Supersonic Cat

A British Airways Concorde with one special passenger sits on display

at the Seattle Museum of Flight. Because of the proximity to large

fields of grass, the museum proprieters hired this beautiful animal to

keep the cabin free of mice and other similar creatures. She stands

guard here awaiting her afternoon snack.

So this is real? Unmanipulated (no cat insterted)? That's a trip - to be on this (now) rare aircraft with that big tabby sitting in it! Shown, say, on a gallery wall, this shot would certainly draw many questions and admiring looks for its originality and curious setting. Hat's off to you - too cool.

 

Great job handling the exposure, too - the angle is great, and it's very sharp.

iso 200 f25 19mm 10 second exposure on tripod, thru plexiglass with the lens as close as I could get. Reflection and glare removed with Windex filter in PS. Tiger the cat, 14 years old, is courtesy of the humane society.

 

Thanks Chris, for your kind comments.

Great photo. I really like this.

David, I'll simply have to agree with everything Chris said. How lucky the cat wasn't slightly forward into that bright area on the floor. I love unexpected shots like this!

 

Was this really a 10 second exposure? Or should that be 1/10th? It may be slight lens distortion or just the way the shadows fall, but this appears to have a slight, and I mean slight, counterclockwise tilt.

Doh - ok so the cat came along later...and here I am swallowing the story about the jet parked next to a field, the mice...I'm an ass, lol. How could the mice get INTO the plane!? I'll get you for that.

Chris:

I frequently look at your images and look at your postings. You have a great sense of humor!. Sometimes I think you and I are the "class clowns" of PN. This WAS posted under digital alterations. (I hope Laurie is paying attention.)

 

Yes, the original image was a 10 second exposure and I would gladly send you the file with the EXIF data to prove it. It was really dark in the plane. The camera was on a tripod and I wanted the greatest DOF I could get which was f25. At iso 200, that is 10 seconds. The camera was on a tripod (Bogen, not carbon fiber). I have an electronic cable release. The mirror was in the up mode. (that may tell you something). The cat (my pet for 14 years)picture was taken about 6 months ago with another Nikon digital camera. The image was reversed. The shadow and the cat, without its shadow, are separate layers. The shadow was skewed and is at approximately 50% opacity. Colour of the shadow was adjusted as closly as possible to match the shadow coulors on the Concorde. Both the shadows and the cat were free transformed to fit on the floor of the Concorde. The shadow is the true shadow of the cat on my back deck but altered to fit the image. That is all I did.

 

I am really just learning how to do this stuff. Two books which really help: the Photoshop CS2 book for digital photographers by Scott Kelby and Photoshop CS2 one on one by Deke McClelland. I purchased these books less than a week ago. Fun stuff. Both of you are very talented photographers who, if your lives permit it, could do this kind of magic. Please remember, a low resolution jpeg image posted on PN is going to give you a little room to fool around and hide the obvious sloppiness. Thanks for your comments.

Wow incredible idea for this scene and situation with the cat inside the plane!! ha ha

Biliana

Hmmm, missed the part about the cat. I was fooled too. The 10 second shutter speed now makes sense.

 

It still appears a bit tilted. Is it just me?

I think? I see what you mean about the counter clockwise tilt but it is probably due to the slight off center of the image and at 19mm, (27.5mm equivalent) it could be barrel distortion too. I really need to think hard to see it. At this point I would like to think about the collective net worth of all the people who travelled in those seats and that they should all donate a dollar/euro/many yen/etc. to help those less fortunate.

The "tilt" could also be the curtain in the doorway in the back, removing a right angle to align.

 

I'm with ya Dave, you crack me up. Let me know when you want to storm the Photo.net offices in clown suits, packing shaving cream pies. I have a few targets in mind...

Creative photo, and nice cat by the way...