User:Brian Katt

Hello! My name is Brian Seeling Katt and I'm a professional photographer from the New England area. I've been editing Wikipedia (if you want to call it that) on and off for a few years, but finally decided to take the plunge and start getting involved with it a little more. To that end, I'll be contributing a number of my photographs I've taken around town and on my travels and help the project along with a little illustration.

File:Brian's peppers.jpg

This is Peppers, my Cat, showing a large amount of cuteness for his usual personality.

The Katt Family

Yes, I know I have a cat and my name is Katt. But it wasn't what you think.

My family's full name, according to records we researched a while, was Katzenpfens, which was what my great-great-grandfather brought over on the boat and preceded to lose upon entry to America. Apparently he was a budding marketer, since he decided a short, snappy name like Katt would suffice in the new world. So Katt it's been for the last 90 years or so, spreading through both New England and some weird subset from a great uncle who decided to make his way into the south, in the Florida area.

There's pros and cons to having a last name that ends up sounding like a proper noun. I've been called everything: Alley Katt, Black Katt, That Darn Katt (a personal favorite), but it's my name, I'm sticking with it, and I'm not going back to Katzenpfens!

The Gear

If it makes sense to, I'll talk about what I tend to use on any given day both for my job and for fun. I'm 100% digital these days, although there's a few sweet-smelling piles of darkroom chemicals in the back of the studio (I have to get that stuff out of here). For the shots I'll be uploading to Wikipedia, I'll be using my Canon_Digital_Rebel, since it's less than a grand and more of my "play around" camera. For more serious shots, especially if I'm paying someone to pose, I get out the big guns. More on that later.

I prefer natural light, using whatever's available to give a realistic look, although I won't shy away from a flash if absolutely necessary. Who wants an artistic shot that looks like the underside of a turtle?