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Cecilia Lim | all galleries >> Galleries >> mixed impressions > Compulsive Cleaner!
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19 August 2009

Compulsive Cleaner!

This is my cat Zoey (short for Zoltan), totally self-absorbed in his hourly cleaning ritual. I've never known any other animal that is so obsessed with personal cleanliness! He even has to stop in his tracks while playing to lick any hair which is out of place!

This photo was taken with my 50mm f/1.4 prime lens which I've had for a while but never knew how to use. It was very convenient having Zoey around as a fascinating subject for my experimental learning!


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Cecilia Lim20-Aug-2009 17:10
Thanks Phil - fanatic is the right word for Zoey! I am learning that this lens does wonderful portraits, especially with bigger apertures where you can have very selective depth-of-field. However I am not used to the manual zoom ie: walking backwards & forwards!

And thanks Tim too, for your feedback. Half of my images of Zoey are always blurred-motion! At least he is still for half the time when he is sleeping! And you are right about what the blur expresses - when it comes to grooming time, he is like the Energizer bunny - he keeps going and going and going...!
Tim May20-Aug-2009 01:50
I like that there is a sense of motion - the cat has been caught in an instant of time - yet the blur let's me know that there is more going on.
Phil Douglis19-Aug-2009 21:58
Love the energy here -- you express Zoey's fanaticism perfectly. The 50mm is very useful for such closeups as this because there is no distortion, and they usually offer macro capability, allowing you to move in to stress detail. The fast f1.4 lens lets in so much light that it allows you to use faster shutter speeds than usual, which is critical in this kind of image.