Substitute Cat

Since my actual cat is being so uncooperative, I decided I needed a somewhat more compliant substitute cat to test on.

I've decided that it's impossible to get a good picture of a cat with a single, direct light source unless you abandon any hope of low-key and just light EVERYTHING. I could use two-point lighting, but I don't have a second flash. The other alternative, of course, is to use a reflector to bounce some of your key light back in on the other side.

So for this shot I used my brand new reflector, formerly known as a sheet of PP-201 glossy photo paper and an octopus-shaped mobile phone stand. You have to get it in pretty close but it's not at all bad for subjects of this kind of size.