Portrait of a Lady

"Portrait of a Lady" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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We all have plans for the future and one of mine is to create a galley of portraits of all the cats I've loved and adored. With that in mind, I take any opportunity my cats present me with, waiting for the right moment to capture the perfect "portrait" - which, let's face it, can take a while with cats that constantly roll and yawn!

This week Ella decided she'd pose for me - giving me the opportunity to snap a handful of shots, the following two included. My dilemma now is to pick one of these two to be framed - something that's proving to be a hard task!

What are your thoughts? Can you decide which "Portrait of a Lady" you'd enlarge and frame as part of a gallery of kitty portraits?




To view thumbnails of all of my Camera Critter posts, visit the GritFX website.

Happy Huskie

"Happy Huskie" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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It's hard to believe that it's been over a month since my last camera critter post! After a very busy month, I now have some time to blog again... and that makes me smile like this happy Huskie :)



To view thumbnails of all of my Camera Critter posts, visit the GritFX website.

Sibling Love...

"Sibling Love..." is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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I've been a little quiet on the blogosphere, which is partly due to my poor boy being sick...

Jonesy, being the BIG boy that he is, will defend his and Ella's territory (along with tiny Ella herself) with vigour when it comes to nasty strays! Don't get me wrong... I know you can find a great companion in a stray/rescued cat - both Jonesy & Ella are rescued cats - but there are the occasional strays that have gone too long alone in the wild and are just outright feral!

We have one hanging around here right now. While defending the territory a little over a week ago, Jonesy had a massive fight - letting out screeches that woke me from my sleep. The next day he didn't seem himself and by that afternoon was groaning when touched. Straight to the vet we went, where we discovered that he was in fact very sick with a terrible infection!

Anyone who has nursed a sick animal would know that "medicine time" can be just as distressing to the owner as it is to the pet. But Jonesy did great with his course of antibiotics - he's an old hat at taking pills now... poor guy's been through a lot in his life!

Getting to this weeks' camera critter pictures...
With that all behind us - Jonesy is doing great! - I thought I'd honour this "sibling love" with a series of photos of Jonesy with his baby sister Ella. These were taken on a nice spring day when the birds where flying in and out of that tree they lie in front of ;)





P.S. I wish it was spring again... as we enter into winter it's getting colder and colder! At least I might have a chance to get some shots of the kids in front of a winter fire to share with you all. ;)

To view thumbnails of all of my Camera Critter posts, visit the GritFX website.

Theodore...

"Theodore..." is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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Here's some footage I slapped together of my in-laws' dog "Teddy". Footage was shot a few years ago on rural acreage in northern News South Wales (Australia) - I love how the little guy is watching the sunset at the end. Hope you enjoy this brief little film.

Candy... How Sweet She Is!

"Candy... How Sweet She Is!" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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Meet Candy, my parents cat. This weeks camera critters photo shows Candy in one of her "comfort zones" - the sink in the main bedroom ensuite where she feels secure in the presence of unwanted visitors - like my sisters dogs!! You'd think she'd find a more comfortable place to bed down - right?

And yes, I've manipulated the image... here is the original for curious visitors...

Golden Oldies...

"Golden Oldies..." is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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I've been so busy this week that I didn't even think about my camera, let alone pick it up and snap some photos.

Therefore, this weeks camera critter post is a selection of critter photos taken on various occasions - before digital cameras. On each occasion, I had to capture what I saw with one frame of film... the cows took off on a stampede; the spider ran into the darkness; and the pelicans and gulls dispersed incredibly quickly.

Meet the Neighbours...

"Meet the Neighbours..." is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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With all the trees that surround us, we hear these neighbours more than we see them. This week when we saw they were up at the fence, Dave & I took the opportunity to take some photos. They were more than happy to smile for the camera...

I Am The Lizard King!

"I Am The Lizard King!" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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So there he was. Basking in the sunlight, a typical garden skink, no more than twenty centimetres in length. I ran inside to get the camera and when I got back to the garden, he hadn’t moved. But I only had one chance to take a shot – as soon as the shutter stirred the little lizard scurried away into the bushes.

Jonesy, my oldest cat, sat nearby the whole time, watching me in bewilderment. It wasn’t until the skink moved after I took the photograph that Jonesy finally realised what was going on. He leapt into the garden and spent the next two hours fossicking for the lizard. He never caught it.



Later, I returned outside and found Jonesy asleep in the garden bed. He seemed exhausted. I keep telling him to let the ecology do its thing – that all little creatures have a purpose. But he just can’t help himself with those lizards.



Click on the image for a larger version.

Happy Days!!

"Happy Days!" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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For anyone who read my Camera Critter post "Fare ye well, young Frederick…" you will know about Fred and how we had to surrender him to the RSPCA. I have missed the little guy immensely. However, the absolute positive result is watching Ella and Jonesy comfortable in their environment once again.

After a decent play, Jonesy has crashed out on the grass (he's the blur in the background), however Ella still wants to play and scans the garden beds for any sign of movement! I thought that this sight just had to be captured for posterity....



After a few shutter clicks, Jonesy became aware of the attention that Ella was apparently being showered with and slowly got to his feet and came over to me. At this point, David then demanded the camera to capture some beauty shots of our little "precious".




Click on the image for a larger version.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

"Happy St. Patricks Day!" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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I know it's a little early...
However, in a few days a number of people across the globe with Irish heritage will be donning green in the name of St. Patricks Day. So for all of you, here is a little piece of green from Down Under!

These tiny frogs were photographed on Dave's parents farm, 500km north of Sydney. A number of them showed their little faces after a nice rainfall. They were tiny, around the size of your thumb. I only had a standard lens with me, and this was pre-digital. I imagine the results would be a great deal better if I were to shoot them today, armed with my digital SLR. I still think that they are good enough to share in celebration of St. Pats. Day.

Before I leave you, I'd like to give a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" shout out to one of our loyal readers (Shea) to pass onto his daughter - whose birthday is on St Patricks Day!!


Click on the image for a larger version.

Perfect Profile...

"Perfect Profile" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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After another busy week, I didn't get to make the blogging rounds all that much... however, I was sent some posts regarding Facebook and the latest trick that they tried to pull!

You probably have all read about it yourself, but for those who don't know what I'm refering to... well, Facebook changed their terms of service (TOS) without notifying any of it's existing users. This presented a number of issues that any user - or potential user - should and did question. The first of which, in order to change the terms, they are required to contact all existing users and notify them of the change. A user must then agree to the new TOS. They failed to do this.

The second and extremely alarming issue in my opinion, was that the new TOS gave ownership of all your uploaded information over to Facebook... FOREVER!! The original terms outlined that you could terminate your account and that the license would automatically expire - with an acknowledgement that the "Company may retain archived copies of your User Content." This section of the TOS was deleted.

The craziest part, once again in my opinion, was that they would have a license to "use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising". How is that right!? I know that to publish a photograph taken at an event for example, you need written permission from all citizens who are visible in the shot. Without that, you can not use the image. So, tell me Facebook, how could you assume to think that you have this right!? While I accept that anything I upload to the internet can turn up in other places, I could not accept that a corporation worth billions could use my image in this way!

The issue has since been resolved, firstly with the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg making statements that it was all innocent and the TOS was only amended to protect them; followed by a return to the old TOS.

With that on my mind this week, I was considering changing my Facebook profile picture to one of my cats. Whist I was still reluctant to use an image I thought was "valuable" and give Facebook a chance to use it for their own gain, I was thinking of this one of Jonesy - which is my Camera Critter post for the week. With the old TOS now in place, I know the situation is a little different, but I'm still considering taking my image off my Facebook profile.

What do you think? Do you think this is the "perfect profile"? And are you on Facebook - if so, I'd love to hear what you use as your profile photo... your gorgeous mug? a cute critter?


Click on the image for a larger version.

For anyone interested in reading more about Facebook, here are some links to posts that I read:
1. Facebook's New Terms Of Service: "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever." by By Chris Walters - Feb 15 2009
2. With friends like these ... by Tom Hodgkinson - Feb 29 2008.
The second post is a great article regarding the sociological experiment that is Facebook.

Sweet Valentine...

"Sweet Valentine" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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After a very busy week - I actually had to do real work this week! - I'm at a loose end for anything witty or interesting to say. Let's say I feel drained. It's Valentine's Day as I type this, and my plans are for a quiet night with Dave. I'm not a person who "celebrates" the Valentine holiday, but I'm not opposed to affection.

Neither are Jonesy and Ella!
These were taken the afternoon we brought them home from the cattery after a week away. The place was nice, but the sleeping arrangement meant they couldn't snuggle. A few hours after getting home, and there they were - cute huh?

I thought they were perfect for this weeks "Camera Critters" post, considering it's Valentines Day and all.

I took a few photos that afternoon, these two are my pick for "Camera Critters"...anyone who's watched the GritFX Mascots short film over at the GritHouse may have seen the first one before ;)

Drop and Run...

"Drop and Run" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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Over the last couple of weeks I've been using entrecard to discover blogs that fall under my categories of interest. Coincidentally, I found Camera Critters through using ecard!

Anyway, I've come across a number of posts written by ec users, describing the drop and run user - a browser (generous title for these folk) who only drop by long enough to leave you their card, and collect their ec credit! Entrecard has a 300 drops per day maximum placed on the system; my average number of drops (when I'm actively online) is 50 per day!!

Whilst thinking about the 'drop and run' blogger, my mind went to a little friend who I snapped a couple of photos of when on a winter holiday. After going to the effort to place something out there of interest and value to my potential friend, the response was lacklustre - a quick drop and run attitude! I guess that is the only way you can bank 300 drops in one 24hr session!!

Having said that, there must be something that compelled that blogger from dropping by in the first place - an interesting ec card for example - and anything that increases our ranks in the listings is a good thing in my book. If you're an ec dropper reading this, I invite you to leave a comment.... do you drop and run like this bird did?

This was my pick for "Camera Critters"...see how my little friend kept one eye on what I was up to ;)

DROP & RUN....

Jonesy's Wild Ways...

"Jonesy's Wild Ways" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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For those new to the GritBlog, you may not know about Jonesy. He is my eldest of 2 children, and was adopted approximately 5 years ago. I've heard many animal lovers express that "he chose us to be his family", and I have to agree with this sentiment. He was never in a shelter, rather he made friends with another cat that was living in our apartment building - his first steps to being socialised. The moment I saw him, I fell in love and wanted to make sure that he had a decent chance at life.

We got him "fixed"... bye, bye little gonads... and then attempted to find him a home. One plan was to leave him at my folks place while we were away on holidays over summer. This was done with a hope that he would bond with my folks and we would have succeeded in finding him a home. In retrospect, I think he was wise to that, as he would only come back to be fed. Cloaked in darkness, he would creep up to the deck for food (so I was told); that is until we (myself & Dave) arrived to pick him up!

You may be asking, "what does this have to do with this week's camera critters post?" Well, this week I wanted to share some "wild boy" images with you. There's a saying here in Australia "you can take the guy (or girl) out of the west, but you can't take the west out of the guy"... I feel that you could also say that "you can take the cat out of the wild, but you'll never remove the wild within him (or her)" - and these images are my proof.

With respect for all wildlife, I like to keep an eye on him when he's "playing" outside. In doing so, I'm now able to share these images.

This was my pick for "Camera Critters"....I like how you can see his intense stare through the movement of the greenery.

Another shot of him keeping a close eye on the surrounding activity...

And a final photo where you can see his full cheeky face - he had his eye on a bird here also...