Sunday, January 01, 2006

Saying Good-Bye to the Holiday Season

I thought to bid the holiday season farewell, I would provide a link to a picture I took for Alex's mom's Christmas card for this year. You will see the new addition to the family (found the day after Alex died, which wasn't the plan but seemed like a gift sent from Alex), plus Alex's dobie sister and the very patient cat. Hope you enjoy it.

21 Comments:

At 4:54 PM, Blogger Esther said...

Aw, thanks for that, especially means a lot since I know how good you are with photoshop. I took the pictures individually and then melded them in PhotoShop.

Actually she's a Hungarian Vizla... at least I think that's how you spell it.

 
At 6:14 PM, Blogger beakerkin said...

I can't tell these breeds apart. I wish Psycho cat would get out of my engine. I have a cat that jumps in the window of my car and sleeps under the engine.

I am alergic and prefer my turtle who is 32. Not fiendly and always has the same look . " Hey moron where is my food".

 
At 6:20 PM, Blogger Deadman said...

I hope your husband is a good sport!

http://knockinonthegoldendoor.mu.nu/archives/147744.php

 
At 6:30 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Esther,
What a wonderful picture! The expression on the cat's face is priceless. How did you get all three animals to be so well behaved?

Guess Beak can never visit my house, with four cats on the prowl. LOL.

 
At 8:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great picture!

 
At 8:41 PM, Blogger Jake Porter said...

That is a great photo. Good job.

I also am curious to know how you got all three animals to be so well behaved.

 
At 8:49 PM, Blogger Esther said...

You guys are so funny. I said how I did it in the second comment, to Patrick's request. But I'll go more into detail.

I put the camera on a tripod and did three photo sessions, one for each pet....and then put all three together using PhotoShop. So like with Vizla, you can't see that about two inches from her was another pal with cheese whiz on her fingers. Also a lot of cheese whiz was on the piano. Cat nip was on the piano to keep the cat sorta in place. It was fun.

Thanks for the compliments. :) The composition was Alex's mom's idea. I was just the one to help her carry it out.

Beak, did you ever think of rolling up your windows?

 
At 12:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Esther, that's such great picture. I wanted to use one of the cats for a New Year's Eve photo, so I figured I'd try getting Anna to pose because she's the biggest ham of the bunch, but she wasn't having any of it. I thought I would do something using a bottle of champagne as a prop, but all she wanted to do was her impersonation of road kill. So every time I tried to get her to sit up, she deliberately kept falling over because she thought I was playing with her. Then, when I read that you used PhotoShop to photograph the animals, I didn't feel quite so bad. Anyway, it's an absolutely adorable photo and you did a great job.

 
At 4:16 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Esther,
Even if you PhotShopped the picture, the animals are still well-behaved.

Catnip wouldn't keep my girls in place. They go nuts with it!

Cheeze Whiz explains the intense expression on the Vizla's face. But Cheese Whiz on the piano???

 
At 6:34 AM, Blogger beakerkin said...

Esther

I drive with my windows down even in six below. I only roll them up on the highway.

Psychocat just jumps in and the first time I closed the window he jumped anyway and hurt himself.
I feed the critter away from the car but he is there every morning.

Psycho cat sometimes even follows me around town it is just strange. I am allergic and prefer the less demanding turtle .

 
At 7:32 AM, Blogger Sergeant America said...

I always thought, when humans were away or asleep in remote areas of the home ... dogs and cats "jammed" at midnight; especially during the Holidays! ;)

 
At 10:47 AM, Blogger Esther said...

Rory, you crack me up. Or more likely Anna does.

To both Rory and Bonnie, it helps to have two animal wranglers helping. ;) Thanks Bonnie for the New Year wishes -- right back to you and everyone else.

AOW, again -- handlers help. ;) The cat did NOT want to cooperate. My friend would laugh to hear that her pets are giving the impression of being well behaved. To give you an idea, the Vizla's nickname is Bad Puppy. And despite knowing my friend for at least a decade, I think I've seen the cat about 6 times. She hides. The dobie is a dream, just like Alex was. But she was not pleased with being put on the automan, so I had to act very fast. Actually, I had to on ALL the animals and usually one or both of the helpers were about 3 inches from the animal and just taken out. Gotta love PhotoShop. ;)

Beak, you rolled it up and the cat got hurt? Awww... but I would still say roll your windows up when you park. The cat will find a new place.

 
At 10:48 AM, Blogger Esther said...

Sarge I think that's an awesome way to think of our dogs and cats....jamming on their own. :)

 
At 3:05 PM, Blogger Dan Zaremba said...

Great pic Esther.
Actually I thought Vizla's were related to Dobermans.
Never mind.

 
At 3:15 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

"Cats and dogs..living together"
Great photo esther, Photoshop or not.

 
At 3:19 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

Other than the coloring, the first dog definitely looks like a Weimaraner. Hard to tell all the different breeds. I have a Boston Terrier and people are always asking if it's a French Bulldog.

 
At 5:27 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Beak,
Cats have a way of attaching themselves to people who are allergic. One of my cats snubs everyone--except for a friend who is allergic.

Sergeant America,
I always thought, when humans were away or asleep in remote areas of the home ... dogs and cats "jammed" at midnight; especially during the Holidays!
Sorta like The Nutcracker?

The best way to photograph my shyiest girl is with a telephoto lens. LOL.

 
At 11:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

AOW,
I thought I would offer my two cents about why cats seem to be attracted to people who are either allergic to them or don't like them. I looked into this at one time because I had a cat that was very anti-social, but to everyone's amazement, she'd invariably park herself right next to my friend's husband who didn't like cats...or dogs either, for that matter. It turns out that cats, especially, tend to avoid the animal lovers because they're the ones who usually make a fuss over them and annoy them, and even a friendly cat will often need some time to acclimate itself to people they aren't used to. So, it would seem that the best advice to anyone who wants to keep a cat away is to pet it and make a big fuss over it, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend this particular approach for anybody with allergies who hasn't taken a heavy dose of antihistamine.

 
At 5:28 AM, Blogger cube said...

You are a wonder with a camera (and a little help from Photoshop).
Great photo. Sorry about Alex, but at least this way he'll be remembered.

 
At 7:06 AM, Blogger birdwoman said...

The look on that cat's face is so... feline! Great pic.

Happy New Year!!

(*)>

 
At 8:15 AM, Blogger Rebekah said...

What a cute picture!

 

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