hunting season

It's that time of year when the pigeon's flock to our balcony.  Sex, violence and tender moments, we've seen them all.  Nami has been enjoying this spectator sport for a few years while this is Mushi's first.  It's going to be a good hunting season.

Bokeh and Kitties

Robert bought me the SLR Bokeh Kit from Photojojo for my birthday and it is Awesome.  We took it out for a test drive this evening and I love the results.  Looking forward to testing some more while we're in Japan.

Mushi was particularly crazy this morning, writhing around the chair in a playful manner.  I decided to snap some photos of his silliness and also caught a picture of Nami watching him from afar.  Below is a diptych to tell their story.  To me, the photo represents their individual personalities.  Nami is quiet, contemplative and an overall sweetheart while Mushi, still in his kitten stage, is a little ball of adorable destruction. 

Reflections of Nami

Play time

Lots of chasing and wrestling this evening.  I'm so happy they get along so well :)

Stalker Posing

Nami and Mushi show me what they're made of . . .

It's a Boy!!

Welcome to the family, Mushi! 

Birth date: Aug 04, 2010.  9 weeks old

I decided to take the Friday of the Thanksgiving long weekend off to have some time to introduce Mushi to our resident 2 year old cat, Nami.  Mushi settled into the bedroom almost immediately when I brought him home, as any curious kitten probably would.



After a couple of days of separation and a handful of hisses and growls from Nami, she and Mushi play gently under the door.

 

By Sunday we decided to have them meet.  Mushi was placed in his carrier and brought out to the living room so Nami could investigate the bedroom where Mushi has been kept.  As cats rely completely on smell and are extremely territorial, the first couple of days both kitties were rubbed down with towels and exchanged several times a day.  Mushi didn't really respond much to Nami's smells, but Nami's nose worked over time as she sniffed his odor filled towels.  With the continous swapping, Nami adapted fairly quickly to his scent. 



After Nami explored the bedroom and mainly ignored the kitten in the carrier, we decided to release him to test her reaction.  There were several gentle bops on the head and a few more hisses to show Mushi her first rank in the household.   Lots of chasing back and forth through the apartment followed by crash naps for both, we continued to separate them for extended periods and repeat short meetings.  We are having much success!

I am so incredibly proud of our Nami! :) She's making the transition for Mushi an easy one. 

Project 365 commences

Project 365 commences today. I eagerly grabbed the camera this morning when I got up and started shooting around the apartment, testing out the flash and umbrella and my new Tamron 90mm lens I got for Christmas.

As new and exciting as this is right now, I can see myself struggling from time to time with this challenge. Some days I probably won't want to even look at my camera and those will be the days where my photos are less than great. The point of Project 365 is to take 1 photo every day for a year, but that doesn't mean that every photo has to be a work of art with perfect lighting and balance. I expect to have quite a few lack lustre candids.

I'm going to try my best to post one per day; no guarantees. All 365 photos will appear but I may have to lump some of them together on days as I won't be able to pay as much daily attention here as I'd like to.

Photo 1/365:  Our kitty Nami.  She behaved fairly decently for her photoshoot today.