Smiley

This is one of my grandmother's dogs. I call her Yim Yim ("Smile smile").

Scaredy Cat

So Matt's Phantom Cat post below was so awesome I'm not even going to compete with it, however it reminded me I HAD to go dig this number up to post as a sibling/collaboration post to his. This was taken a few years ago of my friend's cat –and yes he is a little freaked out by everything all the time, so this is sort of a captured 'portrait' if you will!

I think his owner was making him dance and pose like a cat-puppet, which I'm sure just traumatized him further...

*Only curve adjustments were done to get richer black and brighter white.

Phantom Cat

I will admit that I did use some Photoshop to do selective desaturation on the face. However, as some on the board know, this cat's eyes actually are this big, so no trickery there! The poor selective focus to get that DOF, well, that's all me!

Bones

I saw this near the haunted house from my last post. It was in a fairly well traveled area, so how it remained intact to decompose like this is a mystery. I think it was a warning to stay away.

Alaska- Animals!

Wildlife is a huge highlight of any Alaskan trip. We were lucky to see lots of it! Some of it in captivity but most in the wild. Captions under photos.


Horned Puffin at the Alaskan Sea Life Center. This Puffin was going nuts swimming under the water and shooting out into the air above the surface. He must have flapped around playing in the water for about five minutes without pause. Puffin fact: they only have their beautiful orange beaks and colors for mating season. The orange beak is actual a colored growth similar to a fingernail that covers their much duller bill underneath. When mating season is over, the cover falls off and their plumage dulls.


Red Legged Kittiwake and baby at Alaskan Sea Life Center in Seward. The entire Red legged Kittiwake population exists in the wild on a solitary island in the Aleutians.


Ducks (not sure what kind) at the Alaskan Sea Life Center.


Band of Lazy Sea Otters in Prince William sound vicinity. There were otters everywhere just floating around and cleaning themselves. They were very hard to get good photos of because they rarely let you get anywhere near them in a boat and they are very, very fast and small. On our return trip from Surprise Glacier we were surprised to not see anywhere near the number of otters that we stumbled upon on the way in. The reason became apparent when we rounded a corner shortly after and found them all floating and napping in two huge groups of about thirty or forty. The bonus was they were far less skittish in a group and we could get in a bit closer in the boat for some better shots.


Large fish in the Alaskan Sea Life Center


Mother otter and pup in Prince William Sound vicinity. Otter fun facts: Pups can't swim so their carried around by their mothers until they are old enough to fend for themselves. Otters also have pockets under their armpits in which they store clams and a shell or stick to open them.


Mountain goat outside of Anchorage. This guy was literally on the side of the road nibbling grass. Why he wasn't skittering around way up on the rock faces above with all his pals- who knows.

Sebastian

We have a dwarf hamster whose name is Sebastian. He enjoys flax seeds, playing in his house and avoiding me (they are not very affectionate pets).

Fatty McFatCat : #1 : Orange Oozer

I usually pass by this guy during the daytime and he'll be oooooozing out of the window (to the point he almost looks like he'll fall out because he's hanging out so far). I say oozing out because 1) he is a floppy fat cat. 2) he braces himself on the sill with 2 little paws that pushes all the fat out to the sides like orange fur ooze. its GREAT.

That evening however, he was not oozing. That's the most normal and 'slender' I've ever seen him. Other than that I like how I inadvertently got a very orange toned photo which fits perfectly with the running orange ooze theme. I hope one day I shall catch him when he's fallen so I can smoosh him.

Trash Puppy

This is my 'trashy' continuation of Chinitas' "Marlboro Corpses" post (05/26/09). This was actually taken in 2002 in Bangkok! I was walking by an abandoned property (which always ends up turning into a dumping ground unfortunately) and saw this little one sitting in the middle of that pile. I managed to snap this before he/she scampered off to play with a sibling.

I like that its the same piece of land but has such a clear divide –notice that the front half is all black and gray trash while the back is all completely lush and green. Felt like a sort of commentary on where we are as humans progress more and leave what used to be the planet behind or something.

Also, this was taken on a 2 megapixel Olympus point and shoot. WHOAH now! 2????

Siamese Gargoyles

This is the front of my house in Thailand where we have a few "guardians" keeping watch. On the very left is the traditional Spirit House –a place for the spirits who watch over and take care of everyone on the home's property to hang out. And next to that we have our resident gargoyles on alert. This may not be the best pic ever taken, but its definitely one of my own favorites when I miss Thailand.