The purr-fect moment

A new arrival in the shape of a tiny ginger kitten has been keeping us busy lately at home. The usual stuff...  dodging ambushes, moving her from the computer keyboard, trying to type this while she's hanging off my arm by her needle sharp teeth, that sort of thing. While she may be causing chaos and our other cat is less than impressed at her presence, it's hard to resist pointing the camera at something as cute and creatively naughty as a kitten.

As a result I've spent a lot of my spare time over the last couple of weeks lying on the floor with the camera, trying to keep up with the antics of a 7 week old kitten as she races around the house. It's possibly the sternest test of any camera's autofocus system trying to stay locked on to something that changes direction and charges towards you at lightning speed and just as hard for the fool holding the camera to predict which direction she'll go when she doesn't appear to know herself!

Perversely, it seems the more I get into photography, the less pictures I seem to take, those I do take being mostly landscapes that are planned in advance and involve lots of waiting for the perfect moment... don't get me wrong I enjoy every minute of it and (when all goes to plan) still get a thrill from seeing the results but it seems to have become a bit more 'serious'. This however is the opposite... fast, spontaneous and fun, difficult to get right but so rewarding when you catch the moment and hilarious to see the action which the human eye misses frozen by the camera .

I really should try shooting something different more often!