Friday, August 8, 2014

Photo Challenge - Animals

This month's personal photo challenge was Animals. And what a challenge that was for me. I have lots of pictures of animals - wild, tame and the whole spectrum in between - but for this challenge I wanted to take some nice portraits of my three beautiful outside cats. Unfortunately, they never cooperate. Never. I mean - NEVER! Not even for food or snuggles or a night in the house or a dead mouse or a live one. NEVER. So here is the best of my attempts with each cat. 
Who doesn't love a big orange boy? Cheshire is the symbol aloofness. He is also the hardest to catch when he is outside. When he sneaks in the house on a cold winter night, however, he gets too cozy to try to run and hide when I have to throw him out. The thing I like best about this picture is how he matches the straw.
 Fred is just Fred. He's a cuddler, so much so that when you pick him up, he snuggles up to your neck and if you have long hair, he starts licking it. He is also a tobacco fiend and will really snuggle up to anyone who smokes. He tries to suck in as much nicotine as he can. I don't smoke and I don't have long hair, so he only tolerates me. I chose this picture of him mostly because Cheshire is in the background being a normal cat.
Last but not least is Princess Betty. She has three unique features - the most beautiful green eyes, hair color around her mouth that looks like a chocolate milk mustache and her unicorn tuft of hair. I have never gotten a picture which captures the color of her eyes and no amount of editing helps. You can almost see her milk mustache here. But you really can't miss her tuft of hair. 

All my pictures were taken with my Nikon Coolpix with everything set on auto - I am the lazy picture-taker!

24 comments:

ClickNCamera said...

These are precious photos and obviously precious kitties too! Enjoy your weekend!

bj said...

I love your photos..especially like that last one. :)

Donna said...

Their eyes are gorgeous!! Such sweet kitties!!
Well Done!
hughugs

Jackie See said...

Great portraits of your felines! Cats are hard to capture but these speak for themselves. I think they are adorable!

Chris Loehmer Kincaid said...

Thanks for the comments. I love all cats for their personalities and for their eyes. When we were in Africa, I most loved seeing the big cats on safari - just to look into their eyes. Gorgeous, all of them. Hard to capture on film - or should I say on digital medium!

Vee said...

Wonderful commentary to accompany your kitties' photos. No doubt about it, each one has his or her own personality. It is not easy to capture it, though, so you did well!

deb @ frugal little bungalow said...

I used to have a cat that licked hair too! She'd come up behind us if we were sitting on the couch and start doing that!

Your pretty orange boy reminds me of another one that I used to have : )

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

They are all so beautiful! My husband...and his whole family, loves cats! I'll show him the photos! Hugs, Diane

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

Fred is a funny guy - long hair and nicotine? LOL
I'm glad you captured the unicorn hair tuft in the last photo, another one to bring a smile to my face.
And, the orange cat does camouflage itself with the straw.

Donna said...

Haha, it's like they KNOW you want to take photos of them, but they conspire against you! But you were able to get terrific shots of each one, giving us a taste of their personalities. I especially love the pose in the last one. She is a beauty!

Linda H said...

Lovely photos of your beautiful kitties. Fred is handsome and I love the "Unicorn tuft" on Princess Betty. I've never seen that before...

Maggie said...

Your cats are all great characters, so glad they tolerated you and your camera.

LindyLouMac said...

Calling by from the APPC today, your patience paid off, lovely captures.

TexWisGirl said...

such pretty babies!

Mary said...

Hi Chris - such gorgeous kitties all - each with a personality as only a cat can have!

Don't you love the Nikon Coolpix? I use one also, especially when I don't want to haul the big cameras around - I get really good pics with mine without a lot of effort.

Hope you have a fun weekend - with the kitties as company how could you not!

Mary -

Jeanne said...

Wonderful!!You did capture some purrsonality in these shots. Try using a polarizing filter with Princess Betty. You may be able to capture those colors.

Angela said...

Oh that tuft of hair! cute kitties!

Empty nester at last said...

How cute your cats are! I love orange kitties! He looks quite content with where he is laying....and cat pictures with no books or magazines...how funny! SO far most have been on at least one book! Thanks for posting.

Lorrie said...

Great photos of your well-loved cats.

Chris Loehmer Kincaid said...

Thanks for all the comments. I was at a writers conference last night and today, so am behind on keeping up on everyone.

The conference, by the way, was fantastic. Always great to get pointers on writing as well as networking with like-minded people. I even took some pictures, maybe I can use them on the photo challenge someday!

GranthamLynn said...

Oh great shots. I know sometimes they don't cooperate! My cat actually is easier than my dog.
Thanks for coming over and seeing my sweet dog!
Have a great Sunday,
Sherry

Jeito Mineiro de Ser said...

Lindos gatos você tem! Belas fotos você conseguiu! O tufo de pelos "unicórnio" é genial!
Um abraço!
Beautiful cats you have! Beautiful pictures you got! The tuft of hair "unicorn" is genius!
Hugs!
Egléa

Fit and Healthy Baby Boomers said...

Nice looking cats. We had one that looked a lot like Cheshire. For non cooperating subject, you did great.
Best, Sharon

Susan Marlene said...

You did such a great job on those uncooroperative cats Chris! nice post!! :P