This is a fun gallery (aren't they all?) that was inspired by my daughter, Jen, playing with four 5-month-old kittens that were born shortly after she had adopted their mom, "Daphne", from the local humane shelter. Jen was using a Cat Dancer toy which is simply a few pieces of rolled cardboard attached to a short length of piano wire. The kitties loved jumping for it when dangled overhead and it's amazing the height they achieved in attempting to catch it --which they seemed to do frequently!

Being a little concerned at some of the resounding thumps they'd produce when landing on the hardwood floor, I decided to make use of our inflatable airbed that we usually have stored away. Jammed between our two living room sofas, the kittens now have a safe launching and touchdown point. I began this series with a Canon EFS 10-22mm ultra-wide angle lens on my 20D. Set up on a tripod and using a cable remote shutter release, I had a Canon 580EX master flash mounted on the 20D's hotshoe, with a slave 430EX placed to the side. A little experimentation and consultation with fellow photo enthusiasts on DPReview forum had me changing slave flash locations and camera/flash settings to better "freeze" the action. Eventually I moved from the 10-22mm to a Canon 17-40mm L lens to zoom in a little closer and acquire, IMHO, better images.

Needless to say, the kitties were exuberant subjects (VERY exuberant!) and impatiently waited for me to download each set of pics to my PC to evaluate before making adjustments for the next session. The static shots in my "Pets" gallery portray them in their quieter moments, but this gallery certainly shows them in an unfettered all-out mode of play. Since they spend most of their waking hours in a continual free-for-all wrestling match, my next challenge will be to photograph this activity to show more than just a confused mixed bundle of fur! :)