While stuck inside over Thanksgiving break during that annoying series of cold fronts, Whiskey and I played with my flashes.  We set up my softbox and reflector and experimented with key lights and fill lights.  We tried manual mode and ETTL mode.  The hardest part was getting Whiskey to sit still!  I had to break out my stuffed puffin to serve as model while I experimented.  Then I brought in the main actor.  I was pleasantly surprised by some of the moments I was able to capture of Whiskey chasing loopies!

We often call Whiskey “Loopy” because he’s such a quirky, fun-loving cat.  When we adopted him, his name was “Whiskey Lou,” and it was very natural to add that last -py syllable.  His favorite toys are the springy-toys.   These toys are also called loopies.  So how many loopies are in the picture above? :)

I’ve often wanted to get pictures of Loopy chasing loopies, but I don’t often have enough light to freeze the action.  The flash sure helped!  His only objection was that my tosses were sub-par because I had a camera in my other hand.  He thought I needed to focus all my attention on cats!

I was trying for one of Whiskey’s crazy mid-air jumps, but he didn’t feel like humoring me.  He got bored and went to lie down on my reflector.  Then he tried to eat my Better Beamer.  I told Rich that I needed assistance with my assistant!

So one good thing about entertaining bored cats is that an old toy becomes a new exciting toy by a simple change in location.  So I got Whiskey’s scratching post, put his loopies on top, and draped a long strip of Velcro from the top.  (That Velcro is often useful for attaching a flash to random household items!)  Next thing I knew, I had an interested cat back in my viewfinder!

I loved the expressions that I could capture as he played!

We had just had our floors cleaned, so our family room was empty.  I figured the white walls would serve as a good backdrop, but I forgot about the electrical outlets!  I also didn’t realize that I was getting such harsh shadows from my key light.  I’m not sure if I didn’t use enough fill, or if I just needed to move the setup farther away from the wall.  It will be fun to try again on another day.

One last shot…I scooted underneath the scratching post and shot up as Whiskey curled himself around the top and attacked it.  He always looks so funny when he does that!