Snoozing Cat is Easy Prey for a Predator.....

The ever-vigilant XingXing really zonks out on the red cushions by the dining room table. Letting his guard down to this extent would make him easy prey for any predator that made it into our well-fortified dining area!

Well, That's an Awkward Pose FuFu!

This weekend at one point I saw FuFu in this peculiar pose. I went to the other room to grab my camera, thinking that there was only a slight chance he would remain in the pose (both because it looked uncomfortable and because he likes to follow people into rooms), but sure enough when I returned Mr. FF was still straddling the windowsill and countertop.



For this last one I liked the perspective a bit better than the others (from below) but FuFu was rather severely underexposed and it didn't quite look right making the standard adjustments, so I decided to throw the kitchen sink at the photo: posterized, over-the-top sharpening and "fake" (since its only from one expsoure) HDR toning in Photoshop. Kind of looks like an old color Polaroid gone horribly wrong (or right, depending on your persuasion).

Before you play with your mouse, you must stretch.........

Here are some pics from an impromptu mouse-play session last week. I love the cat stretching pic. This is fundamentally one of the most difficult aspects of feline photography. You can entice a cat to jump, look inn a certain direction, etc., but there is no way to make a cat stretch unless it decides to on its own. I would like to get some pics of XX or FF stretching from the front, but you have to be in front of them, with camera at the ready, when they decide to stretch - and of course the lighting is hopefully good and you have your flash set up ready to go. All the stars need to be aligned.

XingXing loves the multi-colored mice, I got a 60-pack (no kidding) of them for Christmas. At least half of them are unaccounted for, which means underneath the couch. On an unrelated note, we attempted to brush the cats' teeth tonight. It didn't go terribly well. No pics. I hope they don't hate me now.

XingXing Rages Against the Injustice of the Cat Carrier

XingXing is quite the uneasy traveler. The thing is, he always likes it when he gets to where he's going, but he hates the process. Both cats hide when they sense that a departure is imminent, even before the cat carrier comes out. They see the bags getting placed by the door, sense a heightened level of hustle or bustle. Or who knows, maybe they understand English and know what we are saying. Last weekend it literally took 20 minutes for 3 people to find FuFu, who was curled up on a chair underneath the kitchen table. But once in the carrier, FuFu is as placid as a cow, usually sleeping and quite peaceful, no matter how agitated XingXing gets. We're still working on the process, and there is quite a suite of products out there to help out: calming treats (which FuFu unhelpfully eats and XingXing doesn't) and various calming sprays. All this begs the question, why not leave the cats at home when we go out for a weekend jaunt to the country? Well, the simple answer is because the weekend is when I get to hang out with them! Probably more than half of the pics on this blog were taken on Saturdays and Sundays. But before you think I am being selfish to the detriment of the cats' quality of life, I to have to re-emphasize that they like it when they get there. Take these two pics: they were having a blast standing in front of the screen door watching the bugs and birds. It was a minor miracle that I got them both to look up at the same time for a pic.

Domestic Bliss

Domestic Bliss, a photo by Jon From Cincinnati on Flickr.

If you are in bed reading a book (or Outdoor Photographer magazine) and you look up to see this scene how can it not lower your blood pressure? You can tell this is XingXing and not FuFu because the white "stripe" below the neck is thin......Fufu's is much fatter.