A recent discovery:- If while preparing to wash MrB's tummy in the bathroom I need to put him down for a second to go grab a comb or whatever, he'll stay on a blanket and wait rather than navigate across the slippery floor by himself.
I'm under no illusions though, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he learns to barrel across it like an olympic speed skater.
BHV: Anouska, will you move please? I need to vacuum there!
BHV: Yes, very true, as the underside of my socks will frequently testify, thank you very much. Now come on, shift your butt...
BHV: Oh, but MrB, you look so handsome in your grump!
I woke up this morning feeling a little unwell so I decided to spend a quiet day at home pottering about the house. MrB decided to beat me in the sickness stakes - for all the coughing and fatigue I felt this morning, I still had my appetite and I wasn't lying on the floor shaking and urinating over the carpet.
This is a recurring problem with MrB that we have never gotten to the bottom of despite many expensive tests. Thankfully it generally passes in 3-4 hours and so it did today, he was back to looking like himself and eating carrot sticks and banana by lunch. Of course, such is the life of a concerned bunny parent, knowing he was probably going to be OK later wasn't enough to stop me making emergency plans and frantic phone calls to his vet...
OK, it's not a great shot, but hopefully this new longer lens will mean I have a chance at getting more photos of this kind of moment without disturbing them!
Having volunteered photographing runners recently, I came to realise (mainly through noticing how much better other people's photographs at these events were) that I needed a different lens. People are bigger and further away than most of the bunnies I photograph, my small lens collection is largely for aiming at little fluffy creatures who are nearby demanding treats. I figured out what lens it was I needed to photograph runners and it occurred to me that it would be useful for all sorts of other things too. Plus, I discovered that although the good ones I'd seen were prohibitively expensive, there was also a 'budget' version available. Presumably someone else's budget though - I'll still be eating beans on toast this time next year to pay for it.
So yes, as you've probably surmised, the other day I treated myself to one: a 'fast' 'telephoto' 'zoom'. (I've added the quotes there in case I've gotten any of those words wrong - it's still pretty new.) I've not tried it on runners yet, but I took it to the Rescue on Saturday and got exactly ZERO decent photographs with it. So that filled me with confidence.
However, at home this evening it occurred to me that this lens has one very distinct use - I can use it to take photos of MrB from further away!!!! Result! I mean, almost - I did faff about a bit too much, he got wise and decided it best to move away regardless of the distance so I ended up with a photo of his butt, but still - I am calling that progress(ish).
Tune in tomorrow for a photo of one of his ears maybe.
OK, it's a bit of a cheat, but to break up the photos of my two a little more, here's another photo from yesterday of one of my favourite little friends.
Guess where I dropped into this afternoon!
I think you might have just blown your only leverage there Sprat...
What the...??!! Who left this strange, sweet, inquisitive rabbit in my house and where's MrB??!!
I think it helps to understand this photo more if you know that the only newspaper in their room lines the tray in that box in the top left. (You can probably guess that the blue blanket was also draped neatly and evenly over the benches and had less holes in it when I last went in there.) Trail. Of. Destruction.
I was thinking that maybe my problem getting decent shots with my two is that I'm not patient enough and generally not taking enough time over the photos, but then I realised that there's only so much time you can spend with Anouska before she's eaten/thrown all the props.
This is a perfectly legitimate test I have devised to see how stiff Anouska's back is, in case you thought I was just being mean. If she goes up on her back legs to take the snack I know she's OK, if she needs to use her front paws placed on my leg to reach I know she's feeling a bit stiff and if she throws her head back and her front paws don't even leave the ground I know she's probably having a bad back day.
So, diagnostically, that all works well, now I just need to figure out what it means for her back when she bites my leg instead...
Some days this is about as much as I see of him if I step into their room. I'm not exactly sure what I've done to deserve this today. Oh wait, I did deliver breakfast late...
NOTE: The dark thing in the top left is the missing strip from the mat edge that runs across in front of her. Because, you know, bunnies.
Note: Sorry, not a great photo today but getting this close to MrB whilst holding a camera is always tricky, snack or no snack!
So as you have probably noticed, I am trying to make more of an effort on this 365 project this year. In fact, I have basically reset it and started again. I was looking for simple ideas to get the habit going and one of the things a friend suggested was to number the posts. Apparently it gives one more of a sense of progress through the 365ness. So there's that, in case you wondered where the titles went.
Assuming I am successful in maintaining this habit, the next step is to start getting more adventurous, but for the moment I'm just making an extra effort to produce actually thought-out photos every day.
To make things quick and simple in the beginning, I figured for now I'd just post a single photo each day, i.e. set up the shot, take a bunch, pick the best, post it with a numbered title, no caption (less pressure!). I went to some effort to get todays photo (#10), but as it played out (with bunny levels of cooperation and concentration being what they are) I only got the one shot at what I wanted. The result was pretty close to what I was aiming for though so I am not entirely unhappy with it.
The thing is though, I also photographed the setup to this photo and...well...I liked the photos too much not to post them too. So here they are. This is the few seconds before todays shot and how I got that expression on her face (banana - as if you couldn't guess!). I hope you like them as much as I do!
