Sunday, June 17, 2012

Cattitude

This venerable Siamese was enjoying the warm weather on a Montreal porch as I passed by.


He seemed to be waiting for someone to come along and admire his feline grace and mature pulchritude.


But as I fiddled with my camera, trying to get just the right angle, contrast, framing and so on (even though it's a point and shoot--god forbid I should ever get my hands on a digital SLR), he gave up on me and settled down for a cat nap.  

(scratched up texture from
Shadowhouse Creations)
Fade out on the photo op...

Ya snooze, ya lose.

32 comments:

  1. Well we have more than first names in common; a love of photography and cats match up too! Happy to have found your blogs!

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    1. Hey Lynn,
      I'd say we're also both happy to have discovered each other's blogs! Great to see you hanging out on my blog street corner, sketch pad in hand...

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  2. Lovely Siamese. Looks just *exactly* like our cat, Yoda! Did a double take. Same coloring and markings! Yoda died 3 years ago. But this could be his twin. Even sits the same way and has that same look of - do you mind... I think the shots are great actually. I tried to get Yoda to pose one time - heh,heh,heh - yeah right, especially a Siamese... And, oh by the way, did you happen to notice the pair of eyes looking out from under the step in the window - created by the grating on the window I believe - but still... A little eerie... You never know who's watching :)

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    1. MM,
      Yoda, ha! I once met another cat named Yoda. It's such an appropriate cat name. I know exactly what you mean about that "Do you mind!" look that cats get. I didn't notice that pair of eyes beneath the stairs, no. Almost looks like someone is peering out through binoculars. I find that in most pictures I take, I invariably find at least one person somewhere in the shot who's looking back at me. I guess I'm not as invisible as I sometimes think I am.

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  3. Anonymous17 June, 2012

    ... to be a cat.

    Thank you for this calmness. Please have a good start into the new week.

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    1. Robert,
      Cats do seem to know how to enjoy living in the moment, don't they: Find a little patch of sun to take a nap in and all is bliss.

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  4. A pulchritudinous pussycat, indeed. I love how your fade-out looks scratchy, like a cat clawed it. (Or is that the fur???--neat whatever it is.)

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    1. jann,
      Fade-out uses a texture from Shadowhouse Creations who has a whole blogsite of amazing give-away textures that I dip into from time to time.

      http://shadowhousecreations.blogspot.ca/

      You caught my intention in using it to represent a pussycat's scratchy ways.

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  5. Anonymous18 June, 2012

    Such gorgeous shots!

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    1. Lady Fi,
      Thanks! You must be someone who appreciates cats. I know that not everyone does, though I can't imagine why not.

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  6. What a pretty kitty. I love the first image on those classic Montreal steps.

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    1. Hilary,
      Ah yes, there are the steppes of Russia and the steps of Montreal. I particularly love the twisty ones.

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  7. What a very glamorous cat!!

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  8. From "catatonic" it is only a short hop skip and a jump to gin and tonic, which is what one needs after any effort to understand or interact with felines... You may want to try using a long telephoto lens from a great distance the next time, if they don't know they are being observed by a photographer, they may behave more normally, rather than retreating into their haughty eyes-closed pretending-to-be-napping pose. But then that would indeed suppose that you find your hands on a digital SLR on which the appropriate focal length could be attached... and one must then ask, "is it worth it?" Better have another cat and tonic, errrr, gin and frolic, errr, oh no, I think I've had one too many... am starting to see in dupli-cat, even in tripli-cat...

    (written from a sister-in-law's home in southern France, a stone's throw from the Mediterranean, driving north tomorrow, destination an overnight stay in Chablis, yes, where the wine comes from, before the last short hop home on Thursday... It's a toad's life, but someone has to do it !!!)

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    1. Owen,
      I do like the idea of a gin and frolic! Also that "haughty eyes-closed-pretending-to-be-napping pose" concept, which I think I might adapt for myself next time I see someone looking in my direction. Now I have some idea into your sneaky photographic ways...long telephoto lens indeed! Did you appreciate the MACRO lens I attached to my eyeballs when I took that photo of the lamburger last post? I bet you can't get a meal like that in the land of Chablis, poor little toad. I hope you enjoy your stone-throwing in the Mediterranean. I'm sure you make a splash wherever you go. Now for that gin...

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  9. Beautiful photos with a great framing and colors, I love that cat. Greetings.

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    1. Leovi,
      It is a rather special cat, isn't it? But then, most cats are. Or at least they think that they are.

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  10. I just found your blog, I'm enjoying your great images and your stories, perhaps I'm even nearby, I'm visiting st john's Nfld for a few days, first time here, I'm taking lots of photos.
    Thanks ,,,M

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    1. Hi Michael,
      Welcome! Glad to see you found your way here, though I'm not within comfortable visiting distance from Newfoundland, being in New Brunswick. I've only been to Nfld. once in my life, and discovered it to be a truly unique place of startling, stark beauty. And charming accents. Thanks for stopping by here.

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  11. He is just majestic and a proud specimen of his breed. I have always had a Siamese throughout my life, my last being a chocolate point. This one allowed you to get a quick portrait before dismissing you. Bravo!

    Bises,
    Genie

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    1. Genie,
      Ah, yes, I do see that you are wise to the ways of Siamese cats ("We are Siamese if you plee-ease; We are Siamese if you don't please!" as Peggy Lee sang it in Lady and the Tramp--probably my favourite scene in that Disney classic). You hit the nail on the head when you say that the proud specimen "dismissed" me.

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  12. Great shots, oh to be a cat!

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    1. Gillian,
      We mere mortals must content ourselves with merely being catty.

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  13. Oh boy, I admit that while wandering the back streets of Siena and Perugia, not to mention the raunchy port alleys and the fabulous cemetery of Genoa these past several days, I missed that last post about lamb burgers, but probably would have ordered the same thing had I been there with you, which sadly I can only slobber over vicariously. However, in Toulon two nights ago at a place called Le Café des Arts, I did have an order of fries that looked just like yours here, but they accompanied the carpaccio de boeuf, which was excellent. Though it was only the entrée, it turned out to be an entire meal, apart from the profiteroles which somehow ended up in front of me for dessert... I don't know how that happened, but they were decadently indecent, with a small mountain of whipped cream alongside the main attraction, and more chocolate sauce than humanly possible to swallow. But I tried hard ! (Just got home this afternoon... am unpacking and copying photos and so forth... and sampling the wine which oddly followed us home from Chablis...)

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    1. Owen,
      Welcome back! Does your belt still fit around your waist?
      Too bad you blew your vacation wad on skulking around Italian cemeteries: you could have come to my vernissage on July 12 in Moncton, rather than profiting from profiteroles. I think I've put on a pound or two just by thinking about those fries with carpaccio de boeuf, to say nothing of the chocolate-sauced profiteroles that leapt onto your plate when you weren't looking. I've never had a profiterole. I almost ordered one recently after a scrumptious duck dinner in Montreal but, alas, had no room left, in spite of the commodious dress I had the foresight to wear. I could do with a glass of well-chilled Chablis right about now. Right about any time, really. Have one for me, will you?

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  14. Louciao, I love shots of kitties snoozing and these are beautiful! The other day Roxy and I went out and in spite of having her on a leash, I managed to get a couple of a neighbor's cat. Even though I'm not a cat person, I still think they look adorable when they're sleeping! :)

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    1. Bella,
      Is that faint praise for kitties or what: "adorable when they're sleeping"? Well,any sort of feline praise will do, I guess, especially if coming from a self-confessed dog-lover. I'm a "cat person" myself, but your Roxy is pretty darn adorable.

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  15. Will slurp a glass of chablis for you ce soir, la bouteille is already open to allow adequate breathing time...

    Believe it or not I actually lost weight on the trip, what with the hundreds of kilometers walked all over towns, up hill and down... So you've never had a profiterole ??? My goodness, some people think that one hasn't lived if one hasn't sampled the profiteroles !

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    1. Oh, I want to go on a diet/exercise regime like that, eating and drinking what I like, as much as I want, and then wandering over hill and dale throughout Italy!

      "When I find myself in times of trouble, Brother Owen comes to me, singing words of wisdom, 'Let it breathe.'"

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  16. Replies
    1. Maboe,
      Thank you for your visit! Lovely to see you here.

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