Funny Cat Picture: Devious Manna

Manna is our little troublemaker. There has got to be one in every crowd I think. One of Manna’s favorite tricks is to sneak up to Cinco when he is least expecting it and bite him on the scruff of his neck. I have a feeling that she was about to do just that when I snuck up on her with the camera (Cinco is the one that is sleeping). What do you think, is that a devious face?

Manna planing something devious

Thoughts on Cat Photography

Part of making a really cool cat blog is taking (and sharing) great pictures of cats. I am by no means a professional photographer; I have hand tremors and  I use an out-of-date little point-and-shoot camera that is in desperate need of replacing. However,  I have found some things that really work for me and some things that don’t.  Perhaps some of the pawsome photographers out there can add to this conversation (by all means do), but here are some of my discoveries:

Lighting makes all the difference in the world.

Cat Photography Manna Sitting Pretty

Digitally brightened photo of Manna with fixed “red-eye”.

I find that if I can take a photo of the cats with natural light, that  photo will turn out better than one taken with the the lamps in my apartment doing the lighting.  If natural light isn’t available, the lights have to be as bright as possible (without being blinding).  Photo editing programs can help to brighten a photo, but there is definitely a difference between a well-lit photo and a photo brightened by editing.  Good lighting also helps because  then you don’t need to use the flash.  Whenever I have to use the flash I spend tons of time editing “red eye” and/or sorting through photos to find one with the cats’ eyes open.

Cat Photography Manna Lying on Balcony

Naturally lit photo of Manna, no lighting or eye corrections.

Try to see the cat’s point of view.

Cat Photography Cinco with fuzzy ball

Cinco not realizing that I had placed a milk ring and a fuzzy ball on his head.

When I’m taking photos, I’m usually on my knees or crawling around on the ground to get as close to their eye-level as possible. Not too many interesting photos happen when I’m hovering over their heads. Photos that are taken straight on at the cats are a lot easier to use with an article if you ask me.

Get in the action.

Cat Photography  Manna and the candy cane

Manna playing with a catnip candy cane.

Action shots are adorable! They make the cats look alive and playful – it gives them personality. Many times when I do a photo shoot with my cats, I am playing with them with one hand and taking photos with the other hand. Lucky for me, my little camera has a setting for taking action photos so they don’t look too blurry. I use this setting all the time because of my hand tremors (if I don’t it will look like a took my photos during an earthquake).

Take lots of photos.

Cat Photography Manna Selfie Fail

A Manna selfie fail. Try, try, again.

It is rare that I get the photos I want in the first few shots. I just keep taking photos until either the cats have had enough or I’m just sick of taking photos. For my Wordless Wednesday shoots it is not unusual for me to take 100 photos. Then I just choose around 5 of them that turned out well to use. The more photos you take, the more likely you will get a few really good ones.

Add your own interpretation.

Cat Photography Manna Vs Jack Nicholson

I knew I’d seen that expression somewhere before…

Cats don’t pose. No matter what great idea you have for your photo shoot, expect it to go awry. I just add a few elements to my “scene” and I see what the cats decide to do with them. I don’t force anything. The cats will do whatever the cats want to do. If some scene elements are not getting a good response, I replace them and try again. Adding catnip is helpful, but then they may just get busy licking the cat nip and refuse to look at the camera.

After the photo shoot, I add my own interpretation to the photos. This is a creative process. I look at what I’ve got and I say something like  “hey, Cinco and Manna look like crime-fighting super heros” or ” This is like  one of those slow, dark film noir scenes” or “hey! Manna looks just like Jack Nicholson in this photo.” Some interpretations are more creative and some are more reality based.

Cat photography Cinco film noir

Cinco starring in Niptoon Noir.

Cat Photography Super Cinco Taunting the Red Dot (tagged)

Super Cinco attacks the Red Dot with his Super Raspberry.

A question for you: What qualities do you think make a great pet photo?

Funny Cat Pictures: Cinco Sings for Joy

This week we got a package in the mail. The package happened to come in a decent sized box. When Cinco discovered the box, he just couldn’t help himself. He burst out singing his “New Box Song” at the top of his  lung. It is good to see a happy cat. 🙂 What has made your cat happy this week?Cinco Sings

Wordless Wednesday: Niptoon Noir

Playful Kitty Presents :

“Niptoon Noir”

Starring: Cinco and Manna

Noir 1Noir 2Noir 3Noir 4Noir 5Noir 6

Last Call for Nose-to-Nose Award Nominations!

Make sure you stop by Blogpaws and nominate all of your favorite blogs today! Click this link to go to the nominations. There are lots of great categories and who wouldn’t want to win an award for their blog?! I will be finishing up a few last nominations today too 🙂

Playful Kitty Nose to Nose Nomination Info

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

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Kitty Cat Limericks

Once again I’m taking a little time to show off my creative side.  Cinco and Manna inspire me in a lot of different ways.  In my post Unforgettable Kitty Moments #recipeformoments (published this past Saturday), I describe just a few of the moments that have really impacted me.  Today’s post is much lighter – some goofy little limericks about cats.

Cat Owner Privacy

A cat owner really should know

Cats follow wherever you go

If you try to go pee

They all want to see

You might as well make it a show.

Kitty Cat Limericks Cinco and Manna Faces

Manna and Cinco “the stare”

Cat Traps

There once was a cat very tall

Who spotted a box very small

He knew he could fit

And determined to sit

He squeezed himself into a ball.

Kitty Cat Limericks Cuddles in a Box

Cousin Cuddles in a little box
Cuddles went OTRB this past summer

For the Love of Mice

In the night oft’ I  do rouse

To find my cat running the house

She sings every morning

And without a warning

She brings me her favorite toy mouse

Kitty Cat Limericks Manna licking a mouse

Manna enjoying a toy mouse

The Shelf Game

On a shelf sat knick-knacks galore

And not the kind easily to bore

The cat made a game

And down each one came

Saying “I’ve decorated the floor!”

Kitty Cat Limericks Cinco on a shelf

Cinco knocking things off of his daddy’s dresser.

Do you have kitty cat limericks to share? I would LOVE to see them. 🙂

Wordless Wednesday: Attack Cats

Our apartment is protected by attack cats!
Wordless Wednesday Attack Cats Manna

Anyone trespassing will be subject to Kitty Kung Fu.

Cinco and Manna have agreed to demonstrate their fierceness. A red ribbon (sometimes having a plastic straw on it) will be playing the part of the Trespasser. Mouse over the images for a description of the action.

So there!

* Yes, the white chair belongs to the cats.

*Never leave a long stringy toy with cats unsupervised.

BlogPaws Nose-to-Nose Nominations

Wordless Wednesday Attack Cats Blogpaws Nominations

Click here to go the nominations.

It is time to nominate your favorite pet blogs for BlogPaws’ Nose-to-Nose awards! Nominations are open until Wednesday, February 12, 2014 (that is next Wednesday). No voting will be necessary and you can nominate as many blogs for each category as you would like.

If you would like to nominate Playful Kitty,  we would be thrilled 🙂 This is a really incredible opportunity for a new blog like this one.  Here is the information you would need to nominate us:

Playful Kitty’s homepage link : https://playfulkitty.wordpress.com

Contact name for Playful Kitty: Robin Mudge

Email for Playful Kitty: robinsplayfulkitties@hotmail.com

Playful Kitty’s Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/robinsplayfulkitties

Playful Kitty’s Twitter Page: http://www.twitter.com/theplayfulkitty

Categories Playful Kitty is qualified for:

  • Best Cat Blog
  • Best New Pet Blog – Playful Kitty Started in September 2013
  • Best Humor Blog
  • Best Blog Post
  • Best Design
  • Best Pet Blog Photo
  • Best Pet Blog Video – Manna’s songs over Christmas time were done via Youtube videos
  • Best Pet MicroBlogger

This is a Blog Hop!

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10 Ways You Know You Are A Cat Owner (& A Blogger Awards Fail)

January has been a really crazy month for Playful Kitty! There have been so many great things to blog about and so many great people (and animals) to talk to in the blogosphere. Plans have been made to move Playful Kitty to a self-hosted website with a facelift, our own domain name and some great new(ish) ideas. I hope you will all continue to follow us when we move. It will still be a little while yet as we are waiting for some of the funding to come in.

Blogger Awards (Fail)

Amidst all of the other cool stuff going on around here, many of you have given Playful Kitty blogger awards. Those are so awesome! I’m glad that you all take the time to think of us! However, the document that I keep track of all of the awards on has somehow disappeared from my computer. I blame the Computer Gremlins. Those things will get you every time.  Off of the top of my head (forgive me if I haven’t remembered yours) these are the blogs that I believe have given Playful Kitty awards since the last time I posted an award:

10 Ways You Know You Are A Cat Owner Missing Awards

Images of the awards would normally go here.

Thank you so much to all of these blogs for the awards! They are all great blogs, so be sure to check them out! I’m sure there were a few more – if I forgot you, please let me know and I will add a link to you in a future post.  I have a new document all ready to go.

Since I don’t know which awards they were, I can’t really nominate anyone for them. I have all of my previous awards listed in a gallery on the side bar, so feel free to take one if you like it! Awards for everyone! Yay! 🙂

10 Ways You Know You’re A Cat Owner

What award post would be complete with a list of 10 things? Definitely not this one 🙂

You know you are a cat owner when….

  1. you are sitting on the floor because there are cats sleeping on the couch.

    10 Ways You Know You Are A Cat Owner Manna Sleeping

    Manna sleeping in my spot on the couch.

  2. you don’t buy fur clothing, but your entire wardrobe looks like you do.
  3. it is not weird to find a mouse in your shoe.
  4. you don’t get up to use the bathroom at night because you would have to wake up the cat that is sleeping on/near you.
  5. only the center portion of the food in the dish is empty and you feel the need to refill the dish.
  6. it feels perfectly normal to have a cat stare at you while you’re on the toilet or in the shower.
  7. you feel the need to sing along with the cat on a car ride to the vet.
  8. it upsets you more to see a cat killed in a movie than it does to see a human killed in a movie.
  9. you can not resist touching a fuzzy kitty belly.
  10. you would adopt  every kitty (and possibly every domesticated animal) in the world if you could.

    10 Ways You Know You Are A Cat Owner Cinco's Belly

    You know you want to touch Cinco’s belly 😉