Posing cats for Pics

Okay, I think this wekend I will finally take some pics of Franz and Mattie. Except for sleeping pics anyone have any luck in getting your cat to stay still for that purrfect shot. Good thing I'm not at home writing this at home, cause Franz would be laughing his butt off..."yeah me pose..you should have stayed longer on the psych unit...ha, ha, ha! My idea is to feed them first a nice big meal to get them lazy and compliant. Roast turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, string beans, pumpkin pie and apple cider...it works for me! LOL

No way, lol. I just try to catch them in weird and interesting shots. If they are sleeping, wake them up and have your camera ready. They almost always yawn. Those make good pics. Or if they are sitting nicely, dangle something way above your head and have your camera ready. They usually look so cute when they are sitting and looking up.

Apple Cider indeed It is taking me forever to try and get some good photos. I've got plenty of tails, bottoms, ears and noses.

Really it's a matter of being at the right place, at the right time, with camera in hand!

Just carry the camera around with you and get the cats interested in their favourite toy or treat and start snapping! I usually approach Nakita when she is busy listening to the birds outside the window. I get some pretty good pictures of her because she is in natural light and she's busy concentrating on something other than the camera.

Good luck and have fun!

As the others have said, keep the camera handy. Assuming that you have a digital camera, take a lot of photos, even of a similar shot!

When I see a potential photo-victim, I pretend that I'm ignoring the cats as I'm reaching for the camera. The other thing that I also try to do when I "frame" the shot, is to think about how the photo will look, as opposed to how cute or funny the cats look at that moment. I will sometimes take a good dozen photos of the same basic shot, slightly changing the zoom level and where the cat is in the picture.

What great advice you've received already, Barbara! I have so many pictures of Sierra's nose and tail from where she'll either see me taking the picture and walk towards me or get tired of her photo session and walk off! I also try to act really nonchalant about it and then if I want her to look up at me I dangle a toy or call her name. If your camera has a strap on it, make sure you hold it in your hand or your kitties may forget about whatever their doing cute and try to get the dangling strap! I also talk lots of pictures of the same thing knowing that some will turn out well!
Stephanie

I carry the camera from room to room just in case as well.

If their sitting on the stairs i click my fingers above my head so they look up then just snap!

If there's a word that your kitties particularly respond to, you can use that. I use, "Din-dins!" in a high pitched voice to get the cats to look towards me. Somthing else you can use is holding something that makes an odd noise above your head as you snap the pic. Crinkle a piece of paper or a chip packet in your hand. It's always good to have a friend to do the distracting. That way you can say up, down, left right etc depending on what sort of shot you need. Even using a basic photo editing program, you can eliminate those 'glowy' eyes. Having someone else also helps if you want to take a pic of something your cat does regularily at certain times. For example, all my cats have taught themselves to beg just as I'm putting food down for them. Trying to take the pic alone wouldn't help but I plan to have my housemate put the food down while I take pics. If you have multiple cats, you'll soon find out that some are very happy to pose for pictures, like my Vegemite and with others, you'll get very few good pics, like my Coco.