Sassy Rabbit Supervisor

Sassy concrete cottontail

Everything is a bit hot dry and parched here in Georgia right now. So we hit some garden centers this weekend and picked up some succulent style flowering plants.   They hold more water in their leaves to survive and thrive in low rain conditions.

These will make a pretty planter for our back patio. Our sassy concrete cottontail supervisor was on hand to check all the supplies out as they arrived. Unfortunately for the picture, the coral Purslane’s proved bashful and closed their beautiful blooms before I could snap a group shot.

Photo – Bunny in the Garden

From istockphoto.com

This is where I would like to be right now, in a beautiful garden. Instead, I am waiting on software to download to try to fix a problem with Internet Explorer … and waiting … and downloading … and waiting … looking at the pretty garden and topiary bunny … and waiting … and still downloading …

See you tomorrow.

Ready, Set, Action …

Tigger in Hay

Here is Miss Tigger up to her bunny armpits in hay

Shadow in action

... and the action behind the camera

Earlier I promised I would share some bunny photos. The photo of Tigger was taken with my camera on its table top tripod taken to the floor to catch her at her level. While I was taking it, I felt a furious tugging.  I quickly rotated the camera around on the tripod and got the shot of Shadow attacking the drawstring on my shorts.

I couldn’t see to focus this second shot.  It was a quick swivel around and shoot blind by just pressing the button to capture the shot. But it gives a great view of what was going on in front of the camera and behind the camera at the same time.  I would not have been able to get the shots of both Tigger and Shadow in action without my camera setup the way I showed in my earlier post on Catching Bunny Rabbit Photos .

Catching Bunny Rabbit Photos

Bunny Photo Setup
This morning I am sharing how I get some of my up close and personal bunny rabbit photos.  Above is a photo to show how I have my camera set up.  I have put it up on my desk with a rabbit stand in who knows how to stand still.

When we first got Tigger and Shadow 10 years ago we used 35mm cameras.  When digital cameras really started to drop in price, we made the switch, but found ourselves having to relearn picture-taking all over again.  Taking photos of kids and rabbits is tough no matter the camera, because they rarely sit still.  So we found ourselves with lots of blurred bunny photos. 

Getting a camera that had a kids and pets setting was a big help, but I still found myself with lots of semi-blurred images.  Two things recommended to decrease blur are using a tripod and automatic timer settings to snap the picture and remove the camera movement blur that can occur when depressing the button.  Using a picture snapping timer setting rarely works for bunnies because they don’t stay still long enough for even a two second timer.  Normal tripods usually put me way above bunny action and I would get lots of looking down on them shots.

I wanted shots to be more up close and personal.  I tried just putting the camera on the floor, but that was really tough on me.  I had to be flat on my stomach to see through the camera and focus.  Then to get more than one shot, I had to completely rearrange myself into another position or angle if the bunnies had moved on to another place in the room.  If they went to another room, I had to start over with my floor positioning.  So I never got too many shots doing that.

When we started to sell things online in the Rabbittude Etsy shop, we purchased several table top camera tripods to aid in product photography photos.  Looking at the one I have pictured here, I realized it was a good size to put on the floor and be bunny height.  It allows me to kneel and still be able to see through the LCD to focus.  The swivel ability of the tripod lets me easily follow the bunnies as they move around.  I can catch multiple shots staying in one location. 

Later this afternoon, I will share some bunny shots I got using this camera setup.

Its a Tiggerific Saturday

TiggerrrrLast week on Saturday, Tigger wasn’t eating or drinking and appeared to be fading fast. After lots of work this week with syringe feedings of Oxbow Critical Care, water, Simethecone for gas, pain meds and tummy rubs, Tigger has bounced back.

Last night she and Shadow were running all around the house up and down.  Such a joy to watch. This is a collage of pictures I took of Tigger this afternoon relaxing on a bunny favorite, the plant tray chaise.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Worn

Blue sky through pine trees

I hope everybunny is enjoying a wonderful day.

WordPress had suggested a photo challenge this week of worn and for me that just kept coming out as worn out.  It has been a long and tiring week of on and off storms rolling through.  For us that means powering down computer equipment a lot and then sometimes working late into the night trying to catch up.

When I am worn out, I love nature as a pick me up.  This photo is sunshine and blue skies shining down through Georgia pines, the view you get laid out in a lounge chair or hammock.  I hope you all had or have a chance today to kick back, relax and just look up at a beautiful sky.  So relaxing!

Afternoon in the Garden

Concrete Cottontail Napping in Living Green Rabbit Ears
We’re all ears here …

Sleeping in the sunshine … This is the concrete cottontail that sleeps in the patch of fuzzy green rabbit ears that grows by our back door.  The expression on this sleeping bunny’s face is so sweet, it always makes me smile.

Photo Challenge: Morning

Good Morning Concrete Cottontail
Good Morning Concrete Cottontail

In our garden we have many cottontail bunnies.  Some of them are brown with fluffy white tails and we scare them off if we move too fast.  Others are concrete cottontails that we have placed around our garden. This cute little guy is our first greeter for visitors walking up to our front door.  I love the way the morning light is playing up the bushes on one side but still leaving our little friend some shadows to hide in and surprise people when they first see him.

Fun Photo

Bunny sticking tongue out

Yuck, icky tasting grass!

Popping in quickly here this evening.  We were with power and without power on and off as thunderstorms rolled through here this afternoon.  That is a mixed blessing.  We need the rain, but not being able to trust the power to use the Internet is hard when you have web based businesses!

Photo: Sunset Rose

Glorious rose with sunset colors

I don’t know the actual name of this rose, but the glorious colors remind me of a vivid sunset.  I had a day I was particularly down about something that had really gone wrong with work.  Blaine arrived home at the end of the day with a bouquet of these roses.  Can we say, Awwwwww!  I don’t even remember now what had me so down that day.  The roses are the memory now.  The colors were so spectacular that I had to take a picture to preserve the beauty.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Numbers

Recipe for a Happy Kitchen

This photo challenge was a tough one, I discovered I really don’t think in numbers and don’t really have things with numbers around me except clocks and calendars. However, I do have this print in my kitchen of a recipe and recipes are one thing I do go by the numbers. Here is the text of the Happy Kitchen print:

Happy Kitchen

4 cups Love
2 cups of Loyalty
3 cups of Forgiveness
1 cup of Friendship
5 spoons of Hope
2 spoons of Tenderness
4 quarts of Faith
1 barrel of Laughter

Take love and loyalty, mix it thoroughly with faith.
Blend it with tenderness, kindness and understanding.
Add friendship and hope, sprinkle abundantly with laughter.
Bake it with sunshine. Serve generously daily.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Water

Ducks on Blue Water Pond
Back to Blue Water Swimming

I rounded a curve in the pond and took this picture of the ducks starting off swimming.  From this direction, the water has changed to reflecting cool blues, deep greens and charcoals from the sky and trees.