Bunny Boy Blue Artwork

Altered Photo Artwork Piece with Shadow as Bunny Boy Blue

The photo for this altered art piece was captured in such low lighting that viewed as the original photo it is quite grainy in texture. I took the image even though the camera warned me it wouldn’t result in a high quality photograph.  I could see that the camera even in such low lighting was capturing the very sweet expression that so clearly showed Shadow’s big-hearted personality. You just never know when or if you will get another chance to catch expressions with animals. So I took the shot and as I had hoped, it was just lovely as the basis for an altered art piece.

A Favorite Photo of Tigger & Shadow

Tigger & Shadow at rest
I love this photo. It shows off Tigger’s beautiful fur and her love of laying kitty style on her side. She also loved to have one little paw up by her face, sometimes almost in a sucking her paw look. It was such a cute reflex action of hers. Shadow is in the background doing what he liked to do best, blending into something dark so that it was really hard to truly see him.

Coming Wednesday, Tigger the Model Bunny.

There’s a Tigger in Our Kitchen!

Initially, we put Tigger’s cage in the bedroom that we had set up as a combination office / guest bedroom.  We didn’t have the room bunnyproofed at first and Tigger wasn’t litter box trained.  So, when it was time for runtime, we would take her to the kitchen.  The kitchen was both easy to secure by blocking off the only entry into it and easy to clean with linoleum flooring.  Only the spaces around the refrigerator needed blocking. Everything else was cabinets to the floor with no way for a Tigger to disappear or escape.  We blocked one side of the refrigerator by wedging it with a roll of paper towels that she could also chew on while we wedged an upended planter box in to the space on the other side.

We put our regular throw rugs away during Tigger training and purchased some small kitchen rugs that we could easily put in the washer and scattered those on the kitchen floor.  We brought in a litter box filled with paper pellet litter.  We put some cardboard over the only baseboard to prevent her chewing that.  We now had an apartment pet security deposit to protect! We had a washable kitty bed for her to rest on and her carrier with the door off as a hiding box.  She had a water bowl and food bowl on a plant tray to keep those tidy.  The unexpected side benefit of the tray is she liked to flop on it.  The sides supported her and it became bunny furniture.  Tigger also had every bunny loving toy we could think of for her to chew, rattle or throw: empty paper towel rolls, jute / wood small animal chews, cat belled balls, a phone book.

Tigger actually learned to run really well on the linoleum and would go sailing / skating across the floor at unbelievable speed.  Blaine and I would take turns sitting on the floor playing with her and getting her used to both of us.  Here are some of the pictures of those times …

Tigger with toys

What do I want to do first?

Tigger at food bowls

Would you care to explain these weird pellies in with my usual?

Tigger grooming

Okay, what did I hop in? Maybe you should clean the floor more often?

Tigger in litter box

Would it be asking too much for some privacy here please!

Tigger stretched out

Ahhh ... the bunny yoga stretches are so relaxing ...

Coming next week, the Calico bunny rabbit.

What Does It Mean When A Tigger Sees Her Shadow?

Tigger's Shadow
Well I know it means more winter when the groundhog sees his shadow. So what does it mean when a Tigger sees her shadow? Are we about to be hit with winter early in Georgia? It has been cooler than usual for this time of year.

It was cute to see Tigger pause in her rounds in a way that had the light hitting her just right to give her a shadowy twin.

Photo Share – Bunny Brunch

Tigger and Shadow enjoy brunch
I took this photo of Tigger and Shadow earlier today.  They were enjoying a bunny brunch of some parsley and carrots.  Shadow is showing part of the personality that earned him the name Shadow.  Tigger is showing just how scruffy a pretty bunny can be when she decides to seriously shed some fur.  Shadow seems to be recovering nicely from Snuffles, but Tigger is only slightly improved on her tummy and appetite issues.  She will eat her greens, but isn’t really eating her hay as she should.

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.

Treasury Tuesday – A Glorious Day

Glorious Day Etsy treasury

Click image above to go to Etsy treasury and view items

On Tuesday, I always try to create one or more beautiful treasuries to lift my spirits. Today I created one featuring many items from members of the Lean On Me team. The inspiration for the colors and title came from the painting by Lauras Fine Art, Cool Clouds and Golden Field.

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.

Treasury Tuesday – Little Red Rabbit in the Hood

Click on image above to go to Etsy Treasury

It has been an on and off again gray day here, so I created a really bright red hot treasury of items created by members of the Etsy Rabbits team. I got the inspiration for the title from UsagiRabbit’s Punk Bunny.