My!

Lazy, I just sit at my desk… Colleen did the kitchen sink…. Grab shots. Grab, as in grab the camera, shoot, and hope for the best. Aren’t they all?

I wish the cats would pose as I see the image in my head… alas, they do not. You settle for what you can get.

My! What big eyes you have! It’s a trick to get a spider on its web. The subject is so small the camera sensor does not want to focus. It can be done manually… who uses manual nowadays? So, I spend more time tricking the sensor into believing… it is more trouble to find and adjust manual focus.

And the cats? They are getting along better. Hissing and batting paws is down in our house by at least 50%. That is improvement?!

Detente

It recalls our relationship with Russia. Here and now it is among my older cats and Mozart, the new. (pardon the mess) Mozart is ready to pounce upon the two Maine cats. They are alert and wary. Mozart jumped up. He jumped down. No fur was lost. Everyone remains in a state of high alert. Mozart remains a kitten in search of a bit of acceptance and affection. Willow? Mostly they orbit but do not interact. I fear that Mozart is an “only cat” in a room full of cats. He walks about the house “chirping” and hoping to make a friend. At this point the best I have is less hissing when Mozart enters a room. BTW, how often do you get an opportunity to get three cats in the same picture frame? Lucky!

It’s all flash (photography) for different reasons. I need the very fast shutter effect. Movement would kill my shots. The room is otherwise too dark to get a good image. It’s ain’t great but a least it’s less worse. Posing a cat on a table is less worse unless you factor in the squirming. Flash, sometimes it is necessary. I have it, and, use it.

Composed

Here is the end shot. Ah! Ha!

After all you the reader are the end user. I decided today was the day for a family pic. It ain’t easy. First you clear the table. Oh dear! My my! Then set up the tripod. Get out the big camera, the flash, and the remote. Catch each cat and pose with them. Ha ha! Eight cats! It’s a good trick to find and then catch them all. But after all, I am the human. No cats and no humans were injured in the production of this photo.

There! Easy! It took 109 shots and a couple hours. I can do it again. Would you want to? Yes, yes, I realize we’re gonna need a bigger table. …’cause I saw this cute orange cat in the pet store…

And yes, I used Photoshop.

Weaver cats

Weaver cats. Colleen calls them her weaver cats. She has had a conversation with each and every one. They have an understanding that a cat must never wallow, nor eat, nor scratch, nor tangle yarn. Wallowing results in felting. Felting is not good unless you intentionally want felt. My/our/her cats all know this. They know it! They do!

Quintessential. Feather is sitting amongst the ‘wheels. Chillin’! Feather? Yes, I can tell from the white fur on her paws. Good kitty. Don’t grab the yarn.

Good depth to the image. Wheels in the foreground and background. The whole spinning wheel is not necessary to convey the idea. Feather is centered but is works. I managed to convey the idea of business bordering on clutter bordering on spinning obsession in one simple frame. Somehow it all works.

A moment ago…

Cats orbit one another. They never sit together. Rarely. Maybe when they were kittens… but never now.

Spice and Feather gathered upon my desk behind my computer and gazed at the street below. Grand! Camera! Get a shot! Any shot. Good?

I was editing. Really! Downloading. I download from three or four cameras at the same session. I switched on the flash because of the backlighting. You have to use flash or the cats will be severely under exposed. Got it? I checked the shots – “chimped.’ Ok?!

I continued downloading. Then I backtracked. I usually wait to the end of the day before downloading in order to keep track of what is ready to edit and not. I could not find these shots. I checked three memory cards. I had reviewed them a moment ago. Oh boy! Dementia! Bruce Willis was on my mind. Colleen reminded me of my concussion but a day ago. I wuz losin’ it! Oh boy! Damn and double damn?! So, where did these come from? Right straight from the memory card I shot a moment ago. Am I repeating myself?

Bottom line: found! You have to use flash. The backlighting was too much. Lucky for me the cats were patient and said go ahead, set up, and we will wait till you are ready…. I wish my memory were as good.

Gotcha

Colleen sees things. Face? Yes, she saw it in the wood grain on the knob of an old oak chair. I see it too… shared hallucination?… No, it’s there. Look again. She’s ok, as in still all there, sane.

Wide angle distortion. Harry the cat was Harriet until they brought him to the vet. And then his name changed to match gender… Cat tower, too close, you shoot and hope for the best. It was a striking image. Too bad both cats were not looking my way.

Cat

Eyes. I’ll say it again. Eyes. This is the soul of the photograph. My dog Nellie was uncanny in her ability to blink as the camera flash fired. Absolutely uncanny, shot after shot with eyes closed. My cats do not look at the camera. They ignore me. The camera moves. It positions itself in front of their face. Voila! You would think it’s easy. Ha ha. Do I make everything seem easy? Two shots to the green and one putt and you’re in.

I shoot a lot of cat shots. I walk around the house and find them where they are and put the lens in front of their face. We take multiple shots in the hope that one will be good. I edit. Done. We have eight cats again/now. Try and find them, and then photograph… ha! It’s a neat trick. Location finder, I need a location finder!

Candid

Candid? Portrait? Focus. Sure. But… I strive to have the cat looking at me. It ain’t easy. They like to look everywhere else but at the camera. No doubt they have seen my camera before and are simply familiar with it. I hold the camera in front of their face/eyes… to no avail, mostly. Willow especially almost never is caught with his eyes in my lens. Then again, once in a while…

Rocky start

Mo mo a play on no mo’ had a rocky start. I got clawed and bit – bad. Blood was lost… my bad, I scared him as I tried to catch him and put him in the bathroom for his safety. He’s totally gentle and loving when he’s calm. Tille our other black cat was on double secret probation for a period. I was seriously thinking Mo was not going to catch on in our household. Then he climbed into my lap…

Shooting a convincing portrait of a cat is all about the eyes. You gotta have sharp focus. And the cat has to be looking at you, directly into the camera lens. Try it. Cats don’t follow instructions very well. And a new scared cat….? But the effort is worth the while… it comes down to try and try till you succeed.

Mo had his bio listed in the various places and even the local community newspaper without anyone taking any bit of interest. Imagine!? A cat this cute got no response? His picture is worth a proverbial thousand words. As I said, he climbed into my lap and purred….

Inauspicious

January 23, adopted – Mozart. We toyed with a few names. Smoky the Bandit was the name on his crate in the pet store…. Mo for short, as in on mo’ please. Yes, I have a fractured sense of humor.

iPhone pic in the pet store by Terry the rescue cat lady. Nothing special here. Just another snap. First shot. …on the way to a new home. First pic, not much of a pic, but it is the new beginning….