Assignment: Pets

I found this web site called Digital Photography School. It's a discussion forum for people to discuss photography and post pictures and whatnot. They have "assignments" where you can share your shots and get feedback. Since I have some photographers here on my LJ as well, I'll post what I post there to here, too. Feedback welcome!

Assignment: Pets
http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=102

I have 3 cats. After reading the assignment and the "how to photograph pets" tutorial, I grabbed my camera and thought, "Who will be my first victim?" My black cat happened to be in the room with me, but I silently groaned, as he is so NOT photogenic. I don't think I have a single good picture of him, from the hundreds I've tried snapping over the years. He's skittish and doesn't do the typical "cat poses" that most cats lavish all over the cameras.

Nonetheless, I got down on the floor with him and figured I'd give it a go. He thought I was down there to pet him, of course, so I placated him for a while trying to get him to sit or lay down still. Then I noticed a DVD case on the floor next to him.

In order for this picture to make any sense, I must explain - my 3 cats are named Maverick, Goose, and Merlin. (This is Maverick). :)



I was in low-ish light so I used shutter priority mode at 1/20 (I was hoping to hand-hold the camera as I don't yet have a tripod). I didn't have much time, as Mav gets antsy sitting still, so I used auto-focus and tried as best I could to get the auto focus on his eyes. (I think it ended up more like on his forehead). I'm still trying to figure out how to manually set the focus points on my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I know it can be done - I just haven't gotten around to figuring it out.

I lightened the exposure a couple notches in Lightroom (just downloaded the demo - considering buying it. I have Photoshop CS3, which I use for web development [my day job], but it seems like overkill for 90% of what I tend to want to adjust in my photos). Any advice on Lightroom? Worth the purchase?

Anyhow I'll stop babbling now and get to work on another assignment!