Twenty years ago I took a photo of the family cat, Puss, and The National Geographic book, “The Photographs”. That’s the one featuring the striking portrait of Sharbat Gula on the front cover.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.8 |
| Camera | FinePix2800ZOOM |
| Focal length | 6mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/4s |
Some photos are special, not because they’re wonderful photos, composed well, with striking colours or lovely contrast. The best photos are the ones that make your heart sing.
The cat on the left who is looking at me is Mommy Cat, the matriarch of all the cats we’ve adopted in this home of ours. The one annoying her is her son, Patches. There’s a whole series of photos here with Mommy Cat looking at me while her tail swishes up and way from Patches’ paws.
The photos were taken in 2009. They’re not great. They are a bit blurry because the exposure wasn’t fast enough for a long lens. Thanks to the modern AI tech in Topaz Photo AI I was able to sharpen it a little and present it here.
Mommy Cat is still with us. She’s an elderly cat now. Her fur was very matted on her back but in the past 2 years she has started sleeping in the kitchen. We managed to get her to the vet on Thursday, her first visit since being neutered, and they shaved her, and removed two bad molars. Only her head, her paws, and the end of her tail have any fur. But, SHE IS STRONG. She has a massive appetite. She’s on pain relief and antibiotics. She is a lot more agile than before, as the matted fur isn’t pulling at her. She is curled up on a couch now, where she couldn’t jump before, with one of the dog’s blankets on her.
So, I wanted to share a photo of Mommy Cat today, #Caturday. She is amazing.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 300mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
First up is Hoppy. She’s around 13 and only has three legs but she’s a fast mover. In the past she didn’t mind the cold but now she likes to avoid it.
Here’s Mommy Cat. She’s Hoppy’s mom.
She’s around 16 as best we can guess, as she was around for a few years before she brought her kittens in to us.
For years, she would never come into the house, but now she spends 99% of the day inside, asleep. She doesn’t go any further than the garden now.
We can’t touch her as she’ll take a swipe at us if we do, but we still love her.
Then there’s Diego, our chihuahua. He was 8 this year. A middle aged dog with a special diet and who absolutely loves cuddles.
The cats and him sort of ignore each other, but if the cats get a treat, Diego makes sure that we know he wants one too.
It’s so very cold outside but Hoppy, Mommy Cat and Diego are inside in the warmth and putting up with me taking photos of them.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 20000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/60s |
Hoppy, one of our cats, loves the luxury of having multiple beds she can lie in around the house.
Actually, all our animals can do that. Diego, our chihuahua, certainly takes advantage of that, laying himself down near whomever he wants to be with at any one time.
Animals in this house are spoiled? Whatever made you think that?
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G998B |
| Focal length | 9mm |
| ISO | 640 |
| Shutter speed | 1/35s |
A very curious and friendly cat in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 1250 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
The cat just sat there observing the world pass by. All relaxed, like.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 240mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Mommy Cat, as she was 7 years ago looking up at me looking out of the window of my home office. She’s totally wild, will not let us touch her at all, and until this year would barely come into the house.
That all changed this year. She’s sleeping in the kitchen now, but as I explained in this post, all is not rosy.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 105mm |
| ISO | 400 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
One of the black cats that lives in Blarney village, Cork.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G965F |
| Focal length | 4.3mm |
| ISO | 50 |
| Shutter speed | 1/140s |
She just loves the camera! xxx
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G998B |
| Focal length | 9mm |
| ISO | 250 |
| Shutter speed | 1/35s |
Spotted this little guy in the ditch behind my home a few days ago. Handsome fella but nervous of humans. He hid when my neighbour walked past!
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 600mm |
| ISO | 640 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Mommy Cat, a now elderly cat who has lived with us for over 12 years now, is a semi wild cat who brought her kittens to us many years ago. There were six cats altogether. Three boys, a girl and their mother. She has never let us rub her, unless we get a sneaky rub in as she’s facing away but she immediately tries to bat our hands away. However, her offspring were and are the most affectionate cats. Unfortunately the three boys were killed on the main road beyond the ditch. Mommy Cat rarely leaves our garden now, and Hoppy mustn’t go far as there are feral cats around.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 600mm |
| ISO | 8000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
A cat looked down on the street as we wandered around Valetta in Malta in 2019. I bet they’d have loved a good ear scratching!
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 10000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |