back of a cat's eyes that will reflect the light straight back at the camera lens. Shoot at an angle and the light willl bounce off in the opposite direction. Experiment until you get the idea.


----------



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Thank you everyone! Bear Bear has me wrapped around his finger haha. He had a severe parasitic infection when I got him (he was born to a feral mother and I didn't get him until he was at least 2 months old; the people I got him from who live near the colony were unsure exactly when he was born) and he had rampant diarrhea so bad that it scalded the fur off his butt, ankles, and the base of his tail, and I was giving him multiple baths a day... after all of that you can't help but be attached, haha. The vet was not positive about him living but thank God he made it... he's a little fighter! Based on developmental markers, I think he's about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 months old, but he's really small as the parasites stunted his growth. Thank you for the suggestions about the flash. I have tried not using it in the past and my pictures are super blurry, so I may just need a nicer camera. :-/ Not on the top of my list unfortunately, seeing as little bits has seen the vet probably 8 times in the month and a half I've had him! Jusjim, I tried taking pictures from all sorts of angles, and ended up with multiple bad pictures of different angles of the eye flash... is there a specific angle you use?


----------



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Oh, and Delders, thanks! I'm so excited that he can finally wear the collar... he was too small until about a week ago. Yay for progress!


----------



## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

Bear is adorable. I have found that things like cleaning up diarrhea multiple times does create a bonding situation.


----------



## 510picker (Aug 30, 2012)

For photography angles, just try to get him facing light from a window or a door. He doesn't have to be facing it perfectly as this will give some dimension to the photo. The great thing about digital photography is it doesn't cost anything but your time to give it a try. Also, try holding a toy or treat in one hand to hold his attention.


----------



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Leazie, I had to wonder if the diarrhea would ever end... it was insane. Thankfully he made it through, though. I never thought I'd be so excited to see turds! He was a really good boy through it all, though, especially considering how crappy he must have felt. 510 picker, I'll have give that a try... you make a very good point that even though I took a billion crappy pictures the other day, it didn't cost any money, and I did end up with one nice one.


----------



## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

minikin44 said:


> . Thank you for the suggestions about the flash. I have tried not using it in the past and my pictures are super blurry, so I may just need a nicer camera. :-/ Not on the top of my list unfortunately, seeing as little bits has seen the vet probably 8 times in the month and a half I've had him! Jusjim, I tried taking pictures from all sorts of angles, and ended up with multiple bad pictures of different angles of the eye flash... is there a specific angle you use?


If you don't have, can't use a tripod rest the camera on something steady like at the edge of a kitchen chair or table, and if necesssary use paint or some such to crop the picture if it's not satifactory. Incandesent (tungsten) light from a table lamp may help although the colors may be a bit off. There's often a selection for artificial lighting. One of the beauties of digicams is that you get instant results and all it costs in your time (and at times temper). If you can get a reasonable picture of other things with your camera, then patience should pay off. You see all these wonderful photos published on the Internet, but you never see the ones that were scraped.

I don't use specific angles. If the cat looks at the camera, then you will get the eye flash. Cats being the curiosity seekers they are, they always want to know what you're doing, so they watch you -- and the camera

Luck.


----------



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

*thanks!*

That makes so much sense... because even though I tried a ton of angles, he was looking at me! Maybe I'll have someone else distract him when I try next time. I'll also try the tripod idea!


----------



## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

510picker said:


> For photography angles, just try to get him facing light from a window or a door. He doesn't have to be facing it perfectly as this will give some dimension to the photo. The great thing about digital photography is it doesn't cost anything but your time to give it a try. Also, try holding a toy or treat in one hand to hold his attention.


The toy would be a good idea to get the eyes away from flash, too. Never thought of that.


----------



## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

The pic you're using as your avatar is so cute that I came looking for another pic of him. What a cutie! Those huge eyes and oversized ears - how do you resist the temptation to hug him so tight that he'd be squished?


----------



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks spirite! I actually literally have a hard time putting him down to go to bed at night and leaving him to go to school... I'm a Bear Bear addict lol! My mom is addicted too... she went into withdrawal when she had to go back to work, and spent all day talking to her coworkers about him like he's her grandchild.


----------



## tiggerlove (Aug 28, 2012)

He's adorable  my kitten is also very enthusiastic about his food, he puts his paws right and chows down like its his last meal lol.
As for the shine in the eyes, i usually just use my phone with no flash in good lighting


----------



## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

Adorable!!! He has a knowing look in this pic. "The new season of Boardwalk Empire-I know wha's gonna h-a-a-a-a-p-p-ennnnnnnnn!


----------

