Photographing the Golden Years | Seattle Pet Photography

Here is the dapper old pug known as Max that I photographed recently. I am really hoping to have the chance for more opportunities to photograph older animals; ones that are in their ‘golden years’. The soul in those brown eyes, the many folds in his skin, the grey whiskers, it’s all fascinating to look at; such character!
To capture memories of humans’ beloved animal friends is such an honor for me. I have heard from a number of people who said they wish they had done a photo session with their dog or cat before they passed on. Please do let me know if you would like to talk about setting up a ‘Golden Years’ or Borrowed Time session with your animal friend, I’d love to hear from you.
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Copyright K.A.Moore Photography. All Rights Reserved.

 

Rescued Cats of 2013 | Seattle Rescue Pet Photography

Is it really the end of another year?? The collage below is but a sampling of the cats that were rescued and placed in homes this year at Animal Talk, and really just shows a few out of the hundreds of cats I photographed. It was a jam-packed year, and the last month or two have been extremely busy in terms of cat photos; between adoption events and going to foster homes, I have been doing double-time as the rescue tries to keep adoptions going while we are still an all-foster network. But our new location will hopefully be up and running soon! I am glad that all the incoming animals will have brand new digs in 2014.

To all the people who have shown the rescue their support, and shown ME their support, thank you. I couldn’t continue the work of rescue photography through the harder patches without the good people that are in the middle of this too. I am grateful for the network of amazing people at HeARTs Speak, who constantly remind me that we are all making a difference in many animals’ lives, and I appreciate all that share their creative and personal wisdom with me.

But mostly to all of those people who chose to ADOPT a rescued animal this year, instead of shopping for one. There are just so many amazing and needy animals out there that deserve a loving home. In one respect I wish there weren’t going to be hundreds more cats that will need their photograph taken by me next year, but there will be, and I actually feel honored to play a part in helping them. And I will still be here ready for them…

xo ~ K

I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.” – Jules Verne

Copyright K.A.Moore Photography. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or download.

Copyright K.A.Moore Photography. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or download.

PS. And I’ll share some people pics from 2013 tomorrow! And be sure to come find me on good old Facebook

Obligatory Halloween Photo! | Seattle Cat, Music Photography 

Holly here decided to give me a yawn instead of a scary Halloween cat pose; I didn’t get any ‘scary’ kitties on this day of rescue photographs at all, in fact. Lots of shy ones instead.

Holly. Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.

Holly. Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.

So the cat and Halloween… There are many associations of cats and bats and rats (my son loves that these rhyme) when it comes to Halloween, and black cats have particularly had a bad rap when it comes to legend and folklore. Our largely-nocturnal furry friends have/are said to be familiars of witches, and cats belonging to condemned witches during the time of the witch trials, were tortured and killed along with their pet guardians. There is zero correlation between witches and cat sacrifice, so put that idea out of your head; for starters, no true Pagan witch would ever harm a cat. Black cats though, have notoriously been vulnerable around Halloween, thanks to superstition and reports of ritual use; many shelters will not adopt out black cats around this holiday for fear of them being used for ritual sacrificial purposes. I’m a proponent of keeping cats inside (in the city, particularly) where they’re safe from cars, other animals and disease, but I’d say tonight is THE night to do so, rituals or no rituals. And keep them away from the chocolate and sweets!! (more for you that way)

I’d like to share my Flickr set of trick-or-treating for last year: Halloween 2012! My favorite holiday for taking photos. Last year, we were still all about superheroes; this year I have a werewolf on my hands… Sadly I haven’t had the chance to dress up for Halloween this year…quite sad about that (last year I was a zombie cheerleader when I took photos of live music at the EMP).

All Mixed Up, EMP, 2012. Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.

All Mixed Up, EMP, 2012.
Copyright K.A.Moore Photography

Well, everyone have a fabulous, safe and candy-filled Halloween.

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.”
~ Author Unknown

xo ~ K

 

Latest Kitty Rescue Photos – all waiting for new homes | Seattle Rescue Pet Photography

Let’s start the week out right, and get some kitties adopted! Here are some of the latest cats I’ve photographed that need homes. Quite a few ginger gentlemen this time. I’ll be catching up with other sessions after Bumbershoot, but until then, I hope you love these little faces and love your holiday today!

xo ~ K

All cats are up for adoption at Animal Talk Rescue! All Images Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.

All cats are up for adoption at Animal Talk Rescue!
All Images Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.

My Favorite Photography Gear

If there’s something that makes a photographer tick (and drool), it’s looking at photography gear and gadgets, most of the time while online. Who doesn’t go ‘window-shopping’ online for their favorite hobby, obsession or lifelong pursuit? If there’s anything that the web has done, it has made clicking and shopping so easy, it’s scary. But it has to be said, that this ease has made it so that you can potentially get your hands on something that you actually need the very next day, if you wish…and so revolutionize your photographing power that much sooner!
Me and my fellow Clickin Moms photograp(her)s somehow always manage to mention photography gear and tools at every photowalk or meetup, so I love hearing about others’ fun purchases too. I don’t have much extra money, and nor am I a spendthrift, so my shopping usually goes along with a lot of deliberating and comparing, and this usually means I’m a happy customer. There is now a huge market for women photographers out there, so I have featured a number of items here that reflect that.

Thanks to Pinterest (and sites like Amazon and Etsy), many of us probably spend entirely too much time gawking at things we can’t afford or don’t need, but here are a few choice photog purchases I have made, that I love, love, love. This one is for the lady photographers!
*Note: I have not been asked or paid to write about these products by the business owners, so they really are things I love enough to write about…

1) Custom camera strapSomething Strappy, $28

Camera Strap, Something Strappy

Camera Strap, Something Strappy

Now maybe I should join the Black Rapid gang and get one of their straps, but I like to be more unique than that, getting something that says me a lot better. The strap on my main camera, my Nikon D7000, is a custom strap by Something Strappy on Etsy. I spent hours ogling straps, deciding a camera strap cover wasn’t for me; although I like the idea of changing designs more easily, they never stay in one spot and bunch up, making my strap not looking as awesome as it could. My custom strap does have different prints on the two sides, as well as my photography business name embroidered on it (marketing tool!), so I at least fulfilled two design choices with it. Kimberly K was easy to chat online with to get the strap as I would like it, and I can tell great care was taken in making it just as I wanted.
It can be attached to the camera just as any strap would, but I use a Strap Buddy on the base of my camera, so that it can hang more easily on my side (take that, Black Rapid) and so far, it has been the perfect combo. The Strap Buddy was bought on Photojojo‘s site; quite possibly having the coolest collection of fabulous photography gadgets anywhere on the web. But naturally, many many things on there that I don’t actually need, alas.

*Baby Crown prop: JBPLove, also on Etsy

2) Lens cap keeper strapEverlee Designs, $5 (CAD)

Owl Lens Cap Keeper, Everlee Designs

Owl Lens Cap Keeper, Everlee Designs

This little handy dandy gadget is also the cutest little gadget, thanks to Megan Lee, based up in Ottawa, Canada. Also bought on Etsy. And I kind of fib here by putting this in the singular, because I have kept on going back to Everlee Designs to buy these for all my lenses and have just bought myself a backup. Having your lens cap staying attached to your camera instead of setting it down somewhere or putting it in your pocket (for it to fall out) is more than handy. That’s one less thing to worry about when you’re shooting a session. I suppose this is unabashedly one for the girls, because I have a couple of owls, a ladybug/bird, a flower and I have a pink mushroom coming. Beyond cute, and also serves to help capture the attention of many a photographed cat with the dangling of my camera cap.
Megan also includes with my purchase, the cutest notes to me and some blank tags that I use on client packaging.

*On the above photo of my camera with the strap and crown, you can see another of the owl lens cap keepers!

3) Rose Bronze camera bagJo Totes, $89, and Urban Photo sling bag – Lowepro, $76

Rose Bronze camera bag, Jo Totes

Rose Bronze camera bag, Jo Totes

Now these are two things, yes, but one can’t go anywhere without a bag to carry everything in, and these two serve different purposes. I’m actually cheating here, because these were both bought as gifts for me (although I picked them out).

My Rose is the larger bag as well as the prettier one, and holds a good load of gear safely: camera body with lens attached, 2 lenses, external flash and some other gubbins like an extra battery, filters, cell phone, etc. Sometimes it feels a bit too bulky and pretty to take along to a shoot, so I often use my Urban Sling instead (photos below). It’s boring black, but sometimes inconspicuous is good. It’s also very easy to pull round to my front to change out lenses and so forth, is very comfy and light, and I stuff a fair amount in: camera plus lens or two (depending on lens size) and my flash-gun.

I have many other bits and bobs that I use and love, aside from my actual kit, but these are things that I get asked about when people see them, so I thought I’d share. I definitely support the little businesses I find on Etsy for buying unique custom items and there’s a plethora of cool photography products out there that aren’t just black and grey and advertising your camera brand. If you buy through Etsy, tell them I sent you, and get customizing!

Photos on the blog soon of my recent wedding photography session. Excited to get them done! Catch up with me on Facebook too: K.A.Moore Photography on Facebook

xo ~ K

PS. Follow me on Pinterest here: kamoorephoto