Speaker 1: Love.
Speaker 2: This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets.
Speaker 3: Hello, cat levers, Welcome to counta Tude. I'm your show
host Michelle Fern. Today's show is a lot of fun.
So we love cats, right and we love to take
pictures of them.
Speaker 4: But why is it so hard?
Speaker 3: My guest today she is a cat photographer. She photographs
other pets, but you know cats. We're going to focus
on cats and she has some great advice for us
and some tips. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
Speaker 5: Take a bite out of your competition. Advertise your business
with an ad in pet Life Radio podcast and radio shows.
There is no other pet related media that is as
large and reaches more pet parents and pet lovers than
pet Life Radio with over seven million monthly listeners. Pet
Life Radio podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms,
and our live radio stream goes out to over two
hundred and fifty million subscribers on iHeartRadio, Odyssey, tune In,
and other streaming apps. For more information on how you
can advertise on the number one pet podcast and radio network,
visit Petlifradio dot com. Slash advertised today.
Speaker 1: Let's Talk pets.
Speaker 6: On Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everyone. I'd like to welcome Karen Hogland. She
is the cat photographer. She also photographs dogs and horses,
and I'm like to welcome you to Catache. So much
for coming on.
Speaker 4: Thank you. It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 3: I'm honored to have you. So did I get it right? Cats?
Dog horses?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Mostly cats and dogs?
Speaker 3: Cats and dogs? Okay, have you ever done like a
ferret or lizard or anything like that?
Speaker 4: I have beared a dragon, guinea pigs. I have a
whole exotic pet page.
Speaker 3: That must be wild. So what made you decide to
go into photography, especially animals?
Speaker 4: Sure? Well, I had been a graphic designer for twenty
some years, and when digital cameras came on the scene,
photography sort of became part of the job. And then
when I left the corporate jobs, I decided to go
into photography. At first, I thought I would do family
photography and like everything, and I just love the dogs
and cats the most.
Speaker 3: I don't blame sometimes they're the best.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I just was naturally best at capturing them. So
I just started doing more and more that started promoting it,
and then maybe only a couple of years in unniched way,
down just to the pets only.
Speaker 3: So cats are difficult, They're notoriously difficult to photograph, and
you know, they're different, they're so different than dogs. There's
this saying that you probably have heard so many times.
Cats are not like little dogs. Cats are cats, dogs
are dogs. So why did you decide to specialize especially
in cats, because they must be one of the toughest
furbabes to photograph.
Speaker 4: Well, people assume they can't be photographed. I don't think
that's true. They're different species, of course than the dog, obviously,
so they're a little more skittish, they're a little more
set in their ways. But it's kind of the same
skill set where I'm observing, you know, like the same
way I'll notice if a dog's ears are back, I'll
notice if a cat is flicking its tail and ready
to get out of there. It's totally possible. It's just
a different set of skills.
Speaker 3: I haven't heard that it's not possible to photograph cats.
I've heard that it's hard to photograph black cats and
black dogs, and that's one reason why they don't get
as adopted as much. I have a tuxedo cat. Both
my dogs that are in doggy heaven. Now we're black
with markings. But have you heard that it's a thing, right?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, definitely, especially with your cell phone because the
auto exposure just can't handle it sometimes, or it's just
that you have them in a dark corner. They're doing
something adorable, but they're you know, underneath the coffee table,
so it's really dark down there, so of course you
know there's not enough light. There's a couple of different
things you can do about that. You can put them
by the window, you know, lure them off there with
a toy or a feather, even a treat with your
own cat. You know, you just try to get them
when they're in better light. Photography is all about light,
so that's more apparent with a black cat or dog.
Speaker 3: Okay, you do dogs as well. Would you say what
the difference is when you're photographing cats versus photographing dogs,
And how in the world did you get the most
adorable picture on your website, which we'll share at the
end of a sphinx cat and this little I don't
can't tell the breed. It's a black and gray dog.
Speaker 4: Yeah, mixed breed, mixed breed.
Speaker 3: Much of my favorite so I don't know how you
got them together, but what are some of the differences
between them, as far as you know, nuances that can
make us better Because a lot of us have photographed
our dogs, we can get them to stay still. Cats
not so much.
Speaker 4: Sure, Well, a lot of people when they're doing their
dogs photo they use a treat that doesn't look as cute.
With a cat, they kind of hunt over to look
like a wild lion. You know, they're just and then
they're all the run off with it. With dogs, you
can use squeaky toys like I use so many little
like a quill call, duck call, like the squeaky from
inside a toy that would freak a cat out. So
I do not do that with cats. So in some ways,
I guess you could say dogs are easier because you
can use like the sounds and the treats. But some
dogs are scared. They're kind of timid anyway, and like
they might get a little afraid, So you're going to
kind of treat them like each animal's individual. So the
most shy dog might be similar to a very friendly cat.
But in general, with cats, I'm going to be quieter,
I'm going to kind of lure them over, so if
they think it's their idea, and curiosity is a huge thing.
Speaker 3: Curiosity okay, and this leads into my next question. It
sounds like a lot of taking pictures of cats has
to do with preparing yourself because too often I think
as humans are impatient and we want them to wait
take the picture, or we want them to do what
they want to do. And while dogs are a little
bit more open to that, cat or not, they do it.
They want, when they want, how they want for the
most part. So what do we have to do to
prepare ourselves so sure so that we're going to be
successful taking the pictures of our cat? I can tell
one it must be be patient. That's not one of
my strong suits. Sotent is a must.
Speaker 4: Well, you're not just being patient like I'm going to
watch my cat take a nap and then wait for
him to get up. It's more of reading their body language.
So you're kind of being slow and quiet, Like for me,
I'm going into someone's house, So the first ten minutes,
I'm going to be like a fly on the wall,
lay low, hold back. I Am not going to try
to get the photo in the first five to ten minutes.
If it's your own cat, it's different because they're used
to you. But you need to know when to be
quiet and just let them be comfortable, and when to
pull out a toy, maybe a piece of yarn feathers.
I have great luck with peacock feathers because they're long
and you can kind of almost use it like you're
hypnotizing them, and then you know, you kind of hold
it over the camera and it looks like they're looking
at the camera but glacially slow. Like I think that's
the number one thing I see people doing, is they
they move that one toy around and they're like, oh crazy,
and it's not playtime. You don't want them to look
like they just saw ghost or they're like gonna kill
their toy. They're not hunting. What you want is that curiosity.
Speaker 3: Okay, so nice and slow? All right? What about bringing
out the true nature of your cat? Would it be
they're toys? Would you just I don't know, have them
if they're into water, have them near their fountain where
they play, or what are some things we could do
to just really, you know, show their sweet side if
they're really sweet cat or they're kind of I guess
crazy side. They're like into Zuomi's and such.
Speaker 4: Right, well, yeah, most animals have both. So whatever makes
you smile, I always say so, Like, if it just
makes you smile when your cat jumps up in a
certain spot to get its chin scratched, maybe that's that's.
You know, there's like a certain spot in my kitchen
that my cat always goes. I definitely want photos of
that because that just makes me happy. That's where he
goes when he wants love. So you kind of think
of that place in your house if that's it. If
it's a faucet, like you said, maybe make it a
little more interesting, like arrange some houseplants around the faucet,
like simplify the scene, but also make it look a
little more elevated, a little different than normal maybe. But
yet you're still capturing the cat drinking out of the
water out of the sink. What else, Like, what does
your cat do? What would you want to capture?
Speaker 3: So my cats they're lazy, they don't jump around much.
They have water fountains, they have three, so I've heard,
So they don't really go for faucets, but those are
adorable pictures. I've also heard with cats that it's good
to get down on their level because they're small, so
they're by you know, they're utlow to the ground. Of course,
say you want to get down on the ground to
take pictures of.
Speaker 4: Them, correct, that's very good advice. Yeah, a lot of people.
I think people are getting smarter than this, but especially
when cell phones first game, they would be standing up,
take the photo at like waste level, and then yeah,
the cat doesn't look that exciting. I would suggest trying
different angles. I mean, that's the awesome thing about like
digital photos and cell phones is you know, go a
little left, little the right, little up, little down, back forward.
I mean, don't take ten thousand, but just look at
what's happening, and it kind of gets your cat curious
about it too. You can't lose. Just be creative.
Speaker 3: On my art days, I remember that the contrast of
light and dark is always, you know, popular for any
kind of picture and for art in general. Same for photography.
I'm sure right, oh absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 4: I love shadows like winter, when you get those really
dramatic shadows at the late afternoon, that's my favorite.
Speaker 3: What can we do to create those shadows in our homes.
I'm in South Florida, we don't have winter. We have cold,
so for a time change maybe yeah, shadows, but not
so much so. Although the snow pictures I see of cats,
which I didn't think cats like the cold that much,
are amazing.
Speaker 4: Well, I don't think they like to go outside, but
if it's a nice cozy spot by the window, they'll
look outside for sure.
Speaker 3: So you have to keep like dark in mind. You
have to keep the coloring in mind, because you don't
want your cat to blend in right right, and you
don't want to freeze see colors, so you don't want
something like I don't know, maybe like a gross yellow
behind you know, a ginger cat right right color in
mind too, So all of those What about movement?
Speaker 4: I love movement. I mean I was trying to think
of how to get the sunbeams for you guys in Florida.
Speaker 3: How lots of sudden but they just don't have the
winter sunlights in that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's what I was swimming to brainstorm, Like, come,
I never thought about that. I've always lived up north.
There's always a sunbeam that comes in. You can always
close all the windows in the room except for one,
so that the light is directional and coming like from
one direction. But back to your question about action. You
know what I do with my cat as I just
throw a treat and he goes curry. He's very food motivated.
If they're hunters and you're doing it in the backyard,
you know, you can tell when they're gonna jump, They
wiggle their butt. They're totally predictable.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: I've gotten cats midair, you know, after they you know,
trying to catch the squirrel in the backyard. My cat's
on the indoor. But you know, you can kind of
tell when they're gonna do action that you can toss
one of their little toys like a spring or felt ball.
I have felt balls on a string that works great
because you can hold it, just slowly move it and
then if it is in the photo, it's not ugly.
Speaker 3: Those are some great ideas. We're gonna take a short
break and we'll be right back. Molly, here's your dinner.
Since that's not your food.
Speaker 7: Don't let that happen to your precious cat. Elevates your
cat's eating experience with the cat tree tray. The cat
tree tray keeps your cat's food off the floor and
conveniently located on the cat tree. It's the perfect way
to eat. It's a beautiful wrought iron tray that easily
attaches to your cat tree and keeps dogs and other
critters out of your cat's dish. A must from Multi
Pet Households. There's a six inch trade for large bowls
and a four inch tray for smaller bulls. Per just
your cat tree trade today, Go right now to cattreetrade
dot com. That's cattreetrade dot com. C A T t
R E E t R A y dot com.
Speaker 2: Let's talk past, Let's done Pets About Life Radio Headline Radio.
Speaker 8: Pet Live Radio dot com.
Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Karen Hogeland and she's
a photographer and we're talking about cat photography. So let's
talk about props. And I have a funny story. So
a long time ago for my other show, Best Bets
for Pets, it's product show, and I had sample sent
to me for of sweaters. So this person made theirs
for your pets and I had three. So that time
I had mister zeus Nicki and Dennis, and my cat
crew was small, just Dennis, and so they actually the
smallest sweater did not fit Dennis. It fit NICKI. So
Dennis got the second largest, then Zeus was the largest.
Nicky's was have an ease. Zeus my like forty five pounds.
And Dennis is part Maine coon but he's not giant.
So by some miracle and because he is part Maine coon,
I got Dennis in the sweater without getting clawed up.
Speaker 4: Wow, I'm impressed.
Speaker 3: He was always constantly he was moonwalking to get out
of it. But I do have a picture of them
in their sweaters, which was a feed. Keeping them all
together was tough. Yeah, Dennis was really easy. I would
not try that with Molly. I would be clawed. She
would not like that, and Charlotte is a very frayed cat,
so she would not go for that as well. So
here's my question. I got lucky one time with Dennis
and I could probably get a prop on him, but
forget the other cats. So how do we use props
that are on cats? Like how do some people have
pictures of cats with glasses on and hats on and clothes.
I mean, I just think that's like so impossible unless
they have this certain personality.
Speaker 4: Sure, I mean it's like if they're used to it,
like they're harness trained, and they know that that little
pressure around their body means they're gonna be the harness
go outside. They're excited. Maybe, I don't know. Personally, I
feel like a collar with a bow is pushing my
limits as much as I can. Most of my clients
we don't do that.
Speaker 3: You brought up a grade point though. You brought up
the point about pressure around their body, and I just
hadn't thought of that. You know, as humans, we put
on clothes all the time and all that, and people
have different, you know, things that they're comfortable wearing, but
you don't think about pressure around the body for a
cat or for dog. Dogs are more comfortable with that,
but for cats you don't think of that. And they're
actually super sensitive I've learned, especially on their back and
their bellies.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think they would like a swimmer. No,
I do.
Speaker 3: Don't recommend it, really, Jill, So I would never try
that again. And the pressure around their body, but there
is I think some truth to that from what I've
learned with cats, they're very sensitive on their back at
least I know where Molly is. So you would say
keep the clothes away, Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean they may be used to a collar now
and then you know, like if they're going to the
vet or if they are allowed outside. But I really
wouldn't push it. I mean, you want them to look happy.
You don't want airplaneiers. I think it's more important for
them to look comfortable.
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you for that information and feedback. Let's talk
about some special times to take pics. So you know,
always when they're little babies, little kittens, that's adorable. And
you know if you have a mom a kitten, then
they have babies, that's a wonderful time to take pictures.
What about end of life pictures? I mean, nobody likes
to think about that, but it happens.
Speaker 4: I have done a bunch of those. They're often a
good way for the family to get closure. It helps
them feel like that bucket list thing is checked off.
It can be difficult. I can tell if it's making
the people upset.
Speaker 3: Let's backtrack for a sec and I say end of life.
So would that be when someone has their cats like
older they know that the cat might be getting sick
soon or is the cat okay, the days are numbered,
we need to take pictures right now.
Speaker 4: Well, there's all variations of that I've done, like the
older cat, and they can be fine. I mean, if
they're in good health then they're not feeling any pain
or you know, they can hear and see me enough
for they look happy that just being old isn't a problem.
If they're really sick and they really do have their
days our number, like maybe they got really bad news
of the vet and let's say the vet said it's weeks,
you know, weeks to months or something like that, and
they call me. That's easier frankly for dogs because they
tend to like rally and look good when guests come over.
Cats are just I don't really recommend it. I mean,
it has its place, but that's probably not going to
be the best photo of your cat that you have
of its whole life. I mean, we can do it,
but I definitely take tons of breaks. I make sure
the cat's comfortable. I will come back if the cat
is not comfortable or the people need a break. It's
definitely has its challenges, but at the same time, it's
kind of can be bittersweet because it's, like, like I said,
a bucket list type of thing, and you can get
those like cuddally shots and the cat, you know, looking
at you, it can be sweet.
Speaker 3: Okay, thanks for sharing that. What other tips do you
have for us in general for taking pictures forever cats?
What are some just five good rules that we should
stick with when we're trying to take pictures of our cats.
Speaker 4: Sure, well, for starters, take tons of pictures when they're young,
because they're so curious and playful and nutty, and they're
oh my gosh, don't think you'll you'll get around to
it lighter when they're young, they're just so fun. I mean,
I adopted my cat when he was three and I
was plenty young. He's crazy. But in general, for all cats,
for all photos, I would say the simplifying the background.
So take the laundry basket out of the background, don't
have TV remotes, magazines out, you know, like newspaper mail pile.
Just keep it simple. Maybe get some interesting textures with
blankets that contrast with the cat. So like I have
an orange cat, so blues look nice against him, or
even purples greens. Just think of like what makes him
look nice. Like I said before, change your angles around,
be creative. I could go on and on. You said
five things. I probably gave you five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, those are great, great tips. I think that's the
biggest thing is to be patient with your cat and
patient with yourself.
Speaker 4: Definitely, And I think that cats have a big ability
to model. It's possible. I think you just have to
go about it a different way, like a little bit slower,
not force full, try to capture their personality. If there's
like a certain toy they like, maybe you want to
picture with that toy. Yeah, there's a lot of fun
things you can do. And I think just be more intentional,
you know, just like, don't just like pick up the
camera and like snap and not clean up the background.
Speaker 3: Yes, have a tidy background. This is I think very
important for a lot of our listeners. What would you
recommend if someone is hiring a professional cat photographer Because
you're not global yet, so you're located in the western
part of the US, Say, you're not global where you're
flying to different locations all the time. So what if
somebody wanted to hire someone, what are some things they
need to keep in mind to look out for, Because
I mean, I've never hired a cat photographer, I wouldn't
have a clue.
Speaker 4: Sure, Well, of course, everyone probably start with an online search,
and that's fair. But beyond that, you could ask the
local cat rescue, like if they have someone who volunteers
with them, who's a photographer who's good, that might be
a good spot. Or even your cat sitter if you
have a really good cat setter. They've been in people's houses.
They know if there's like professional artwork of the cat
on the wall, or you know, like if they've heard
of one, you know, like word of mouth. But if
you're looking at an online search, you're going to want
to look at the cat portfolio, you know, see if
there's a variety of different looks and personalities. Does the
person go to the house? I would say for most cats,
that's a huge plus to be able to have a
photographer come to your house instead of the studio.
Speaker 3: That's a great pit.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, cats are not the easiest to travel with most right,
not all, but most.
Speaker 4: You can ask people, you know, how they handle shy
or unpredictable cats. I think that tells you a lot
about their experience and patience level. You can just you know,
see how they answer those questions. You know, if you
know a thing about cat body language, you can see
the photos that are on their website and see, you
know if the cats look miserable or happy?
Speaker 3: Right, right, let's talk about your website because you have
some beautiful pictures. It's Karen Hoagland photography dot com. There's
just some gorgeous pictures. Like I said, there's one of
a sphinx and a mixed breed about midway on your
mobile site. Right now. There are a ton of other
tips than from what we talked about, because we haven't
even talked we're talking about just taking pictures of cats,
But if you want to be in the picture with
your cat, that's always an option too. But then of
course you need to hire someone.
Speaker 4: Right, yes, and that can be done at home as well,
and you can kind of use a simple background. One
tip for that is to use a doorway, like maybe
a doorway to the backyard, so it kind of fades
off to black behind you and then you're just kind
of sitting in the doorway there.
Speaker 3: Do you ever think sometimes with your pictures you just
get lucky? This would be very, very lucky though, because
these pictures are gorgeous, But in general, sometimes do you
just get lucky in a pose?
Speaker 4: Well, you kind of set yourself up for success. I
mean I try to talk with the owners and like
figure out collaborate with a like get everyone on the
same page, and then yes, it's up to the cat
whether the cat's going to be into me or not.
Speaker 3: Isn't that funny how we talk about this and then say,
but it's up to the cat. We can do we
can photographer, get everything ready to do all this, but
you know, if the cat's happen a bad day, I'll
forget it. We're gone, We're done, you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but most of them, you know, I say that
I'll come back if the cat's not in to me
that day, or just you know, isn't in the mood,
I'll come back. Got no extra cost. I've had to
do that only once, and that was mostly because the
people kind of weren't ready about the end of life,
you know, feelings and emotions. You know. I have my ways,
and most pet photographers do. We love pets, you know.
I mean, like, if someone's a professional cat photographer, they
love cats, right, so most likely I was like, yeah,
so you know, there's something different things that we can
do to ensure success other than just saying like, oh, well,
you know, the cat's not gonna, you know, post today
because I have a whole bag of stuff I bring
with because you know, some cats like crinkle toys, some
cats like yarn, some cats like feathers, you know, and
I'll ask the people had to time what they like,
but then they might be surprised because, like you know,
novelty is like so interesting to cats. You know, like
if you move something from one side of the room
to the other, like all of a sudden, they were interesting.
Speaker 3: They're excited.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like it's like that simple. It's like move a
house plant from one windowsill to the other.
Speaker 3: Do you cats see some colors? In your opinion? Do
you cats see some colors better than others?
Speaker 4: You know, I don't know.
Speaker 3: I have a white charging cord that whenever I plug
that in, I have to make sure Molly doesn't bite it.
The black ones. She doesn't care about the white one
she wants to bite.
Speaker 4: That's you would probably know more about that than me.
I'm not a scientist, but I find that they move,
you know, get more interested in slow movement then fast.
But color I have not noticed.
Speaker 3: I haven't read someplace they only see like black and
white and yellow. But I'm sure someone will send me
an email tell me I'm wrong. Yeah, I'm curious of
an idea, which is great, But I was just wondering
because it's funny how some things just it could be
the exact item but a different color, and that one
color will just set them off.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Maybe, who knows, Maybe that's why they like one
thing over another exactly.
Speaker 3: And you bought up a great point when you said,
when you visit someone to shoot the cats, you bring
a bag of different things. It would probably be a
good idea if we're planning to take pictures of our cat,
to have some maybe fresh toys, right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And honestly, it only works for just a little
while and then they're like, eh, I'm tired of that. Yeah,
you can rotate out toys, you know, hide a toy,
hide their favorite toy for a month, and then they'll
be all excited when it comes out for photo.
Speaker 3: That's good. What about catnip or they get too crazy
or it just depends on the cat.
Speaker 4: Depends on the cat. I do bring catnip spray to
put on things sometimes, I honestly haven't noticed it makes
much of a difference for photos. They're generally a little
more interested in the other things that I'm doing.
Speaker 3: Okay, great points. Where can people go to your side
to find out more? I know I said it before,
but why don't you share their website?
Speaker 4: Sure it's Karen Hoagland. That's Hoglundphotography dot com. And I'm
also in Instagram Karen Hogland Photo, Facebook, Karen Hoagland Photography.
Speaker 3: Karen, thank you so much for coming on Altitude and
sharing these great tips about how to take pictures of
your cat and what to do when we're hiring a photographer.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: I hope you all enjoyed this show. What fun talking
to a cat photographer. It's also I think a lot
of fun for you and a great way to engage
with your cat and if you want just a great
professional picture that we had some great tips on what
to look for for a professional caut photographer. So thank
you Karen for coming on Catitude. I want to thank
my cat crew, Dennis, Charlotte and Molly for let me
take pictures of them. Most of the time it's me
who means the work, not them. I have to get better.
Thank you to everyone listening in Catitude. I so appreciate
you listening and being loyal. Thank you so much, and
of course thank you to the magic my producer, Mark Winter.
This show would not be the same without the magic
he works on every single episode, So thank you so much, Mark,
and hey, remember lose to attitude, have catitude.
Speaker 1: Let's talk bets every week on demand only on petlifradio
dot com.
Speaker 3: A