Oh, baby...

Lensbaby that is—a system of "creative lenses" for DSLR cameras. You could probably do most (most likely all if you're really, really good) of the effects in an image editing program these days, but doing the work in-camera appealed to me. That, and I figured the learning curve on the lenses would be less than the learning curve on the software. (Not to mention less time consuming: Point and shoot, or sit and fiddle for hours…)

I hate learning curves. It's probably the reason I don't play an instrument—I hate to practice.

I have good beginner's luck, though. Fourth shot off with the new lens:

Then I get cocky and think "I can do this!" and I start to play around and it all goes downhill from there… [Ask me about the one and only time I tried downhill skiing.]

But from the first 68 attempts I managed a few keepers, some technically-okay-but-not-interesting, a few near misses, and a few dozen I'm not even going to bother to post. (Ouch. Reality Check.)

Missed the exposure and focus by a smudge, dang it. Photoshop (Elements) to the rescue! I know how to lighten, darken and sharpen…

Ta-da!

Yeah, fudged that one a bit, too.

And these… Two shots with nearly the same composition but with different exposures making the color saturation come out markedly dissimilar. Kinda like the effect myself; it conveys two totally different moods of what is, essentially, exactly the same photo…

Eh, I think one out of twenty or so shots is a good average for the first time out with a new gadget. And I'm so very grateful for the digital technology--I would never have started to shoot if I'd only had film to work with…

I am also very grateful to have such gorgeous, patient and captive models on which to practice. This one is my Cassandra. A real handful much of the time (gotta love that torbie cattitude!), but she sure knows how to vogue...

What, exactly, does the creative lens do? Compare a normal shot from one of my "regular" lenses, an 18-55mm zoom set at 36mm and f5 with the Lensbaby shot (Sweet 35) set somewhere around f4 or f5.6 (the lenses don't communicate with the camera body, so I have to be more diligent about start recording what settings I'm using)...

Of course the new toy had to be returned because I received duplicate lenses in the kit instead of the two different ones it was supposed to contain. Argh. Sigh. At least the snow that had followed a few hours behind the UPS truck (easily 7 inches, probably more) meant I had a day to play (because I was sick of clearing off the truck and the wind was too nasty to want to go out in yet more snow).

But B&H Photo had a new kit in my hands exactly a week later.

Naturally, we are currently trapped in that horrible in-between season where it is no longer Winter (I can't believe I'm saying that) but Spring is being a bit timid about appearing (can you blame her? Every blooming thing out there is waiting for Winter to reappear, say Gotcha and laugh evilly)... So what does one do when one needs to practice and is tired of annoying her cats? Why, sit outside on a sunny afternoon in that still-low, glowing light and just start shooting whatever is on hand. Like a rock. And a piece of that wow-it's-already-green moss. And a marble. And oh, I have those cool ceramic mushrooms in the house...

Still life!

This is a learning curve I might enjoy...

Kamikaze Kinglet

Some weeks ago, I could hear at least one of the cats walloping a front window that looks out through a holly tree into the front yard, screen removed for clearer viewing (there's often a platform feeder attached to the outside of that particular window). It's not a native holly, but it does provide some nice cover, the berries do get eaten as winter progresses, and this year weird splits in the trunk (which are not shaped like sapsucker holes but which the yellow-belly is now definitely keeping open) have been providing (presumably) sweet treats for a number of birds and even the squirrels.

Upon investigation, I discovered that the hullabaloo was due to a Ruby-crowned Kinglet repeatedly flying up to and hovering directly in front of the window. This behavior had naturally attracted the attention of the house cats. I never could decide if the bird was picking insects off the window, was trying to get into the house to pick at the spider webs on the inside of the window, or was merely attacking its reflection. (Someone suggested it might be going after the cats…)

This went on for a couple of days, and then winter finally arrived (sort of) and the cats and I lost interest. Apparently the kinglet had as well. Peace reigned.

Fast-forward to Saturday… I finally put out seed for the yard birds; I had been lazy so far this winter but turned that into an experiment to see how much activity the yard would have without the feeders filled--just how dependent were the "wild" birds on my handouts? Turns out there was zip, zilch, nothin' in the way of noticeable avian activity anywhere around the house in spite of (or perhaps because of) the yard being a tangle of unmaintained, whatever-wants-to-grow-has-free-rein, vegetation. Which was more than a bit depressing because winter window-watching is usually better than TV (which we don't have since they took away the analog signals and I was too lazy to get a coupon for a digital antenna and too cheap and stubborn to pay for cable) for entertainment. So I filled a few feeders (the old seed needed to be used up anyway). I then decided more window decals might be in order (properly located on the outside of the glass, rather than inside as the old ones were) and the feeder-viewing windows could be cleaned at the same time for greater enjoyment (and in hope and anticipation of a photo opportunity).

I had just finished snapping some shots of my funky decals--

(I don't scrapbook so I hardly used the Cricut machine my mother gave me until some brilliant soul realized you could cut designs in self-stick vinyl sheets with one! They make great truck decals, too…) --when *smack*… There was a cat hitting that front window again. (Stupid plastic grilles: I only leave them on the windows because I get a bit too much vertigo looking out a big clear window without 'em.)

Uh-oh.

He was back.

Dang kinglets never, never sit still so although I managed some rather nice pics (ought to have, shooting as I was at point-blank range almost too close for the macro lens), they aren't as perfect as I'd like. At least these are mostly in focus and actually have the bird in them… (Except for the one below; he was bouncing around like a pinball at this point.)

At one point the kinglet was about as mad as I've ever seen a wee beastie--his hackles were raised as far as he could get them (these shots really don't do his mohawk justice)...

And he was screaming a song as he attacked the window. I can only conclude that this was some kind of seasonally-misplaced territorial behavior, something along the lines of "This is my holly tree and you can't have it…" (When he wasn't attacking the window, he was bouncing around the bush looking for nibbles, including frequent stops at the sap wells.) He wasn't bugging and he was consistently hitting the window with his feet well above the cat's head. He didn't even really need the cat to be there, but RitzCarlton's presence did sort of seem to add extra impetus to the kinglet's assaults.

Luckily for all of us the bird eventually gave up, presumably as the light (and therefore his reflection) shifted with the waning day.

I actually grabbed the point-and-shoot camera first, which has a video feature that is easy to use:

[Argh! This video shows up on my edit page but not on the website. If you can't see it either, you will find it here: http://youtu.be/IkHBW4ZGkNE .]

December Days, Cool Cats.

When sunny and blue-skied but windy and very cold, short December days are very well spent snuggled up inside with a cat or two (or more in our house, usually, especially if a fuzzy blanket and the comfy chair are involved). On the other hand, when the light is so tempting, a bright December day is also well spent photo-ambushing said snuggled-up cats…

Abby has never minded having a camera in his face.

Well, not much.

"Oh damn and Bastet, hours later and she's still pointing that thing at me…"

Costello, brother to Abby and in the house two years now, has finally given up his deer-in-headlights expression when having his photo taken.

He was being very patient, even though I still can't get cat eyes in focus. (Hey, cat noses are cute, too! And far less intense when in focus than cat eyes. Out-of-focus small predator eyes may not be a bad thing, really…)

And perhaps Tells has come so far as to vogue a bit…

Corson is about the most laid-back cat I've ever had. Cameras are to be be ignored or at the least tolerated just like everything else the crazy human does. (I can sooo picture Cory dressed in doll clothes and draped in plastic dress-up jewelry in his past life [whatever that was] with the world's most patient "Whatever" look on his face; he's just that kind of cat.) 

Toes are nearly as cute as noses, especially when crossed with such feline suavity.

I never could understand why no one even wanted to foster Snickers (let alone adopt her) when she landed (through no fault of her own) in a shelter nearly twelve years ago, for she has quite a sunny and silly personality. And with her tuxedo markings just a bit awry, she's cartoon-cat cute! Never understood until now, that is; her funny face can actually come across as quite intimidating…

Aw, she's trying!

See?! Isn't she adorable? That's my Doodle Cat…

The domestic cat...

"Is by nature a solitary creature."

Unless a comfy chair, cozy blankets and a chilly house are involved.

(Sometimes they even let me sit in the chair. Only with adequate accompaniment, of course.)

Hello, My Name is Wren...

And I am a Crazy Cat Lady. (Stop sniggering, you people who have a rough idea of how many cats I own.) I am an environmental biologist who lives in a rural area in one of the most biologically diverse counties on the Eastern Seaboard--if possession is nine tenths the law, then any cat that is spotted in my yard more than a few times is mine and inside it comes if it passes some subconscious prompting in my gut that says "yup, that's a good one". Domestic cats are house cats: They belong inside for their own protection and for that of the native wildlife outside, and that's all I'm saying about that issue.

Corson: King of the Beasts.

I'm also a failed foster parent. (No surprise there.) I hit true CCL status in one fell swoop, with one fateful visit to a certain shelter some years ago. (To look at a dog, if you can believe it. Turns out I didn't need to go looking for a dog either; one of those showed up too, literally on my doorstep, a couple of years later.) My fault that I didn't put two and two together soon enough when I was told that the one female foster--the one-more-than-I-planned-on after adopting a cat and agreeing to foster two more, "can you take her too? no one else will"--had escaped the shelter the week before and "oh, she was acting like she was in heat". I got four in exactly nine weeks from the AWOL call, sure enough… (Owning cats from start to finish was an amazing experience, I must admit, and I took responsibility for all of the fosters and the extras.)

Only the second sniff of outside air since being brought inside...

Not that I wasn't already well on my way to Crazy Cat Lady status before that, mind you…

Favorite Pastime. (Yes, he is lying down.)

I also happen to keep a pet carrier in my truck, ready for whatever I find alive lying along the road that shouldn't be. A wandering day of errands a couple of months ago found me using that carrier for the first time. (The loon, my last rescue, wouldn't fit in it.)

Well, what else was I to do with a friendly stray oozing puss from his side when I found him at a garden shop where no one was doing more than giving him some food and water occasionally? (Even the shelter they had contacted wasn't trying very hard to collect him. It's an understatement to say that we have a Cat Problem in the county…)

Even the vet went "Eew" over that mess. Hah! The photo below is Corson seven weeks later. Fastest damn healer I've had--and as a multi-cat household, we are well-versed in abscesses... As he was fixed (and otherwise healthy and well-socialized, the only good things about his situation), I live in hope that he had a rabies vaccine at some point (to my knowledge, around here a rabies vaccine always comes with a sterilization). He was given a booster and so far is doing beautifully. We'll need a follow-up check for Feline Leukemia and FIV, but I have high hopes there, too.

Cory-Cat has now been officially welcomed into the house by means of having, much to his disgust, a camera shoved in his face for a photo session.

I am NOT amused.

Strike a pose. Vogue.

How can you resist that face?

Cat Fix

Just because... Besides, it's winter, and cold outside. But the light is pretty good for photography, and I have such photogenic children who all live inside... This is Cassandra, admittedly one of the more photogenic of my handsome horde.

Boneless Cat.

Cassandra, you are only missing the ball end of your bone on one leg, not both*.

(It's hard to tell, but her hind legs are straight out behind her, paw pads facing up.)

"Yeah, and your point is?"

Cats are weird.

*Mishap at the vet's a couple of years ago; all better now after complimentary surgery [I should think so!] and unnoticeable that she doesn't have a normal ball-and-socket hip joint in her left leg. Cats with completely normal skeletons do strange things like this all the time... This is new for her, though; she's usually curled up tight in that bed with room to spare.

WaaaaaaAAAAAhhhhh...

Truly, my indoor-only cats really don't want to go outside. Especially not the ones who used to live in the yard. Okay, so maybe the Twins are a bit too curious about what's outside that door, but this fussing is more a matter of my not being inside...

(Yeah, I might want to consider washing that poor storm door. I kinda like the algae but, granted, the bird poo is bit much.)