Giving of your time and talents

Often in life you stumble upon things that matter to you unexpectedly. These things often come about when you make a change, and recently I have found one of these wondrous things.  I started photographing shelter cats at my city animal shelter, and this volunteer experience has been truly amazing.  

In the past few months I have seen some miraculous transformations and some very happy endings.

Take Hannah for instance, this beautiful girl and her sister were in the shelter way too long. She was part a of a bonded pair whose future was up in the air as they were extremely shy, and were near impossible to place in a home, but it happened.  They were adopted by a very patient and caring woman who is letting Hannah and her sister Lilly adjust slowly to their new environment, it is a real success story.

Hannah

It is a story of hope and a true testament to the volunteers who work with hard to place animals all over the county.  I am honored that I got to witness the end of a very long road for these two girls and all the people who worked the hours to get them to the point that some one would see them and take them into their home.

Photographing cats is so much fun, who knew? With all the varied personalities and activity levels it has been a learning experience which is ongoing. 

What toys get their attention, how do I get them to ignore the camera and not be afraid of it, what is the best way to really get their true nature to shine through?

 

Zarah

I’m having so much fun learning the answers to these questions. The rambunctious girl pictured above is Zarah.  She is still a very young kitten and moves super-fast. I had to play with her for awhile before trying to catch this shot; expending some of her supercharged kitty energy so I could keep her attention.

Being a kitten, she was only in the adoption room for one day, now she’s in a home, good luck little one. 

Apparently, April and May are big kitten months. There are so many babies right now, it’s a good time to check out the local shelter if you are looking for a baby.

These little guys are often abandoned and unwelcome, but if people would just take the time to be responsible and have their cats spayed or neutered it would save suffering and money. Check with your local SPCA or city shelter, they have programs or know of local events where the surgeries can be preformed at reduced cost.  

Also, if you have a feral cat living near you, and you care enough to feed it, having it neutered and released is something to consider.  Trust me, finding a deceased mamma cat in your attic with five sick babies is not fun and could have been avoided by a friend of mine if someone had taken the time to neuter their cats.  As it was they ended up bottle feeding the babies and lost two.  They are looking for homes for the others. It just seems like a sad waste of life.  

If you don’t have the time to spend with a new kitten for litter box training and teaching them the ropes of not climbing your curtains, consider an adult cat who craves your attention and company and comes into your home knowing these things already.

 

This is Giana, she is curious, loving and likes to curl up in her favorite person’s lap.  She even drools a little if you give her cuddles and scratches on her head the way she likes it. She has some very unusual markings and I think she is very photogenic, don’t you?  If she speaks to you, ask for her at the League City Animal Shelter, in League City Texas.

It is Thyme for Spring

It is the end of March and here on the Texas Gulf coast, that means the best weather we get all year.  Because it is so awesome outside, I thought I would share some of my back-yard shots with you.  Some of the critters with whom we share the yard, and the plants that are all promise, and new growth are looking so wonderful I had to share.

We seem to have two types of reptile in the yard, green anoles and apparently brown anoles as well. They are related but look a bit different. The green anoles are native to the United States and can turn a brown color when needed, but the brown anoles are out of Cuba and are always brown. God bless the internet, what did we ever do before search engines? I seem to remember looking at the encyclopedia often…wonder what happened to that set? Anyway…

A green anole

A brown anole

 

Since I was unable to contact our family herpetologist, I had to compare photos with those on line so, the third photo may be a green anole who is brown to match the ladder that he/she chose to sunbathe on, I will have to wait and see what the lizard expert says about that one if he calls me back. Please feel free to let me know if you are also a lizard whisperer who can identify the patio residents correctly.

 Mystery anole

Watching the antics of these three today on the back patio was very calming for some reason. The renewal of the cycle and all that, it’s nice to see the circle continuing for yet another year. To me, silly human that I am, they seem friendly, but it appears that there is a fierce battle for territory taking place for control of the lizard realm of Cowan.  It will be interesting to see who wins the battle. I will keep watch and chronicle the realm history this summer as I apparently have way too much Thyme on my hands at the moment.

Speaking of Thyme, mine is exploding with tiny flowers, I hear that this is good for the bees and butterflies, but have only seen wasps so far, but the year is young, and we only get more heat from here on out. My Mexican Heather was hit very hard by the freeze, so I may have to re-plant them, they are gold to the local bees, so I don’t want to leave them hanging.  I have hopes that the hyssop will survive to flower later in the summer and will pick up where the thyme leaves off.  Again, will keep you posted. (Please pardon the puns, I couldn’t resist.)

I also added some Marigolds and Geraniums to the container garden on the patio.  Both are supposed to help turn away unwanted herb stealing insects.  We shall see.  Right now, these beauties are guarding the green beans and sweet peas.  Even if they don’t work, they are still gorgeous. 

So, for now, this will be my start for Spring, in the coming weeks I hope to be traveling around the parks in the local area to see what else is starting to bloom.  Happy Ostara or Easter whichever you celebrate, and thanks for checking this out.

Texture and Light

The last week or so has been somewhat of a conundrum for me, the bigger shoots I planed didn’t produce the results I was looking for, but I did find a couple of shots with my phone that gave me some food for thought.

Here are some beach treasures that I brought home from my last trip to Galveston. Sitting at my kitchen table, I found myself arranging the pieces until I found a nice balance.

Someone asked me the other day about how I decided on when to make a photo black & white, I answered that the photo usually lets me know.  Images with high contrast usually like it when you take away the color. The fun part of playing with black and white images for me is the discovery of available textures. The drift wood, coral and shell are just teeming with crevices and curves. I love the variances in light and contrasts between the smooth wood and the sharp edges of the shell.

 

The past few months have found me focusing on my use of light and paying attention to how my subject is shadowed.  I went to a local artist, Sue Bown, and received some drawing tips that I hope to keep practicing in order to improve my photos.  She is amazing and I look forward to spending some more time with her.

It has been interesting to practice the concept of thinking in terms of only what you can draw (the dark or shadow on white paper) not intentionally trying to draw everything as a finished product. This really messed with my brain, but I think the process and change in focus really improved how I see things.  By drawing the shades of dark the image will take care of itself.

The same concept works with photography.  Focusing on the shell, it is given its shape by looking at the dark lines, the shadow coming from underneath defines the curve and gives it depth.  You can tell where the light was for this photo…coming from the left and overhead (the window to the left and the ceiling fan light above) It makes for a really minimal shadow but you still have a guide to define the elements of the photo and it also distinctly separate the items from each other. 

This cell phone study, if you will, gives me a guide for how I want to set up my studio lights to really make all of elements pop in my images.

The next shot, again taken with my cell phone, is of some items I keep on my desk.  They remind me to look at the light. They help me to recognize the way the shadows define the perspective of the shapes and give the items depth and definition.

 

 

Again, black and white is the perfect medium for this type of shot.  I focused on the base piece with triangle shapes. By bumping up the brightness and the contrast, I was able to pull the grain out of the wood and give some rough texture and contrast to the triangle and squares while leaving the circles smooth and softened on focus.  I like how the effect came out.

I think this has really given me some food for thought and over the next few weeks I want to explore more black and white images with my studio lighting…I’ll let you know how it turns out.

A Pocket of History - Natchitoches, Louisiana

A couple of weeks ago my family traveled to northern Louisiana to visit with some new friends and as luck would have it, there were opportunities to learn some interesting art history tidbits and take some cool shots. (Imagine that, I found cool venues for taking pictures).

I also discovered my new favorite adult beverage, a peach tea slushy, (oh my, best thing ever after touring a plantation!) but I digress. 

My friend took me to Melrose Plantation just outside of Natchitoches, Louisiana.  This place is awesome. We took the tour and heard the history of the plantation, which spans from French Colonial land grants up through today, and it is now a well-maintained historic site. 

The plantation’s past is filled with stories from the rich history of Natchitoches Parrish. My favorite segment of the property’s past is from the early 1900’s when owner Cammie Henry converted the property to function as a retreat for artists’ where, as a patron, she was part of the “Southern Renaissance” portion of American art history.  Mrs. Henry hosted many people from varied disciplines mostly writers and painters.  She let them stay for free as long as they were working and showed her their progress every day at dinner.

This historic setting displays several works by Clementine Hunter; including Ms. Hunters preserved house.  I had heard of her work, but did not expect to find so much of it here at Melrose. I learned about her incredible story during our tour.  Starting as a cook for the Henrys and eventually becoming an acclaimed artist, Clementine Hunter’s life is an inspiration to us all.  Ms. Hunter’s Africa House Murals are on display here and they are beautiful. They have just been restored, enhancing the vibrant colors and wonderful textures of her work.  The stories behind the images and the artist are worth the trip here. 

It was a wonderful day trip and the area is just full to the brim with historically significant sites.  The town of Natchitoches is very well known as one of the best small towns in America, or at least that is what I hear. Right now they are gearing up for their Christmas festival in the historic district of town. One more plug; you have to stop at Kaffie-Frederic’s General Mercantile in Natchitoches, it is an experience.

The photos below were taken at the plantation. Because of the original artwork in most of the buildings, photography is limited inside the structures, so I stuck to shooting outside.