Jan 27, 2012
This week’s theme made me smile as I knew exactly the image I wanted to capture. While cats are known for their ability to jump, they tend to have the reputation for being independent and aloof. In other words, not cuddly. Well, Ripley is a bit of a contradiction in terms for a cat. At 17 years of age, he is not so much into jumping anymore, but he is an absolute suck when it comes to getting cuddles from my husband. I just knew that this was what I wanted to photograph. And so, I present Ripley, nestled into Dean’s shoulder for his daily morning cuddle.
We always can tell how relaxed Ripley is by his paws. I love how he crosses his little paws, one over the other, when he is relaxed and really enjoying his hug. When he does this, we know it will be a long one!
Now, please check out fellow Canadian photographer, Ann Kearns to see if her crew was jumping or cuddling…or both! And then follow the blog circle all the way back here. Have a great Friday and weekend!
Jan 20, 2012
Shooting “from the hip” is a technique pet photographers will use to capture unique angles. It takes a little practice because you are literally holding your camera at about hip level and firing the shutter without looking through the view finder. What you end up with can be great, hilarious or just plain garbage. It all depends on where your camera ends up focusing. And, because you are doing this “blind”, you do not really know what you have captured until you look at the screen on the back of your camera.
To begin with I tried photographing Lady Jane while she was sitting still. These were literally my first two images, which was pretty awesome. But, she was sitting still, so that made it easier.
The next task was to do this while she was in motion. This makes it incredibly more difficult to do. My favourite image is the one below. It gives a sense of motion, which makes sense because, well…she was moving.
In all, I was pretty pleased with the results. I found that the images are very different with a large dog (I have done that before) because you can tend to get “under” their chin. Seeing as Lady Jane stands about 12 inches tall, I would have had to literally drag my camera along the ground in order to get that perspective.
So, let’s see what everyone else in the blog circle came up with this week! To begin with, please check out the super talented Natalia & Bill from Photolab and see what fun shots they captured for the theme! And then continue all the way around until you end up back here. We’ll see you next week!
Dec 16, 2011
We are a little late this week, but here the current residents at the Toronto Animal Services (North Region). As always, you can find out a few details about them by visiting the Posh Pets Facebook page or the TAS.
First, we have the graceful felines…
And now, we have our many dogs looking for homes!
See you back here next week!
Dec 9, 2011
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In our house, the cats drink Perrier.
Water. Fresh. Cold. Chilled in the fridge. On demand…
Seriously.
Let me tell you about our history with water. We’ve been through a number of different water bowl scenarios. Like most cats, at one time, Ripley had a water bowl. Simple and clean. But, we discovered (or Ripley trained us) that he likes his water fresh and cold. Soon after, he had a fountain that constantly circulated his water and made lovely babbling noises that made me want to go to the washroom. That was good for a couple of years. But then it seemed that the fountain didn’t keep his water cold enough and he would meow at the fridge for new, colder water. Ripley has always been so cute that we gave in and started giving him water when he asked (even if his bowl was filled to the brim with room-temperature water).
At this point, Ripley currently has two water bowls strategically placed in the house. And we have our ritual. He will ask for water at the one, have a drink, and then promptly ask for the second water bowl to be filled. Of course, he has to SEE you fill his water bowl. No cheating and using time efficiently, by simply filling both bowls at the same time. That doesn’t cut it in our house.
The water is “special” as well – which is the only reason why my husband and I have allowed ourselves to be trained in such a fashion. Ripley has bad teeth. Like some people who dutifully go to the dentist every three months and still have a tartar build-up and gingivitis, our orange kitty is just one of those felines. Dental cleanings at the local vet are very expensive, as we found out within a year of Ripley coming into our home. He had two cleanings that year, within 9 months of each other. His teeth had deteriorated so badly and so quickly, that there was concern that he had something seriously wrong. It turned out that he just has bad teeth. Regular cleanings are not an option because of the expense and the need to put him under anaesthetic every time it was performed. So, our vet recommended that we add something to his water – a liquid enzyme that keeps their teeth and breath fresh and beautiful. The $20 bottle lasts us about 6 months and since using it over 10 years ago, Ripley has not had another dental cleaning.
But, that began our lifelong process of “making” kitty water. It has to be kept in glass bottles or the enzyme seems to do weird things to plastic bottles. Thus, the Perrier bottle. We make sure it is marked in the fridge – not that it would kill you if you drank it. In fact, you would have clean teeth! However, it does mean one thing:
In our house, the cats drink Perrier. Or, so they think.
Now, let’s see what all the other creative and talented members of the Project 52 blog circle have come up with. We’ll start with fellow Ontar-ian, Ann Kearns Photography. And remember to make your way around the whole circle until you wind up back here.
Nov 3, 2011
As many know, there are many wonderful pets just waiting for their forever homes across the city. This space will be devoted to those currently available at the Toronto Animal Services – North Region. Please contact TAS directly if you see a family pet in amongst these beautiful faces. (There are more images and information on the Posh Pets Facebook page.)
Here are the awesome doggies for this week!
And now for the fantastic felines! Remember the TAS has a special adoption drive for November.
Oct 14, 2011
The Project 52 theme for this week was chosen as a tribute to Steve Jobs who passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. The group was asked to post an image created with iPhone or iPad and then it was quickly expanded to include any smart phone or device that can take quick “point-and-shoot” photos. It gave everyone a chance to show that it is not the camera you have, but the person behind the camera that makes the image. So, here we go…
Here is Lady Jane hiding her eyes to block out the light as she sleeps. I love it when she does this!
And here is our groggy girl just waking up from a lovely sleep…
Both images were taken with an iPhone and processed using Instagram.
Next up in the blog circle is Photolab! Please check them out!
Sep 23, 2011
In our house, mornings definitely have their routine. I think they are a comfortable part of our life because you can go about getting things done without much thought – a great benefit if you are not one of those “morning people”. Living as long as they have with us, our kitties have learned our routine. Although honestly it is hard to say who trained whom – whether they adapted to our way of doing things, or the more likely idea that they trained us! In any case, we get up out of bed each morning (usually because we have been nudged/licked/pawed/meowed-in-the-face by the resident felines) and begin our day with feeding Ripley and Lady Jane. Then, and only then, do we get something to eat.
Amidst all of this activity, Lady Jane has discovered something very important. We humans drink milk! At this point in her life, Lady Jane knows if we are having cereal (which means milk!) or toast (which means no milk…sigh…). If we indulge in the former, she levels a stare at us urging us to please hurry up and finish. She does this only because she knows she will get the little dregs of milk at the bottom of the bowl. Sometimes, when it is particularly urgent in her mind, she will perform a little “prairie dog” pose in order to encourage us to hurry up. The other morning was such a morning, and you can see Lady Jane simply cannot restrain herself from reaching our a paw as the bowl is being lowered. Look at the concentration on that little face!
The other routine we have is “first to the bed”. After all the feeding and necessary morning business has been done, Lady Jane insists on finding herself a spot on the yet-unmade bed (we like to leave it to “air out” before making it each morning). She loves our bed and, once she has found a spot, will do her best to render herself un-moveable. Here is her look of, “You wouldn’t be so heartless as to move cute, loveable me…would you?”
Note: I often get asked about Lady Jane’s left eye. Simply put, half of her left pupil does not contract in bright light and it has been that way since we brought her home from the shelter over 14 years ago. However, Lady Jane is one of the happiest, contented kitties I know, so she doesn’t let this little thing stop her. It does mean that her depth perception is a little off and sometimes she misjudges things. But, that is what makes her our furry, clumsy, little goofball.
And there you have it – our kitty’s morning routine! Now, please check out Amy Riddett of Bark This Way and see what the morning routine looks like in her home.
Sep 16, 2011
The idea behind this week’s theme was to get nice and close to our subject. Really close. So, I took the opportunity to use my macro lens to see what I could see…it is amazing how cool individual things can look when you focus on them completely.
Here are my cat, Ripley’s, ear! The left one to be exact. Ever ready, ever alert! You can even see his little vein running around the perimeter.
Here is his tail. I’ve always love the “ripples” in his tail!
I love this one in black and white! Again, this is the tip of Ripley’s paintbrush tail – just as he leaves because he is tired of having his photo taken, yet again!
And, just to show how a macro lens can be used for more than just close-up photography, here is Ripley enjoying the morning sun. I love the way the light falls on his face and bathes his profile in a soft glow.
Now, check and see what everyone else in the blog circle came up with. Please start with Cynthia Wood of Georgian Bay Studios and then continue all the way around until you end up back here!
Sep 9, 2011
This week, we are at the halfway mark since Project 52 started! In celebration, we were asked to go back and re-do a theme. We were given the choice that it could be one that we missed or one that we just wanted a second try at. Well, Posh Pets did just that!
You may recall that back in May, we had been asked to conduct an impromptu photo shoot with an animal we had never photographed before. I had really enjoyed that the first time around, so I took another stab at it. Meet Lola (who coincidentally as the same name my subject first time around). This time though, Lola is a beautiful siamese-mix. Here she is, looking very elegant.
I love her speckled ears! And you know what? Ears was one of our previous themes. So, I guess we did two!
In her garden, up close, you can see her beautiful blue eyes.
Now follow the blog ring around to see all the different themes for this week. Start with Blue Amrich Studio and take it from there! See you next week!
Aug 19, 2011
Welcome back to Project 52!
When the theme for this week was chosen, I was excited and, at the same time, a little daunted. Why? Well, mainly because it is completely different from how I normally process images. We were encouraged to use “textures”. For the uninitiated non-photographers out there, please let me explain. Textures are essentially a picture file that you can overlay over the top of your initial image, thereby providing a “finish” to the final image that wasn’t there when you shot it. Clear? Hmmm…let me try again. Imagine what the image would look like if you photographed something through gauze or some other translucent material. Wedding photographers will often do this when they take an image of the bride behind her veil. Well, this is the same thing, except that it is done after the fact using software.
The benefit of this type of post-processing is that, as I discovered, you can take a fairly mundane image and evoke a certain whimsy. My inspiration for this week’s image is a story I remember from childhood, entitled The Velveteen Rabbit. It clearly described what it meant when a childhood toy was “Real” – a quote that still bring tears to my eyes when I read it. Every. Single. Time. As the old Skin Horse explains to the Velveteen Rabbit:
“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand… once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
With that, please enjoy this week’s image. Two old stuffed cats (who remind me of my own truly live cats), sitting on a table, somewhat “hugging” each other. Initially, a rather simple image, but I love it!
Now, please check out fellow pet photographer Ann Kearns and see what textures she incorporated into her images this week. Over to you Ann!
Aug 12, 2011
I remember the day I first tried wine – I thought it was pretty horrible. I did not understand how people could wax poetic about how great a particular wine was or that they would be willing to lay down hundreds of dollars for a sought-after bottle. However, as my palate developed, I discovered something. It isn’t that I did not like wine – I did not like cheap wine. Given the price of my first glass, in truth, it probably was pretty horrible.
My 50mm lens is like a fine wine. When I started in photography, I did what a lot of new photographers do – I purchased a zoom with the biggest range I could find. Afterall, all those numbers on the side of the barrel seemed to be the most bang for my buck. However, as my style developed, I came to appreciate the value of a “prime” (fixed) lens. That, and lovely large apertures. Which, as I quickly discovered, are never cheap. Eventually, that brought me to the day that I stood in a local camera store, handed over my credit card, and purchased my very own 50mm 1.2 Canon lens.
So, this week, please enjoy…A Girl + A Sleeping Kitty + A 50mm lens.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Please take a moment now to follow the blog ring around and see what other 50mm lens images are posted. You can start with Texan resident Judy Babinski of Dog Biscuit Photos by clicking here.
Jul 22, 2011
This week’s theme was completely about seeing the light and shooting into the sun. Goes against conventional wisdom in some respects, but the results can be beautiful! So, my goal was to find some amazing sunlight…
Well, Toronto had a heat wave this week and yesterday, there was records broken. As the mercury soared higher and higher, any thought of taking an animal outside to photograph was foolish. In fact, I went about my day singing the Noel Coward song…mad dogs and englishmen go out in the noonday sun! (If you want to hear the original, click here.)
In the midst of all that heat, Ripley asked to go outside. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. So…I opened the patio door. He put one paw outside and then, as animals are wont to do, looked at me like I was a mad woman for having turned on the heat outside. He spent the rest of the day in this position in front of the air-conditioning.
Outside, it looked like this. How I love some gorgeous flare!
As for me, I did what any self-respecting person living in Canada would do. I went out and got an Ice Cap from Tim Hortons. It seemed the right thing to do, as I needed something to backlight!
So, how are you beating the heat?
