Merlin – Chocolate Scottish Fold kitten, 8 weeks old

This little guy proved quite challenging to photograph, taking a whole 7 hours to finally get to settle down and go to sleep; the second-longest shoot time it has taken Rachael to capture an image! This image was created around the time the Harry Potter books were released, so with the name, Merlin Rachael was inspired to photograph this kitten wearing a wizard's hat, inspired by the ‘sorting’ hat in the Harry Potter movies. Rachael made the hat to fit Merlin out of an offcut of soft brown leather, wetting it and shaping it to create the perfect shape. Once Merlin finally crashed and collapsed into a deep slumber, it was relatively easy to maneuver him into the perfect position to showcase his adorable face, folded ears, and cute wee wizard hat.

This image was published in Rachael’s first cat book 101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats and also in Rachael’s book It’s a Zoo Out There.

Merlin was Photographed by Rachael in the living room of the breeder's home, using Rachael’s 4x5 inch Toyo View film camera on Portra 160 film with a large Elinchrom Octa Studio Flash.

This image looks great framed using a Dark Wood or Black Frame or using a White Frame, with or without a white border.