Tips for optimizing the Infinite Cat experience.
(1) Make the other cats in the image almost as prominent as your own cat.
(2) Try not to let your cat's image obscure any of the cats on the monitor.
The more cats we can see in the monitor, the better.
(3) Use the mouse pointer to get your cats attention,
or smear some soft cat food (or something equally smelly) on the monitor
and snap a picture as they're sniffing around. You might also try downloading
and playing some bird
sounds or cat
sounds. I know these certainly get my cat's attention.
(4) Use lots of environmental lighting and avoid
using a flash as it tends to wash out the screen image. Open some
windows, light some candles, start a fire, send up a flare.
(5) If you can, adjust your digital camera to take indoor pictures.
(6) Fuzzy images are the bane of the ICP
and I cannot stress that strongly enough. If the image of your cat isn't
at least reasonably clear and sharp there's a good chance I'll ask for
a re-shoot.
(7) I will automatically reject any image where it
appears the cat is being forcibly held in front of the monitor,
mostly on the grounds that it's borderline inhumane. The best pictures
are of those cats who seem naturally interested in the process. See tip
#3, above, for alternative methods in getting Fluffy's attention.
(8) Don't crop or edit the picture. Just send me
the raw file and I'll take it from there. Just be sure the image is at
least 640 X 480 pixels of resolution and try to image it cropped to the
limit. Anything smaller can't be used.
(9) Finally, only one entry per cat. In other words, don't expect to see
your cat watching your cat watching your cat. I need my sleep.
The last tip is about composition. The ideal picture would have enough
of your cat to give an indication of its personality plus show off the
other cats in the monitor as much as possible. The picture below, #240
in the Project, is among those that meets all these criteria although
I urge you all to be as creative as possible. Good luck!
Close window when finished.