I think that the large picture below (not the one on the right on the grass) is the best three legged cat picture on the Internet, even if I did take it myself and even if I have not checked! Mind you the one on the grass ain’t bad. Both these photographs are reproduced as taken, there has been no digital enhancement.
There are possibly quite a lot of photographs of three legged cats. Mind you, how many three legged cats are there!? I, arrogantly, say this is the best not because I created it but because it probably (or possibly) is. How did it happen? It happened in the blink of an eye, 50 seconds from start to finish, believe me, and it was pretty dark at the time.
This three legged cat picture is down to preparation, prediction, timing and a bl**dy good camera that has a sensitive enough sensor to function well under challenging conditions. And the sensitivity of the sensor of modern digital cameras is of vital importance to the photographer who wants to create something better than average in available light and as it happens.
The settings on the camera, a Canon 7D with an EF-S 15-85mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS USM lens with imagine stabilisation (important), was ISO 2500 (very fast) at 1/20th second at f5. As this is a zoom lens, I forget what the focal length was – probably about 40 mm equivalent for a 35 mm camera.
The cat is Charlie. He is my cat (no I am his human). He has three legs. He lost the right foreleg (don’t know how). As a result he likes to put himself in what I call the “meerkat position” (on his back legs and bottom with his tail as a stabiliser). He can do this with ease because he has a very strong back. His back is strong because he uses it to run and walk – to lift his body off the ground to allow him to reposition his remaining from leg……..[continues below the picture below]
- Charlie is in the meerkat position on my bed in this three legged cat picture. Why is he meerkating? Because he wants my attention. Why does he want my attention? Food! Has he lost an eye too? No, he is winking at me, that’s all.
When he wants to see better or get my attention he takes up the meerkat position, screams at me, and then drops down to three legs again. I think that a nice element in this image is the background, the duvet cover on my bed, which is black bamboo on an off white background. This is perfect as it “chimes” with Charlie’s ears and demeanor. Damn, hell fire, God was good to me as Charlie’s blink made the picture. For sure it did. I forgot to say. I love this boy cat.
Congratulations on your good fortune to have such a beautiful boy, full of such personality. We have our own black boy of the four legged variety. I’m so glad you shared your pictures and story, it has brought great cheer to my day!!
Thank you. It is a very handsome boy and when he lies next to me in bed at night is also very hot boy and he occupies quite a lot of space as well. He is quite large at about sixteen pounds.