Feline Friday - Cat Videos...

Have been amusing myself with trying to capture the different characters of the cats on little videos. So the short version is:
Pepper loves the camera
Ralph is an imp
Charlie is, well, just Charlie ;-)

Monday Morning...

I haven't actually taken any photos over the weekend - I've been too depressed at the stupidity of our country.  This morning I finally managed to pick up my camera - nothing too complicated or technical but at least I managed to find the will to point it at something and press the shutter button!

Ralph is worried in case the referendum result means he gets sent back over the fence where he came from. 

Pepper is meditating for love, peace and togetherness in our country...

Charlie sees this as a great opportunity to become PM.

I thought it was about time I got out my macro lens again...

Sad Saturday...

Fear, stupidity, lies, and misplaced arrogance at our own perceived importance now seem to rule the day.  But it's ok because intolerance, nationalism and the rise of the right have never had any bad consequences have they? I am sad beyond belief at what has happened.  Almost 50% of voters did not want this for our country.

Birthday Boy...

Happy birthday to the husband. As a treat you get to go vote in the EU Referendum :-D

For those wondering which way I'll be voting today - I can't put it better than James Melville's tweet...

Wordless Wednesday...

I bought a few peonies at the weekend and have been playing around with them for some still life pictures.  At the moment I prefer dark toned still life shots to anything light and 'pretty'.  

These were all taken with side light which I love as it emphasises texture and shape and gives a wonderfully three dimensional feel to objects.  If you normally shoot in 'flat' light do give side light a go.  I took these on a table with light from our patio doors coming from camera left.  I diffused it with some voile to make it softer, and in some cases I closed the curtains to let only a thin strip of light fall on the objects.  It's all about controlling the light to give the effect that you want.

Linking with Wordless Wednesday at Image-in-ing.  and

My Photo Sunday...

I was meant to be shooting some portraits today but my model had to reschedule, so as I was at a loose end I decided to shoot some still life images. I'm still fascinated by the concept of wabi sabi so decided to incorporate the roses from last weeks shoot in the garden, which were on their last legs to say the least. As Leonard Koren puts it: "Wabi sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, the antithesis of our classical Western notion of beauty as something perfect, enduring, and monumental".

Speaking of impermanence - Ralph was given a collar with a bell yesterday morning because he brought a female blackbird into the house (unhurt) and let it go in the living room before he then disappeared upstairs to bed. Perhaps he thought it wanted its photo taking?!? The collar lasted less than twelve hours before it was found, sans Ralph, in the garden. He's incorrigible...cute, but incorrigible.

Food Friday...

I couldn't find a link-up for a Food Friday post.  I wonder if it's worth starting one?

Today has been a week of changing the way I think, and things appearing to help me to do that in a very strange yet wonderful way.  At the beginning of the week I was thinking of going on yet another diet, and feeling depressed at the thought, and then realising that it would fail anyway because it would be a short term solution, and then despairing because I knew I really needed to lose some weight, and then feeling I might as well give up before I start...you know the kind of thing.  My brain knows that diets screw up your relationship with food, and the diet industry is the only one that benefits from this, but still part of me was saying 'maybe this time it will be different' even though I knew that it wouldn't be.  It takes such mental energy to be in a constant battle with yourself like that, I knew something had to be different this time.  So then, I don't know what made me do it, but I decided to search for some books on altering the way you look at food and came up with The Zen of Eating by Ronna Kabatznik, and also Meal by Meal by Donal Altman.  Both are basically saying the same thing - to practice mindfulness when you eat. Of course there's a lot more to it than that but that's the idea - be aware, slow down, notice taste, textures, smells, the feeling of fullness, and stop eating when you reach the point of being satisfied. I've been putting some of the ideas into practice whenever I can this week, and am certainly feeling happier than I was counting calories or points. I'll try and keep a note of how it goes over the next few weeks.

The second moment of synchronicity came when I was just browsing through some magazines in a supermarket.  I saw a new one called Vegan Food & Living and was attracted by the photography (of course) so bought it.  The recipes were a real eye-opener! I've been a veggie since I was about 18 and often enjoy vegan meals but have never been 'a vegan' because I thought it would be too time consuming and difficult, and I'd have to cook separate meals for David. I then realised from practicing mindfulness that I no longer wanted any animal products such as cheese or eggs, that I didn't really like them much or the way that they made me feel.  This was a bit of a revelation.  I made the decision to eat vegan meals from then on and to try out new recipes.  This then led me to research vegan websites, and there are so many out there, with such fab food!  One of my favourites is Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.  You don't have to be a vegan to enjoy the food on there, just interested in food that tastes delicious and is good for you.

Last night I used a recipe from that site for Portobello Fries  which were delicious! They were portobello mushrooms sliced into 'fries', coated in flour, the liquid from a tin of chickpeas, and golden breadcrumbs, then backed in the oven until crispy. By the way, David has requested them again so they must be ok.  

So that was my week of food coincidences, one thing leading to another.  I've gone from a pretty depressed vegetarian to a more content vegan with a better understanding of myself.  All because I subconsciously remembered that if you keep doing the same things, you keep getting the same things, - so I changed something.

Namaste 

Wordless Wednesday...

When I'm not working with my camera (see my websites at www.happypetsphotography.com and www.barbarajacksonphotography.co.uk) I like to just play.  It's good to create images just for the sake of it and stops me getting fed up with the whole business of photography.

Because the weather was so warm last week I did a mini shoot in the garden involving some very cute drinks jars I found for 59p each! I knew that I wanted a bright, summery shot and I knew that I wanted my Japanese Maples in the background, but the sun was far too bright in that corner of the garden so I had to soften the light somehow.  I decided to use a reflector as a scrim so that there was less light hitting my setup, it also meant I was able to shoot at a wider aperture to make the background less in focus.  You can use anything translucent to make a scrim - a shower curtain, tracing paper, a voile curtain. It's great when you're shooting portraits too and want to keep bright sunlight from someone's face.

I took a few shots before adding the tablecloth but decided it didn't look bright or summery enough...

...so I added a white tablecloth.

...which also helped to bounce light back up into the scene.

The roses are from my garden and are called Tess of the D'Urbervilles, they also smell as beautiful as they look.

David and Ralph dropped by to see what I was up to,  I think Ralph was hoping he'd get to have his photo taken ;-)

And We're Back!

Helloo, helloo!  Well my indecision was final - after closing this blog down a year ago and trying out Wordpress (can't say I was impressed), I've decided to reopen Words Words Words renamed as The Happy Pumpkin. No particular reason for that name other than that I like pumpkins and I'd rather see a happy one than one drowning in self-pity and misery, and Words Words Words just didn't seem right for a blog so heavily biased towards photography!

So what's new? Well I'm working part time as a photographer, and part time for PetPals who are a pet sitting/dog walking company.  I love my job (well the majority of the time I love it, every job has its days...); I get to go out and play with pooches, then come back to my kitties and be grateful for how quiet and calm they are (usually).

So talking of cats, let us waste no further time before posting some pics:

Pepper: Yes my beautiful little Buddhist is still as fabulous.

It was her 17th birthday on Sunday - she celebrated by lying

around on tulle with some artificial flowers.

Charlie: Charlie is getting on in years now - still irascible,  still a diabetic, 

and still moaning about Ralph.  He has become something

of a lap cat in his old age - although I'm not supposed

to mention that so as not to ruin his 'hard cat' image.

Sorry Charlie ;-)

Ralph: Ahh Ralphie, well he is a total love bug.

He's funny, cuddly, a bit naughty but just

so gorgeous it's untrue.

Photography tip: When shooting portraits of pets or people, always, ALWAYS, focus on the eyes.  This is especially important when using wide apertures as you will only have a narrow depth of field to play with, so it's important to get the focus spot on.

You can view my professional photography websites at www.barbarajacksonphotography.co.uk and www.happypetsphotography.com

Au Revoir...

I've decided to stop posting to this blog and start afresh, it's just become complicated to separate general blog stuff from my photography business.  Thanks to everyone who has followed and commented over the years.  For those of you who would like to still see what I (and the cats) are up to you can find me at https://thehappypumpkin.wordpress.com.  This will be my general blog for cats, crafts, musings etc.  My official web page is www.barbarajacksonphotography.co.uk which has my business info on it, and linked to that is my official photography blog at http://bee.proimageblogs.com which will mainly be for photoshoots etc. xx

Mrs P...

Such a sad day yesterday.  I had to say goodbye to my dearest, sweetest girl Mrs P.  We had eighteen years of friendship (she was at least 20 years old), but she was struggling so much the last week or two that I thought it only fair to let her go whilst she still had some quality of life and dignity.  She loved everybody and was quietly confident (ok, she was insistent) that the affection was returned, which it always was.  She accepted all other cats on friendly terms although never allowed them to take liberties with her food or blanket.  She liked to chat to people, wriggling her paws at them at the same time, and always had an opinion on everything.  She was always there for me and I miss her so much.

A Home Alone Day...

Today was about having the house to myself (the mogs were in but asleep - no change there).  I was going to be a sloth but then got distracted by actually doing stuff - the best laid plans etc.  I started with 30 minutes of yoga, then my campaign to eat more healthily continued with me making Moroccan style sweet potato and chick peas (the smell of the garlic and spices was delicious), with cauliflower rice.  I was rather sceptical about the cauliflower rice, but not being a fan of actual rice decided to give it a go.  I loved it! For those of you who haven't come across it, the instructions I followed are here. Amazing!  Will definitely be using it again.

Later I decided to try some still-life shots although failed to get any with the bunting that I made, I just can't figure out how to combine it with other elements so it looks as if its meant to be there rather than just happened to be in the way.  I will not be beaten by the bunting though and my search for the elusive capture continues.

Garlic…

If only all food were this photogenic.

The healthy lunch…

The buntingless still-life.

And Breathe...

Am just stopping to catch my breath after a very busy few weeks.  I can't believe that it's over a month since I last posted.  What have I been doing? Photo shoots, yoga, trying to eat more healthily, trying to get the garden back to some semblance of order after the winter, work, getting a new camera, more photo shoots…

Anyway, enough of the excuses, here are some images from the last month or so.  I'll post more images from each of the shoots over the next few weeks.