Paws & Claws: Dogs & Cats Best Friends
StormCat Likes To Pose
In December 2008, although I didn’t give out many Christmas presents, I wanted to do something special for my roommate. For the past four or five years, I had been creating my own photo Christmas cards through my Shutterfly account (I’m on my second digital camera), and while designing my cards, I noticed that Shutterfly also offered customized mousepads.
Shutterfly, for those who don’t know, is an online photo sharing website that offers all sorts of products and services for people who want prints or customized items that incorporate an individual’s photographs.)
I decided to put the image of StormCat, my roommate’s black tomcat, on a mousepad. I didn’t really plan the design carefully. It was getting close to Christmas and I didn’t have much time. One afternoon, while my roommate was out, I grabbed StormCat, tied an old red ribbon around his neck and set him on the rocking chair in the living room. I managed to get about four pictures before StormCat bolted, the cat getting more nervous and uncooperative with every click of the shutter.
In the past I had taken some pretty cute photos of StormCat, but this time I was working in the late afternoon with a new camera that I was still getting used to. Poor kitty just could not understand why I was trying to force him to stay in the chair and look at the camera. He started getting this weird look on his face and doing that funny “MEeoorw” he does whenever the little girl who lives in the duplex behind us tries to pet him.
PhotoShop to the Rescue
None of the pictures turned out very well. After a few hours of trial and error and a lot of editing and manipulation with PhotoShop, I managed to get a fairly artistic image.
My roommate was very pleased with the end product—a soft focus image of his beloved black cat, framed against a wooden rocking chair with ruby cushions. A brand new, one-of-a-kind mousepad to replace his old generic, faded, worn out pad.
I love cats, photography, and computers. Finding a creative way to give a Christmas present was a lot more fun than going to a crowded mall and buying something at a store. Being creative and using things and activities that I enjoy to make a present for a dear friend was almost like giving a present to myself.
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Tags: black cat, cat mousepad, Cats, christmas gift, photo gifts, xmas gift