Catching rays, my muse | Seattle Cat Photography

March 16, 2012January 14, 20162 Comments

Today I was happily out and about to a couple of foster cat homes to take some photos; both kitties (Bee and Velvet) I had met before at the rescue but now are in great foster homes, and so have a less stressful, more comfortable slice of life. It’s great to see rescue cats blossom once they are in ‘foster care’ and in their new forever homes; the individual attention they receive away from the stress of the many cats and hustle and bustle of a busy rescue, allows the shy, submissive, previously sick or neglected cats, to come out of their proverbial shells. They find their voices, they discover that there are humans out there that provide love, shelter, compassion and a warm bed, and they don’t have to be scared anymore.

I haven’t had the chance to go through Bee and Velvet’s photos from today yet, and I will likely have to go back for some more from Velvet (very shy but strikingly beautiful), so I am posting some of my cat Jeffers catching some rays on our dining table. He could easily be used as a reflector, his white fur just gleams in the sun. I adopted Jeffers from animaltalkrescue.org (where I do the volunteer photography for); he never was shy though, and he is so at home here.These sunny shots taken during some of the brief Seattle sun we have had lately, warm me up for just a moment…

So today I hear that a friend found some of my images in use on some random sites in a search she did online, and of course, they are uncredited to me. I know that in this Internet age there are just so many photos flying around in cyberspace but as far as copyrighting goes, the moment you take that photo, it’s yours…it’s copyrighted. My hope is that anyone reading and following my blog will be a good ‘web neighbor’ and not take my photos without permission, and give credit where it is due. Photographers share their photos within this crazy medium, in order to share their art and to communicate a message or story (and by all means share if it’s going to get a cat adopted!), but stealing is stealing. Everyone appreciates getting credit for their work and a simple link back or a simple request to use a photo, would be a much-appreciated act. I was discussing with a friend the other day how my mum always tried to drum it into me that ‘imitation is the highest form of flattery’. Maybe so, but not when you don’t give credit to the person you are imitating, and with this stuff, it’s considered outright theft! I don’t claim my photos as being anywhere near perfect but they’re mine, that’s all. If anyone sees my images being used elsewhere without them being linked back to me or without due credit, please let me know. Thank you! Lots of kitty karma your way!

I’m off to finish watching some Kubrick genius (‘The Shining’) and hoping there are more glimpses of Spring to be seen this weekend. I am also hoping for a less migraine-filled couple of days.

xo ~ K

“Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.” ~ Ansel Adams

My tricky little Valentine | Reflections

February 14, 2012January 14, 20162 Comments

Long week, longer weekend, and lots of tricky subjects in between…

My first tricky subject, as in one that I photographed, was my little stinker who despite the pouts, still pulls it off as a cutie-pie. I think that these moments of unplanned imperfect photographic moments are what keep photography fun; most posed shots would have everyone believe that all children are angels that comply to every request, and as in the case of the many cats that I take photos of, they are magically entranced by the camera. I laugh when I think of myself (now) trying to get Valentine photos of my little boy at the gorgeous Kubota Gardens http://www.kubota.org/ with my Seattle Momtog meetup; there we were trying to get cute-as-pie photos, but what we really end up doing is having to bribe and threaten for anything that will work with our own children (as they’ve heard all the posing cues many times before, and our two boys hadn’t seen each other in ages so they just wanted to goof off). It was chilly and grey out but luckily no rain…the boys kept themselves warm by running off and we get warm chasing them.

And it’s probably needless to say that it’s also beyond tricky to get photos of my feline friends sometimes; cats may well be the most uncooperative animals of all; no sitting, rolling over, coming when name is called, none of that. They seem to do the opposite of what you want so you just have to go with the(ir) flow when you plan to get great cat photos. When I get photos of the rescue cats at Animal Talk, I literally am trying to keep the cat up on a 2 by 3 foot space on top of a filing cabinet in a tiny closet room space, and usually have 5-10 minutes to get the ‘winning shots’ with often nervous or shy kitties. This week though, I got to take some pet cat photos in a private home, and naturally it’s the cat’s domain, so I must naturally work around what they want! I will get to posting those – General Zod & Ursa – on my next post.

Valentine’s Day itself doesn’t have to be tricky; my man will be working a double shift at the restaurant as usual, which means (I joke) he will be wining and dining other ladies all evening and not me. It’s just another day though; I should be getting chocolate and flowers on many a random day, right?

My biggest tricky subjects this last weekend involved none other than our usual blended family drama; it makes everything else so much harder to bear, and other tasks and projects slower to complete, but they end up being the respite from the chaos. Focusing on something that brings us joy removes us from our complicated lives, even for a short while.

This week I have much planned in the way of photos; a location scout tomorrow, a foster cat shoot ( I will only ever talk about shooting with a camera, btw), much editing, and more rescue cat photos too!! And I guess I will still feel like I am owed a Valentine’s date at some point…

Much love to everyone for Valentine’s Day and EVERY day; show the people you love, how you feel very single day, not just when a stupid Hallmark holiday tells you too, and well before it’s too late.

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. ~ G.K. Chesterton

xo ~ K

Sharing Memories, Sunsets | Reflections

January 28, 2012January 14, 20167 Comments

I spent – well, my computer spent – half the evening doing registry cleanup and optimization on my computer, with the plan to get some time in to go through some photos from back in December. I still have yet to go through all the photos I took for my son Roman’s birthday party and for some reason, Photoshop Elements has decided this evening to not cooperate with me, so maybe tonight isn’t the night. The photos from his superhero-bonanza of a birthday will just have to wait; I just particularly want to share all the color and fun with family (in England); I hate that they miss our family celebrations here but I’m grateful that I can record it all with my camera and that the web makes it so easy to share memories.

I think many of us have forgotten what it was like back when we printed out photos and actually mailed them to family and friends. We share ourselves in such a different way these days…but I still love to actually feel real photographs in my hands. All that picture-taking with the infinite possibilities of digital photography make the process so different from analog; I float between digital and analog formats because the satisfaction that comes with each process is so different. My mum is requesting I catch up with sending ‘real’ photos to her from last year…isn’t that what makes the photo-taking so worthwhile? Isn’t it more satisfying to actually have a real copy of the photograph in your hands? There is something so special about getting a roll of film developed and not being completely sure what it is you will see once you get your prints back.

I am very behind on printing out photos for my own albums and I am vowing to myself that those memories get printed very soon. Kids especially love to look at themselves in photos; it was seeing my father’s constant photo-taking and the many albums he filled with photos from our childhood in Hong Kong that likely first inspired me to explore the medium myself. I also worry that should my memory fail one day, that if I don’t have real photos, those moments in time will fade too. Photos play a central role in our memory-keeping…the connection fascinates me.

I also didn’t get cat photos done today because of one thing or another; tomorrow I have every intention of getting photos at the Lunar New Year festivities and hopefully some of my feline friends. Hoping for less dashed plans this week; I have lots I want to get done!

Leaving you with a sunset photo from the other day; I enjoy getting the view of the Space Needle from a moving car on the freeway…as a passenger…