April

[Don Lashier]

I've owned - or rather been owned, but over thirty cats over the years - most rescues. But certainly the most photogenic was April. My wife found her as a kitten bawling in the bushes across the street. Unfortunately April developed mental problems (vet diagnosed schizophrenia), already fairly advanced at the time of these photos.

Taken on kitchen peninsula where she liked to lay down on today's mail. I turned off the kitchen light to provide dark background and turned on the overhead spot. Not ideal but it worked. She seemed to like the attention. All handheld with my nikon 950.

and in one of her depressed states

- DL

 

[Mary Bull]

... But certainly the most photogenic was April.

She is indeed strikingly beautiful.

I notice how close you got in for the portraits. It helps her personality come through to me. And I wouldn't take anything for getting to see her dramatic coloring and fine long fur.

I don't have anything of equal quality to offer you. So I will have to try shooting my own two in RAW tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I think I should ask permission ahead of time from you, as the moderator of this forum, Don, to show a 1998 view of M&M sitting in front of my old CRT monitor, on a mousepad, beside my (then) mouse.

If you think it would be too "cutesy," I won't post it.

It's a jpeg, shot with my Kodak DC210, and afterward cropped a bit in Adobe PhotoDeluxe. That's all I did to it.

What do you think? Would it be of interest? Would it contribute to the stated purposes of this forum?

I very much want to hear your opinion on this.

Mary

 

[Don Lashier]

If you think it would be too "cutesy," I won't post it.

Mary, I think "cutesy" would be fine. What we don't want to encourage is the generic "dog on the lawn" photos that are so commonly posted elsewhere.

- DL

 

[Mary Bull]

Okay, I'll upload the file to Flickr now. It's small--shouldn't take long.

Mary

 

[Don Lashier]

Mary, here's my "cutesy" contribution (scroll down). (Another rescue, that just showed up at the door).

- DL

 

[Mary Bull]

When can I come help scratch?

Mary

 

[Mary Bull]

M&M With Mouse

Mary, I think "cutesy" would be fine. What we don't want to encourage is the generic "dog on the lawn" photos that are so commonly posted elsewhere.

Here she is. Approximately 8 weeks old.

We had a massive hailstorm on April 16, 1998. Destroyed roofs and cars all over town.

I finally got a contractor to repair my own roof and one broken window, and, on a Tuesday, in May, right after I got back from my sister's birthday party in Nashville--held on my birthday, because it was a Sunday--he wagged this little black mite of fur in, housed in a milk crate with a Beany Baby. So, the date I rescued her would have been May 19, 1998. (Sunday was May 17.)

The vet said she was about two weeks old. As I've posted before, she weighed 7 ounces on his scales.

This picture was taken June 20 or 21, 1998. So she would have been around 6 to 8 weeks old, since the vet's guess was approximate, based on her teeth and the fact that her eyes were already open.

M&M With Mouse

Hope you like it.

Mary

P.S. If you'd like to crop it or fix it up in any way for me, I'd be happy for you to do so.

 

[Don Lashier]

P.S. If you'd like to crop it or fix it up in any way for me, I'd be happy for you to do so.

Mary, imo it has potential but needs severe cropping. I'd encourage you to do this yourself. Just the monitor to desktop would be good - should be enough pixels to allow this for web size.

- DL

 

[Mary Bull]

Will do.

This is what I hoped to learn here. Thanks, Don.

Mary

 

[Mary Bull]

Cropped Kitten

It didn't take long to crop "M&M With Mouse."

But then Flickr was having technical problems uploading. My trial account with pdatabase wouldn't let me link without buying a paid account.

So, I googled. This looks like a pretty friendly photo-hosting place: Village Photos.

Took a little while to find the .jpg URL. But, finally, here I am--the elephant woman who brought forth a mouse. <laughing at myself>

The first crop I did, which kept the monitor, looked out of proportion to me.

So, I just did a cut-out of the kitten--like playing paper dolls.

Mary

 

[Don Lashier]

Mary, what I had in mind was more like this.

But just take some new shots! But get close, and try to find a neutral background, rug, bed, or couch. Your dresser top shot that Asher framed was great.

- DL

 

[Mary Bull]

Yes.

Now that keeps the proportions. When I cropped to just the edges of the monitor, I didn't like the way the monitor overwhelmed the kitten. That's the point at which I did the further crop.

P.S. It wasn't a dresser--was the top of the grand piano. The reason the full length mirror is there is that (in an amateur way) I also play French horn, and my teacher in the 1990s taught me to observe my technique in a mirror as I practiced.

Wow! Great thought. Cat with horn. A little later I'm going to see whether Thistle will cooperate in such a shot.

Mary