Archive for the ‘Cats’ Category
Year of the Cat – 2011 December 31st, 2011
Plenty of my photo friends always post their best images of the year, and they’re usually very, very good. I enjoy seeing what they’ve been seeing the last 12 months. But a few years ago I (2010, 2009,) decided to unleash the fury of my felines unto the world. So here’s my annual year of the cat with Tom, Moe, Sebastian, and Maeby.
The last 12 slides are my 2012 cat calendar. I’ll ship a copy to anyone who wants one.
The song is the classic 60′s hit from Norma Tanega, “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog”
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It’s a girl! well, (Callie) Maeby… “there’s a girl in my soup” October 20th, 2011
This summer the wife and I were enjoying some falafel and hummus in the kitchen when we heard a cat howling outside. Before I got out the door my wife had a cute little hungry 4-month-old calico kitten in her arms. Her? We called our neighbor who’s a vet at Pet Vets in Oak Park and after the little kitten got a clean bill of health we decided to foster her and find a good home. We once attempted to foster 3 brother cats from Hurricane Katrina, and they never left, so I was skeptical.
The first weekend we had 6 adults, 2 children, and 4 cats in the house. Because we didn’t want to keep her long term we gave her a temporary name, (Callie) Maeby, like maybe she stays, maybe not. Also named after “Maeby” Fünke. Maeby stayed with a potential family for a weekend, in the end they weren’t ready. So I guess our boys got themselves a lady, and when I say lady I mean the kind of lady that eats out of a garbage pail.
Really this is my wife’s fault for having such a big heart and always wanting to do the right thing for people and animals no matter what inconveniences they come with. People always say their wife is their better half, she’s the better whole. Not that I’m a marriage expert.
So this is the less gross birth announcement.
So how is the little lady getting along with the big boys? She’s kinda a b$*@h.
She is going on her first trip to Detroit for halloween, so I dressed her up as a tiger fan.
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Snow Cat February 8th, 2011
Sebastian and I were hanging out in the snow. He loves it.
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Year of the Cat 2010 December 31st, 2010
If you are a photographer it’s your moral obligation to make a blog post with your favorite photos of the year. Last year I broke with that tradition and instead did my Year of the Cat 2009. Most of the popularity was because of my feline loving friends at the fabulous Luceo Images. My 2 fav’s from Matt Slaby & Kendrick Brinson. Here and here.
Moe, Tom & Sebastian wish you much napping, snuggling and treats in 2011.
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my Eleanor Callahan July 29th, 2010
My photographic life really blossomed in Chicago. I moved here from Detroit in ’97. In the first few months I learned about Harry Callahan, who had left Chicago by then. He was from Detroit too!
A street photographer, an experimenter.
In the late 90′s I wanted to be Andres Serrano, or Jim Goldberg. But Callahan’s work was so personal and he spent much of his life making photos of his wife, Eleanor. In fact this photo could compete for my all-time fav. Along with a push from George Waldman, John H. White, and Bob Thall I decided to do document the lives of others.
With no disrespect to my wife, my cats have become my Eleanor. Working from home we spend lots of time together. It helps they tend to sleep in nice light. When I bought a new LED laser pointer they allowed me to try it out on them. You can lure them onto things with treats, too. Maybe cat photography is my schitck?
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Money Light Part II July 26th, 2010
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don’t waste money light May 5th, 2010
Melissa Lyttle just posted this on Facebook: “if there’s money light, but nothing happens in it did it really exist??”
Even when you’re racing to transmit on deadline you can’t waste money light. Stop for a 1/60th of a second. Snap, recompose, snap. Move closer, snap. Move back. Snap. I was supposed to be sending mediocre (at best) volleyball photos. How quickly those images will be forgotten by me.
I’ve been thinking all day about Rob Mattson’s blog. He’s always been one of my favorite shooters, and now that he’s telling his own stories it’s even more beautiful. A thousand people can make a nice photo of some guy catching a touchdown pass, but no one else can record your own history. If someone likes you enough to be waiting by the door make a photo.
In college we’re all taught to shoot what you love. Then you get a job, a mortgage, responsibilities, office politics, stress. Photos are a way to hold time. Someday it’s all that will be left. So leave something beautiful and important to those that you love.
Moe and Tom sit in the window of Rob Hart's house in Berwyn, IL
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Year of the Cat December 15th, 2009
As the year wraps up everyone makes lists. I’ve been digging Señor Strazzante’s 2009 photo roundup, the Big Picture Blog, the Denver Post has great stuff, and I’m sure there will be many, many more.
I have friends that always complain about people sending him photos of their children, so my wife decided to make him a calendar of our cats. She asked me to come up with my favorite 12 photos. So here’s my 2009 year in cats.
Tags: 2009, best of, cat, Rob Hart
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I love Brownies May 12th, 2009
The other day I was editing my new wedding portfolio and that turned into me playing with some of my old camera’s. How do you force yourself to edit in nice light? I’ve got a few Kodak Brownies and decided to use it to make some photos of the cats. These were shot through a Brownie Hawkeye. After chasing the cats around some nice light I left my gear laying about and decided to find my Mamiya 645, because the Brownie viewfinder is way to small. Then I spent an hour in the basement finding my old film gear, rediscovering it, playing with it. Even going through a box of 8-tracks. When my wife came home and there were two cameras laying on the bed. In any other house this might be seen as creepy.
This “Through The Viewfinder,” or TTV technique, has been done many times by numerous photographers, there’s a flickr group, numerous,numerous blogs, but my most recent favorites were done by Chip Litherland. I planned on doing a series this summer like this, now I just need to spend some time in the basement to find the right gear.
Tags: Brownie Hawkeye, Cats, Moe, Rob Hart, Through the Viewfinder, Tom, ttv
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