Smile for the camera...

 

When photographing cats you must realize this: Cats don't pose, stay in one spot or follow any directions. The only thing I can do is place some props on a table and hope that the cat's natural curiosity will (if I just keep clicking away) get them into the same frame, facing in the general direction of the camera lens.

I've given up trying to get both cats in the same photo. If they do happen to both jump up onto the table at the same time, a hissing/slapping fit ensues and one (or both) will jump down. And then there's the lighting issue. Enough light (I use two Alien Bees) to properly light Beau's fur will blow out Sofia's white coat, leaving no furry detail whatsoever.

I think the last time I caught them in a photo together was in 2008 and it wasn't a studio shot. I had left a basket on my bed and came back to find this:

"Say 'Tuna Fish!'"

the cat worrier

So Now... I have become the cat worrier. There was a heavy downpour last night and I could hear the Mama cat meowing on the deck. I opened the back door, she wouldn't come inside. I opened the garage door and put out some fresh food to lure her inside - no go. So I finally put a tarp over a couple of chairs and gave her a place to at least get out of the rain. I should add that there is a very large dog house that I bought for the outside cats last winter and it is ten feet away from the deck; a nice, cozy, dry refuge that they refuse to use now.

And I worry about her three little kittens. They are so afraid of humans that if I open the door while they are playing on the deck, they immediately jump off and hide underneath the deck. There is a reason I'm not a farmer...

every creature has a job to do...

As I sit at my desk and watch the squirrels cavorting across the lawn and up-and-down the trees, I wonder why the "outdoor" cats (see above) are not doing their job... which is to keep my kingdom (queendom?) varmint-free.

A little background on the outside cat family: over a year ago, a stray cat gave birth to a litter of four underneath my deck. Of course I fed her - she looked quite bedraggled, mostly from nursing her babies. So... I started feeding her and then when the kittens were weaned, I fed them too. The mom eventually left - I have no idea where she went but I hope nothing bad happened to her. And so, today I still feed her family - twice a day. I refuse to let them inside my house - I WILL NOT be the woman who lives with six cats!, so I bought a large doghouse and added a heated bed for them to stay out of the rain and cold temperatures. I wish I could get them to a veterinarian to be spayed/neutered, but they are quite feral, despite allowing me to feed and house them. I haven't been able to pick them up and when my son tried to pick one up it really freaked out. If only there was some animal birth control that I could add to their food...

But back to their lack of good work ethics... their hunting genes are apparently being suppressed by the current buffet on the deck. Perhaps a salad bar instead...