Holi-dazed

Don't worry about us...Smokey and I are just taking a little Holiday break;)

2

New life

Oh my Instagram...are you guys using it? I am torturing the heck out of Smokey Joe. If I had a dollar for every time I pointed my phone in his furry little face...I wouldn't need to design blogs anymore!

I promise you, he's LOVING it (not really)...just look at him he's thinking:

"Yay...more photos of me!"

He is such a Diva!

*Yes I am holding him like he's a baby...what???

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Off one head and onto another

SO...I finally wrestled this...

Out of Miss Peach's hair. It was NOT an easy feat.

I'm not kidding...I about lost two fingernails over it. Those folks at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique really know how to wield a mean bobby pin!

Between you and me...I think Smokey's digging it...which is good...kinda suits him;P

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Nermal

Trouble...OH, we got trouble!
Right here in River City.
With a capitol "T" and that rhymes with "P"...
There's a new kitty in town folks, and he lives in the town home behind us. He's friendly and fluffy and he loves to be petted...any idea who's not so thrilled about this???

5

Cat tub

Yeah, I did it. Now, I'm sitting here wondering where my life took a turn...

I used to be hip. I used to be single girl, making bucco dough. I used to wear awesome clothes, and go out with the urban hipsters. (What...I did!)

Yeah, so what was on tap tonight?

I gave Mr. Smokey a tub. If I had a third arm, I would have taken actual pictures of him in the sink. Of course, I couldn't, because I was wearing cooking mitts and talking soothingly at him so he wouldn't take my arm off.

Look at his poor, sad, floppy wet tail:(

I don't just torture him for fun...really, I don't. He's been smelling lately...like, badly smelling. SO...I googled cat tubs, read up on it, and went about de-stinking Mr. Smokes.

As I was chasing Mr. Wet Cat around trying to take a picture of him to prove to you that "yes" you can give a cat a bath and live to tell, I looked up and Lady GaGa was on my TV.

Now, don't get me wrong...I LOVE me some GaGa...but what the heck?!? This just does not look comfortable:/ (Said the girl wearing her 2 year old Lulu Lemon running pants.)

I mean...can you see these shoes?

My ankles hurt just looking at them...and while we are on the subject of her lower half...

Where are her pants? I believe this is a reoccurring nightmare of mine...being on TV, and forgetting to wear pants...

Anyways...Smokey is fine...and he's pretty much been doing this since he got out of the sink.

Well...that, and giving me dirty "Don't you know this is how cats do tubs?" looks:/

Where'd it all go wrong???

5

Knock, knock, knock

Smokey had a little bit of nature time on the patio today...

As you can see...he's not so interested in nature time:/

He literally, walks out, turns around, and starts scratching at the door...

I swear I can hear him saying, "C'mon guys...let me in...this isn't funny!"

 

"Anyone...c'mon!"

1

Got Milk?

Smokey gets the raw end of the deal...

When he first moved in with me (like he had a choice) I gave him people food.

His favorite thing was Spaghetti.

Then I noticed Mr Smokes was getting to be a chubby fellow:/

So, I put him on a strict cat food only diet.

To which he responded...boo...hiss:(

Luckily for him...the kiddos leave a lot of treats laying around for him...

I've noticed a bit of a weight gain since they came into the picture...sneaky cat:P

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#25 Gene

Daily Chuck...

I'm not sure we can go so far as to say that Smokey is getting his Kiss on...but he's giving it the good old college try;P

I'm at a Word Camp all weekend. "Word Camp" kinda makes me sound like a geek:/ It's a WordPress developers conference...and I'm hoping to learn a lot *fingers crossed*

Don't panic...my blog is not turning into the Smokey/Chuck show...I just gotta keep up with my girl Heather (Heather my love...can you slow down on the Chucks?) I'm going to try to crank one more out this weekend.

Smokey is turning into such a diva...

7

#24 Pensive

Daily Chuck...

Safe to say "plotting revenge" is exactly what Smokey is doing...

6

#23 Our herd

Daily Chuck...

Hmmmm...does it seem neither one of them is happy with me:/

I'm still having trouble with inside shots. I spoke to a photographer at Gleek Retreat who told me that that was one of the troubles with my camera. The ISO isn't really great. Cameras now you can take the ISO up into the thousands...me, if I'm over 800, it ain't pretty.

Now I want a new camera...I'll add that to the list of things I can't afford to buy right now...*le sigh*

15

#22 Caption this...

Daily Chuck...

Honestly, I had no idea what Smokey would do when I slapped peanut butter on his nose...Who knew...cats like peanut butter:/

...and here's one more for ya;)
I'm telling you...He was groovin' on the peanut butter:P

*I know I owe you Roarsies!...I literally have no animal prints in the house...thinking I need to borrow a prop...Sissy, leopard print??? Anyone...I got nuthin':/

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#20 All about the laminates

Daily Chuck...

Couple things:

-I don't have as much depth of field between Smokey and the floor (he's way shorter than Chuck) so it was near impossible to get a blurred background:/ (not to mention the fact it's like 100 degrees in Chicago, so no way I could get Smokes to sit, Mr. Lazy's been laying around all day, he is getting good at balancing stuff on his head though)

-Nobody in my family is handing out The Book of Mormon. Husband does however, hand out Pocket Constitutions like they are Halloween candy. Seemed like a perfect substitute...no;)

-I can't tell...I feel like the photography is getting better. It's definitely a process...

On a completely unrelated note...I woke up this morning, first thought..."The alternate world on LOST didn't really exist." (It was the first thing I said to Husband...who said "Huh?") I get it...needed to process overnight. I get it...and I miss it:( Now, I gotta say goodbye to Law & Order, and 24. Seems cruel, don't you think?

8

#19 Fancy!

Daily Chuck...

I know some of you think...

a) I'm nuts for doing this...
b) Poor Smokey is being tortured with this...

Truth be told, I think Smokey is starting to enjoy the spotlight. He's currently sleeping on my Photoshop for Digital Photographers book while I'm blogging this.

The ritual is...I see The Daily Chuck, and initially I usually think..."OMG, how am I going to get Smokes to do this:/"

Then, I figure out what props I'm going to use.

Usually, the way the shoot goes down is...I set up my lights, my camera, and get everything ready. (Typically, Smokey is snoozing on the couch.)

At the very. last. minute... I pick up Smokey and scratch him under his chin until he starts purring. While he's good and spoiled and half asleep/half awake, I put the prop on, set him on the floor, and take about 50 shots before he even knows what happened. (Yeah, I'm sneaky like that.)

About the time I can see the "I think I'm p*ssed at you." look in his eye, we're done, and he gets a little bit of low-fat tuna in water:P

I really do feel like I'm slowly learning to take better pictures...I'm thinking as long as Dooce doesn't go throwing Chuck in the tub...we're good;)

16

#18 After a small rain shower

Daily Chuck...

Balancing sunlight on his head...is something Smokey excels at...Wearing a tutu...we'll see;)

3

#17 One hundred and one

OK, Chuck may not be fooling anyone...but Smokey has this Polar Bear thang down!

*I went back and forth on the last Daily Chuck...see, it wasn't Chuck...it was the other dog, Coco. Seems to me, Smokey and I signed on for one dog, not two...right?

34

#16 Seal

Daily Chuck...

Look at the face of this crabby cat:/ What a fat ole crabcake! Can I tell you that trying to get a cat to sit, is like trying to get jello to sit up and beg...doesn't. happen.

I'd put him in a sitting position...let go...and he'd melt into the table.
I'd put him in a sitting position...let go...and he'd melt into the table.
I'd put him in a sitting position...let go...and he'd melt into the table.

I got one shot of this fat ole monster sitting with the beach ball on his head, but...
I liked the top one better. It really sums up the mood of the shoot.

(Ya know Heather...you got it easy. Chuck looks like such a peppy, up for anything dog. I'm stuck with Old Man Grumpus the cat:/)

17

#15 Cupcakes!

Daily Chuck

OK, this was an indoor shot, and you know I live in The Bat Cave. SO, I took a lesson from you all and cranked up the ISO a bit (1000)

I used the macro setting on the lens, with the F-stop set at 4.5.

My focus was the bottom right corner of the boot.

Fwiw, Smokey is sitting right next to me as I type. I just now reached over and petted him until he purred. I think he's forgiven me for putting a boot on his head;)

*I know I missed #14 (I will make it up) I can't get either one of the kiddos to sit down next to Smokey for the shot. What's up with the kiddos? Smokey doesn't smell...much. Sit down and pet the dang cat for the Smokey/Chuck already:/

7

#13 Wildlife

Yeah, I know it's not the same pose as the Daily Chuck...but it seemed to fit the bill;)

Now then...photog. talk. To shoot inside, I raised the ISO to 500ish. My question...is it OK to use the flash on the camera? I don't know why, but I have it in my head that all you really good photographers are anti-flash:/ Am I right on that? 'Cause let's face it...time is gonna come where I'm inside, wanting to take a picture, without the spotlights...

12

#12 An outtake

Daily Chuck...

Can I get a BOO-YAH!?!!! I said BOO! YAH!

Oh Heather, you are a tricky one:/ Took one look at the Chuck, and I was all what the? How the? What am I gonna...?

I'm a get 'er done kinda gal...so no worries, let's gettin'er done...and I did! Well...Smokey and I did.

Too bad I wasn't able to get a picture of the look on Smokey's face when he saw me coming at him with pink sunglasses>:-/

All I will tell you is that we did it. It was not easy. They were on his nose. I. Did. NOT. Photoshop them in.

Go Team Smokey!

14

#11 Decisions, Decisions

Daily Chuck...

OK, blah, blah, blah...My girl Heather (what, we're pals now, right? *shaking my head no*) is staining a fence 'er something...meaning I had to go to the hardware store, and find the smallest. can. ever...

Did you know that cat's don't like to have sh*t put on their heads? Crazy, right?

I'm in Home Depot, not one, not two, but three guys came up begging to help me. "What do you need? I can help:)"

Try explaining to a Brawny looking dude in a tool belt that you are trying to learn photography by re creating the Daily Chuck from a blog called Dooce, and that she put a can of stain on her dog's head, so now you have to put some sort of can on your cat's head, only your cat is way smaller than Chuck, so you really don't care what's in the can, 'cause you're going to empty the can before you put it on Smokes head....*crickets chirping...glassy eyes from Home Depot guy as he slowly backs away*

Such is my life.

There's a lot going on in this pic, some good, some not so good...

-I really hate the hot spot on the floor. I HATE it:P My spots don't have settings, so I need to diffuse that light more...perhaps I need to raise them up...not sure...thoughts:/

-The F-stop was set at 3.5. I wanted a bit more blur on the floor cans, so I used the elliptical tool in Photoshop with a feather of 10 and I hit it with a bit of Gaussian blur. I used the same technique to sharpen the can on Smokey's head.

-Since I was hating on the hot spot so much, I added an edge burn to the pic. I could go into a long explanation of how to do that. Luckily, Pioneer Woman has two awesome "action" packs, and Set 1 has a "quick edge burn" action. This is the answer to my question from study #8 on achieving the spotlight effect. (Yay...answers!) Be sure to play with the opacity once you have run the action;)
I had to include this just so you appreciate my plight. The window for taking these shots is like...less than a second:P

Poor Smokey...it's going to be a long year:/

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