The Black Cat-Halloween edition

In the spirit of Halloween, here's a shot I put together using the Nikon CLS system. I'm really getting to love the possibilities.

First off, the cat is one of my favorite animals and "Eddie" this black persian is a fine specimen. (He's named for the rock guitar icon Eddie Van Halen)

I first imagined the shot one morning when I saw Eddie sitting illuminated by the streaming light coming through a window. His long black hair was glowing in a halo of fire.

More pics and the lighting setup below.

I figured I could create the same effect with a few flashes and take control of the entire scene. Except for the cat, that is.

First I set up the rim light (behind him) and thought a blue rim color would make a nice complement to his yellow eyes which I intended to light selectively with a snooted speedlight. A blue gel taped on the SB600 worked fine.

I first tried a to go with the iTTL but found there were too many variations in output as I changed perspectives. That meant full manual control, which I don't mind either.

I also wanted to keep the background blacked out which I could have accomplished with a black velvet background, but I don't have one. So.. Instead I needed to limit the ambient light with my shutter speed. 1/250th would work for keeping the background dark and still syncing with my flashes. The room was fairly dark as well but still plenty of light to work in.

I also needed to keep my flashes from spilling all over the room and this was achieved by setting Eddie up on a stool in the middle of the room so the walls were 10-15 feet away. (beyond the reach of the flashes) Plus, the snoot on the foreground flash kept the light focused on his eyes and not spilling out all over the place.

At this point, I set a potted plant on the stool (as a stand-in object) and tweaked the flash power until I had the look I wanted. And now the studio was ready for Eddie.

I had two assistants for this part. Assistant #1 (my sister) held the snooted flash and aimed it into Eddie's eyes wherever he may have been looking. Assistant #2 (Brother-in-law and owner/namer of Eddie) kept the model engaged and the poses varied.

Gear Specs: Nikon D300 / 17-55mm 2.8 Lens / SB600 / SB800 with Honl 8" snoot / Sekonic L358 flash meter / Tolerant persian.

Exposure: ISO 200 / F8 /1/250th

This shot also works really well in BW. The conversion was done in Nik Silver Efex Pro with some custom settings.

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR