From dumplings to cats! I’ve been following the cats around the house with my new camera.
Billy Lee
Here’s Billy Lee on the couch, trying to sleep but cranky from being woken up by the photographer hovering near her face. This photo was taken in relatively low light using the Lumix G2’s kit lens. You can tell it was low light by the size of her pupils (as opposed to the next photo, taken outdoors)!
The rest of the Billy Lee photos in this post were taken with the Lumix 20mm f1.7 ASPH (pancake) lens. Here’s Billy Lee sitting on her favourite bench on the patio.
And then, a get-up-arch-the-back-and-stretch yawn. She looks like she’s imitating Benjamin, the last known Tasmanian tiger in captivity. You may notice in this photo that Billy Lee wears a pink collar with diamontes on it. I’m not a big fan of “blue for boys” and “pink for girls”, but Jac bought the collar because many people think Billy Lee is male, presumably because of her name and her large size. Jac thought a pink sparkly collar might help Billy Lee look more like a female cat. No such luck. But the most common phrase from visitors who see her remains to be: “Ooh, he’s much bigger than Pixel, isn’t he?” Of course, she is blissfully unaware and has no gender identity crises herself.
After her big stretch and yawn, Billy Lee jumped off the bench and sank to the ground where the tiles were nicely warmed from the sun.
Pixel
Pixel is a lot harder to photograph than Billy Lee because she never sits still for long. Most of the time if she sees me approaching with the camera in my hand she will run away or refuse to look at me. The photos of Pixel that you see in this post were taken after much persistence from me! In the photo below, she is watching intently as Jac serves up our dinner. This photo was taken using the kit lens.
The rest of the photos of Pixel were taken using the Lumix 20mm f1.7 ASPH (pancake) lens. Once in a while Pixel enjoys sitting on the folding camp chair. In the photo below she’s looking at the camera for once, but her facial expression and ears say it all: “You are very annoying!”
She likes to jump up on the barbecue (which is covered when not in use), where she sits very still, looking like a statue.
My favourite photo of Pixel so far taken with the new camera. Twilight movie fans, when I see this picture I think Pixel is just on the verge of glistening like Edward Cullen in the sun.
As you can tell, I’m enjoying the ability to change lenses. The Lumix 20mm f1.7 (pancake) lens (review at dpreview.com) is much smaller and flatter than the kit lens (like a pancake, hence “pancake” lens) and therefore even more portable. So far, I’ve found it great for food photos, brilliant for shallow depth of field shots with out-of-focus backgrounds (yep, great for bokeh) and excellent in low light. It’s relatively expensive – I paid just under AU$700 for it – but it’s been totally worth it, as you’ll see in the photos to come.












I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.


{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, my GOD. They are the cutest, fuzziest, sweetest and most adorable cats I’ve ever seen. Billy Lee reminds me of my cat, Jess. She just lazes around in the sun all day, looking quite content. Gorgeous. Great photos as well! I’m in the market for a new camera after mine fried on holiday, and I really like the look of the G2.
Those pics are awesome. That last one definately one to print out and frame, she has a regal look to her and you would swear it was taken by a pro. That camera takes stunning shots with some help of TFP!
I wish I could just lay on some warm tiles
Pixel’s ‘You are annoying’ face is adorable!
This camera is AWESOME. I wish I could win it but I can’t because I’m not an Australian resident :( But I live in China, though! Would you make an exception? ;)
Wei-Wei
Awww, kitty pictures!!! I love kitties. I think I have more kitty pictures in my folders than food or kids *blush*. And I love Pixels glow!
the foto of billy lying on the warm tiles looks SOOOOO GOOOD! :D
ur cats are REALLY gorgeous.
I love those photos! My girl spent the day lazing in the sun too. Also jealous of your cool camera.
“She lay there for hours. It’s not a bad life, really.”
Like my cat; they sure have the life huh? I remember coming home from a long difficult day at the office (now work in-home since 06/98) and our dogs coming to the fence bleary-eyed and yawning; as if their day had been mine! :-p I love Billy Lee’s collar; cute. And she looks appropriately ferocious in that yawn. Pixel is just as adorable. Yeah, she does look “statuesque” on the bbq.
i love it when you post pictures of the cats. your puddy tats are precious… i want to curl up in a ball with them haha. i get a warm fuzzy feeling when i know other people love the underdogs, (hah!) cats. such a shame so many people dislike these fabulous felines.
oh and, your pictures with your new camera are gorgeous! :D
Photo geek! :D
Hi TFP,
What kind of cat is Pixel? We have one that looks just like her but have no idea what kind of cat she is because we ‘rescued’ her.
Cheers :-)
What beautiful cats! I just want to cuddle them!
haha such cuties!!!!! you can almost tell their personalities just by looking at them. love the twilight one haha!!
Those photographs do those two beautiful cats justice!
gravitypirate,
I can’t wait to take the G2 on holiday (though at this stage not sure when that will be). Our cats are happiest just hanging out with us – wherever we are. Could be in bed, in the study with me as I work at my computer, on the couch, outside on the patio. They are great companion cats.
Cheers, Kerry.
I was pretty pleased with that last shot. I was lucky to get that shot at all – a second after I took the photo, Pixel had enough and ran off into the garden.
Fiona,
Me too. Though I did lay down on the tiles to take the last shot of Billy Lee. :)
Dea,
Heheheh. She makes that face often, thanks to me.
Wei-Wei,
It IS a pretty awesome camera, yep! Unfortunately, it’s not up to me who is allowed to enter. Panasonic set the rules for the competition.
Amy,
My favourite photos are of food and cats. I could photograph food and cats all day. :D
Thanks hy,
They make great subjects. I enjoy taking photos of them.
Hello, Jo Jo!
Good on Saffie! I always wish I could spend my day lazing in the sun but there’s never a day I don’t have something to do. No time to laze. :(
Cindy,
I wish I was a cat in a loving home. Our cats are spoiled rotten and totally adored. Pixel had a leopard print collar which looked great but it kept coming off (too big for her) – we ended up having to buy a kitten’s collar for her. She has a purple one right now.
Thanks, jessica. Yeah, it’s sad how come people bear such animosity towards cats.
Charlene,
LOL, I won’t even try to deny it now. :P
Kat,
We got her and Billy Lee from the Cat Haven. According to the paperwork, Billy Lee is a “domestic short-hair” and Pixel is a “domestic medium hair”.
Marina,
Billy Lee would love that. She loves cuddles and attention. Pixel, on the other hand, doesn’t like being picked up. She’s all cuddly and snuggles up to me every night in bed but if I pick her up she meows and wriggles in protest.
Erryn,
Can you tell Pixel’s the naughty one? :P
Thanks, Bella.
Love the different posts on the features of the camera! And Pixel looks so regal – what a gorgeous cat!
Cheers, Forager!
Next will be the scenery photos post. :)
Pixel has her moments of looking regal, but most of the time she looks like she’s up to no good and plotting mischief.
Your cats are sooooo adorable!! I have two cats as well and Pixel looks exactly like my cat Disco. Except that Disco is a male and has brown eyes but the rest are pretty similar! too funny! :)