MeeYOW!

I present to you the Anders0n Co0per of the Kittycat Kingdom:

Your blue eyes kitty, they pierce my soul. It hurts, kitty, it hurts. She's giving Bunny and Veebs a serious run for their photogenic money. Don't tell them I said that. Thanks.

Comments [7]
Filed Under: Pet Photography

Finding his inner kitten

VanBuren's New Year resolution was to play more. Get active, move around some, rediscover his inner kitten. I took him up on it and volunteered to help him train. We started light with a toy his grandmother gave him for Christmas - an uncontroversial plastic ball with a little bell inside.

Veebs stood at the bottom of the stairs while I rolled the ball down. The idea was for him to extend his arm and catch it. Work on his reflexes/hand-eye coordination.

The only part of his body that moved were his eyeballs.

We tried another tactic to see if it would be more enticing - me rolling the ball up to him. Again the idea was for him to catch it.

He did not catch it. He did not catch on.

Perhaps it was just too much stimuli, or he was shy, or he wanted to play on his own terms. So I left the ball in front of him and crept upstairs, leaving him to his own devices.

A few seconds later...

Score!

Comments [6]
Filed Under: Cats | Pet Photography

The bad shots

Hope everyone had or is having a restful, peaceful holiday. We spent the last several days binge eating and drinking, and then when we got home we spent 7 hours or so binge TV-watching. 8 episodes of Dexter Season 2, back to back to back to back. To back. I feel utterly gross.

I'm spending some time now trying to cross out items from my mile-long to-do list. There are so many details to take care of that I'm pretty much overwhelmed. I don't know where to start, I can't make up my mind, I want to push off final decisions for another day. I've learned that I'm really good at putting things off. So here I am, painfully oozing towards the finish line like some obese snail that's run out of slime, but I'll get there. It's gonna be ugly, but I'll get there.

So I'm going through all my photos for ones that will go into the portfolio (which will be ready as soon as I decide on a template...), and thought I'd share just some of the many, oh so many photos that don't make the cut. While there are plenty - due to bad lighting, bad composition, blurriness, whatever - these are a few that particularly pain me because I feel the potential for really good photo was there, and I either couldn't get my camera to work for me in time, or my eyes didn't see what was directly in front of me.

Exhibit 1: Energetic dog doing what she loves
I crouched to the ground, threw a stick, Sadie ran for it, and before I could bring the camera up to my face, she was already back. That dog is lightening covered in fur. I couldn't focus in time. You can see the stick is falling out of her mouth and she's ready for more. I probably should have just thrown the stick while holding the camera to my face with the other arm (camera+lens is HEAVY though). Or, I could have thrown the stick farther. Or, I could have gotten her owner to stand behind me and throw the stick. I should have. Whatever method, this blurry shot was the only one I took. I wish I had tried again, but for some reason, I didn't.
Lesson learned: Enlist owner's assistance; See the shot you take.

Exhibit 2: Energetic dog is funny
Bob was chewing his squishy toy, and snorting, looking at me with those eyes. He was clearly very happy with his toy, and I couldn't stop laughing, which is a surefire way to get blurry photos.
Lesson learned: Keep up and don't laugh. Not too hard anyway.

Exhibit 3: Cross-eyed cat cocks head
Looking at this photo I weep at what could've been. This is one of the very first shots I took of Tilly. I was still adjusting my camera and whatnot, and set the little shiny toy just there in preparation. Too soon, too soon! She immediately jumped onto the chair and performed a wonderful impersonation of her own bobblehead doll. All the cute exploded everywhere. And I wasn't ready for it.
Lesson learned: Only entice pet with favorite toy after you're prepared to shoot.

Exhibit 4: Black lab with sailboat
I look at this photo and I'm like, What. Did. I do. I've made a dead bush the main focus of the shot. Unlike the Sadie photo that I didn't retake, I did retake this, 5 times, 5 slightly different angles. And the ridiculous bush was there each time. I was so excited to have a black lab, the water, and a little sailboat in the same frame that my mind just selectively cropped out the bush. That's the only reason I can give. I also wish I had posed the dog some - have her sit on the sand and looking out towards that sailboat in the nearby distance, and shoot from the back.What a serene picture that would have made.
Lesson learned: You want to be a pet photographer, not a dead bush photographer.

Comments [7]
Filed Under: Pet Photography

One Bob to rule them all

Thank you everyone for your comments about the cat calendar. I was actually thinking about offering them for sale as I was rushing to get them ready over the weekend. I'll have to see how they turn out first. The calendars would probably cost around $25-$30 a pop - the only markup I'd put them is the shipping cost, so I'd be breaking even, at best. But a full of year of Bunny and Veebs, I dare anyone to resist! So, anyone, if you're interested in a calendar, let me know, and I'll get a full preview up (although I might want to swap out some photos).

Til then, more photos of other people's pets. Today I present to you...

Bobby Bobushka, a Boston terrier.

I mean, THE Boston terrier.

Bob!

Bob greeted me with little grunts and excited nips of the fingers. I had met Bob's parents for dinner the night before, and stopped by at Ravelry headquarters while out for meetings in the area. It was one of those super productive days where I accomplished more in 4 hours than I usually do in 4 weeks, and it will probably never happen again. Since everyone was hard at work over at Rav HQ, I spent maybe just 10 minutes shooting.

I apparently took only a minute to bore him.

Then oops, I got a little too close to his toy.

More. I need more. So much doggy goodness packed into that little body of his, he's practically bursting at the seams!

Comments [19]
Filed Under: Pet Photography

2009 Pinups

I'm having myself a grouchy little Christmas.

Honestly I have never felt this grumbly about the holidays in a really long time. First has to do with the fact that it has come much too quickly. YES I KNOW I say that every freaking year but this year I have felt it more than ever. My birthday is around this time, and it felt like only 2 days ago that I said to myself, while slathering sunscreen and drinking one seabreeze after another, Whew! I don't turn 90 for another half a year! And now here I am at the cusp at 90 and I don't know how it happened nor what was accomplished during the time leading up to now. Must drink less.

Second, it has not snowed. Not really. A little last week, for a few minutes, and it all melted on contact. Ironically I am not a huge fan of winter - well I take that back, I'm not a huge fan of LONG winters - but I would say an old-fashioned snowstorm would do me good. Especially as we neither have a long driveway to shovel nor a car to de-ice. So bring on the snow I say. I want it. I want it all.

I am SO grouchy that I was going to forego making the annual Cat Calendar this year. For the last 6 years or more, I have made a 12-month calendar of the boys which I give out as part of the Christmas gifts for my mother and father-in-laws, my sister-in-law, a few other cat-crazy friends. Because it really does take a special brand of crazy to want a calendar of other people's pets. Honestly though, Bunny and Veebs are so well-loved and revered in our little community, owing to their sunny dispositions and winning personalities, that it's not hard to understand, if you're insane for cats, why their pinups would be so popular.

I only skipped one other year because my nephew was born, and I assumed that he, a human being, would take precedence over feline relations. I assumed my sister-in-law would want to make a calendar for him. I assumed my mother-in-law would have wanted a 12-month calendar of her first grandchild. Oddly that was not the case.

My parents received a calendar for only one year, because my mom laughed at it and called me nuts. How dare she! So she's been off the list.

I wanted to skip this year only because I have had no time. You know how long it takes to try to pick out 12 photos from a 12 million, especially when your cats are so goddamned photogenic?! So I told Duck that No, I would not be making a cat calendar this year, and, well. He yelled at me. He said, AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A PET PHOTOGRAPHER?! Well, I would be pet photographer if I had a real portofolio site or ecommerce site or business cards ready, which hasn't yet happened (need more time, and/or personal assistant). So fine, instead of getting any headway in that department, this weekend was dedicated to making...

The "10 Year Anniversary" shout-out refers to 2009 being their 10 years of being with us. It was in 1999 that I brought them home from the animal shelter, all the way out from Sudbury, MA where the two of them shared a cage for 6+ months. Sudbury is a good 30 minute plus drive from Boston, and I and my nostrils remember as if it were yesterday when Bunny puked and pooped his guts out in the car ride home. I had always meant to give him a bath afterwards, but I think after 10 years of shedding, he's as good as new.

Other calendar names from years past have been:
Baxter & VanBuren 2005: A Year in Fur
A Tail of Two Kitties: The Baxter & VanBuren 2006 Calendar (not particularly original, I'll admit)
It Was a Very Good Year: The Best of Baxter & VanBuren 2008

In addition to the usual suspects of recipients, I think I'm giving a calendar to our financial advisor, who has never once failed, during meetings or phonecalls, to inquire after Bunny and Veebs. Cat lovers unite! Except he keeps calling Veebs "Buchannan."

Comments [13]
Filed Under: Cats

Granite Shawls

Pattern: Gail aka Nightsongs. No idea why it has two names
Ravelry pattern | Web site
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Silk in Granite Falls. Used maybe half the skein
Needles: US6

This is my first shawl, destined to be my mother-in-law's Christmas gift. I saw Saccade's beautiful version of it in the same yarn, and knew it had to be done.

It was quite the mental challenge. I could not for the life of me get a mental hold of the chart and how it would translate to a shawl. The first attempt at the chart repeat, I knew leaves were not lining up and stitches were in places where they should not be. So very puzzling. I started over, this time using stitch markers and bam! I had bitten into the forbidden apple and suddenly I knew things. Everything.

The biggest revelation was that shawls are knitted top down. WOW!

I placed stitch markers each time at the beginning of each new leaf, plus one in the center, and so as the shawl grew I was able to clearly see when I was knitting a new leaf vs a filler leaf. It helped this first-time shawl knitter immensely. Now I get it, but would probably stick with using stitch markers regardless.

I messed up on the chart reading for the edging though. There is an extra repeat between the two final leaves, right in the middle.

But I get it now. Shawls from here on out will be a breeze. I just have to convince my hands and shoulders that they want to knit another one. My mind says More! but my phalanges, they say F*&#$ you.

So I've already posted some details of the shawl on Ravelry, and to post the photos on Rav I had to also post them on Flickr, and now I'm posting them here..maybe this is why I don't blog so often because all this business of posting is getting really repetitive, you know?

I feel like I spend most of my time uploading and cross-uploading and by the time I'm finally ready to write something down, my energy has waned and you see posts like, Hello. Here's a photo. My cat is wearing a scarf. OK. Bye.

I have to think about my strategem on this blogging business some more, particularly when it comes to knit-blogging. It's a good thing I don't talk about knitting on F@cebook. It would be out of control.

Comments [20]
Filed Under: Completed Projects

The Triplets of Catville

There is just not enough time in the day!!! That's pretty much the summary of the last 2+ weeks.

I recently did a shoot of 3 cats who live in my neighborhood. I freaking love cats. So much. Could have photographed them all day long until the break of dawn. These guys were so sweet. Everytime I got low to shoot one, another would come along and butt heads with the lens. There were a lot of blurry shots.

I haven't gone through all the photos but here are some faves:

The lazy-eyed one. You're not sure if she's looking at you or near you...

The playful one.

The thoughtful one.

Do we like this last photo? It's a little grainy, flarey, imperfect. But I think that's why I like it. Maybe. Hmm.

Comments [15]
Filed Under: Pet Photography

Roasted Scarf

Pattern: Wedge scarf by NorahGaughn
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn in Roasted Persimmon over Green Papaya
Needles: US2
Mods:I changed all p2tog's to k2tog's

Started this scarf in Beijing and finished it while somewhere over the North Pole (direct flights from the Far East to the East Coast are awesome). It's for Duck and the color looks fab on him.

It also looks fabulous on Bunny, as all scarves - and ribbons - are wont to look. So, it is with much shock and sadness that I announce Bunny's early retirement from scarf modeling. He has decided to become a full-time Liaison to the Squirrels. We wish him all the best.

Little stinker.

Comments [7]
Filed Under: Cats | Completed Projects