Munchkin

As a person who is own by several cats, 4 to be exact, and a dog, there is no more joy then the care and love that they give you. They are companions that help brighten our day when thing go wrong or even go right. Pets are the small furry stress relief we can pet and vent to at the end of the day. They give us happiness and unconditional love all the time. Like their short statute, their life with use is just a small bit of our much longer lifetime, but for such a short lifespan they manage to make a long and deep impression on us. Today was one of those days were we had to say goodbye to one of our loving pets, Munchkin.

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Munchkin was one of 4 brothers who came to us by accident, by that I mean their mom got out and tramped around the neighborhood. When they were born we tried to stick to some theme on naming them which didn’t work out. His and his brother, Oz, started the theme but the other two, Max and Toro ended that. More or less Munchkin got his name because he was the runt of the litter, he even got his own theme song which the others did not. And I am not sure why he did, but my wife nonetheless came up with the song.  We intended to give the cats away but after we had envest time and love into them we soon found they were a permanent part of our quadruped family.

Munchkin was loving cat but a little on the spooky end. He wasn't the type to greet strangers but if you were a frequent visitor you might get a chance to see him. For family, his seeking attention was on his terms but once you passed his test, a good belly rub or scratch behind the ears alway elicited a serenade of purs. As far a I could tell he was a good sibling to his brothers but seemed to prefer to hang out with Ozzy.

I think the hardest thing about being owned by a pet is when it is time to let them go. It is one of those decisions you play over and over to really be sure you are doing the right thing. And when you do make that decision to help them on the next journey, that day becomes even harder to get through. I believe that it is possible that Munchkin knew it was time just by the fact that he had stopped eating and seek solitude, but it was still hard to do. However I did have comfort in the fact that I knew I could be there all the way to the end and that I had the support of my Veterinarian, Dr. Mark Klopfenstein and the vet techs of Animal Medical Center, whom I very fond of. Munchkin was a great cat and well loved. His memory will live with us and in the reflection through is two remaining brothers.

Being owned by pets can be tough but with all the work and love we put into it, we get so much more out of it.

Triskaideka's Spring Portraits

Today is the first day of spring and what better way to celebrate the season but to take spring photos, Triskaideka’s Spring Portraits. We had an idea of what we wanted but not entirely sure or set on a specific props. Buffey and I felt that the props should be spring like in nature but not Easter specific. We wanted to be able to put the portrait up for longer than a few weeks and if we shot it with Easter baskets or with cute bunny ears then the portraits display life would be short.

So after a cup of coffee we were off to a local craft store. We started off by just walking around to see what was available. We knew that if we started to pick up the first thing we saw then the chance of the portrait being hokey was very likely. Once we took in all the possibilities we started to weed out the trite and home in on the white washed box, plants in the pots and tin vase, and finally the pussy willows.

The setup was simple. We set the box and plants up on a card table that we covered with a piece of white background paper. We set the pussy willows in a five gallon jug setting behind the table. I placed my lights in their spots and after a few test shots we were ready. My wife, Buffey, place Triskaideka in the box and used a feathered toy to get his attention while I took the portraits. It did not take long before we knew that we had a handful of shots that will work.

We placed them into Lightroom and started the process of elimination and soon we narrowed it down to two portraits. I sent one photo to Buffey and the other I worked on. After a few minutes I created this portrait in which I am very happy with.

Triskaideka is so easy to work with because he is our cat and he is in his home. I know that is key to the success of this and other portraits we have done of him and our other cats. Think of how many times you take your dog or cat to the vets or any other place and suddenly they become shy or totally unsociable. Triskaideka becomes withdrawn at the vets believe it or not. This is why I believe it is necessary to have me go to the pet rather than the pet come to me.

Now that we have Triskaideka’s Spring Portraits done we will have to generate ideas for his Summer Portrait Session. Have you had your Pet Portrait Session done? Or having a portrait session of your family being done? Don’t forget to include your pet they are family too.