A coy little kitten poses under a clump of tall Cat Tail Grass. This photo was my first ever attempt at "serious" photography. Let me explain... (Click on the image for a slightly larger view.)
A Walk Down Memory Lane: I came across this photo yesterday, and decided to publish it on my blog. I took this picture when I was 17 years old -- that was 43 years ago, in the summer of 1966. The kitten was a little barn-yard friend who followed me around during my milking chores on the family farm.
I had been in love with photography for a little over a year, and I had read every book my small town library had on the subject. I came across an article in an old Popular Photography magazine (given to me by a high school teacher) about how to improve your outdoor photos with light reflectors made from crumpled aluminum foil, flattened and wrapped around a sheet of corrugated cardboard. I had to try it out!
I transplanted the grass onto a table I made so that it would be easier to photograph my subject (hey, that also makes this my first attempt at "table-top" photography ;-). I used my father's old Argus C3 35mm rangefinder camera and a roll of Kodachrome film*. I rotated the table so that the late afternoon sun was back-lighting the grass and my kitten, and then illuminated him from the light of my homemade reflector (placed between the kitten and the camera, and slightly to the left).
My little kitten friend was a real sweetheart that played well to the camera, don't you agree?
BTW, some call this foxtail grass, but my neighbor calls it "cat tail grass" -- wouldn't that be a coincidence!
*I only took two or three shots on that roll, so it was a couple of months before I finished the roll and could afford to have it processed, in order to found out if I had been successful.
You can also view my Flickr Photostream to see more of "My Vision."
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