Mojo - Totally Zen

thisismylife (75)in Liketu • 2 years ago

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First time entering the Deranged Photography Contest

I've seen the contest before and I enjoyed checking some entries as well, but I never decided to enter myself. Why? Simply because I feel my phone camera is not good enough to capture things the way I'd like them to be. Although I hope in a while, I will be able to buy a camera, for now, phone shots is what I can offer. Of course, I'm not competing in the pro tier anyway, so even if I won't win, it will be nice to share our new family member this week. It's been just two weeks since he joined us after we caught him just around the corner where he was living on the streets with his siblings.

Cat TV all day

Now we have to admit that since Mojo arrived, we watched a lot of "cat tv". The first days this meant we mainly watched Mojo under the tv closet and being very scared when coming out to get food and water. During the night, a lot of meowing happened, thankfully, this lasted just 3 nights before slowly he started to feel more comfortable inside and not wanting to break out through the windows. Once this was going better, slowly he started to explore the living room more and sometimes would lay on the dining chair to overview the whole room. This was an improvement because he didn't have to be scared constantly when hearing something and we just love watching him, so this was ideal for everyone. We knew it could take time before we make real friends as this was not a domestic cat until we brought him home.

Playful

Last week, he suddenly started to play a lot. We bought two sticks for him to activate play mode, one with feathers and one with a pink mouse. At first, there was 0 interest for these, paper balls made from receipts were the way to go and he'd chase through the whole room like a crazy cat to play football with them. In response to his playful moods, we donated all the receipts we had and at some point there must have been 15 of them under the couch when he wasn't able to grab them anymore. All for a good cause: making friends with our new family member.

Totally comfortable

Although until a few days ago, we had not seen Mojo sleeping on his back yet, we were happy to see him sleeping on the scratching pole that is a very vulnerable position if not feeling safe here as it's in the middle of the room. First he started sleeping on top of the toy with purple feathers, and at some point he was totally comfortable to start sleeping upside down and was not even spooked when someone came close to take pictures.

I decided to use one of these pictures to enter this week's contest as this day was one with milestones. We are making big progress here every day and I'm confident we will all be great friends in a while.

Taken with my Huawei Pro 30.

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2 years ago in Liketu by thisismylife (75)

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pixelhuntersam (61) 2 years ago

Awww, such a cutie! It will take time, as Mojo doesn't yet understand that humans can be nice. But all that patience will be rewarded with friendship in time. Who knows, your lap may become his favourite sleeping spot soon enough! Mojo looks a lot like my first cat, I miss her dearly.

I understand what you mean about phone cameras, but on the other hand, phone cameras are becoming more and more powerful. Plus, they are a lot easier to carry around and always with you most of the time. I have a very basic DSLR camera that doesn't see much use as I feel awkward taking it with me everywhere. (Not to mention in South Africa, the risk of being mugged is high, and carrying a camera paints you as a target)

Use what you have available and learn what you can do with it. If you should ever upgrade, that knowledge will still be valuable! Best of luck with the competition!

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thisismylife (75) 2 years ago

Thank you, and yes it will take time but I can really say we make big progress every day. Today he started to follow my daughter around when she was walking towards another room. Curiosity is starting to win over fear. And Mojo actually discovered the top layer of the scratching pole a few hours ago and even laid down in it. Proud of every milestone :)

Sorry to hear about your first cat, they truly become part of the family, don't they? Do you have cats now?

About the camera on my phone, it was AMAZING when I first got it, but after some time it seemed that AI started to interfere and those booming pics I had at the start are nowhere to be found. I have reset the camera a few times and even the phone once but it's not what it was :( I may look at a new phone later this year that has such a great camera as well and then just enjoy that for as long as that lasts.. It was a true joy this camera at the beginning.

And you are right, it's so much easier to take. As long as I don't have a car to jump into, I sure will not consider buying a DSLR camera to learn using it, because I already know I will not carry it around with me as we live uphill and I don't like carrying things with me when not needed. But I also know that once we have a car, at some point I would like to learn using one of these good cameras as I see plenty of earning opportunities with it as well once I get to learn more about that.

For now, phone shots it is, and that's ok :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great day !1UP

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pixelhuntersam (61) 2 years ago

They definitely do become a part of the family. She was with us for 13 years and joined the family right before I started high school. A real queen of the house, regal and gentle. My brother ~~stole~~ rescued her from his roommate when he moved back to live with us. Her living conditions where not that great and we are a family of animal lovers, always have been. Not the first rescue to join us. Though, I am not sure this rescue was completely consensual at the time 😂

Even though my brother saw her as his, she chose me, much to my brother's annoyance, haha. My brother later relented seeing the bond we formed. I had always wanted a cat, but my father was against cats. We always had dogs growing up. She was such an amazing soul though and won over my father effortlessly. When we had to let her go, I was shocked to see my father crying. The only other time I had seen him cry was at his mother's funeral. I cried for days. Even now I am tearing up.

I got a second cat when my husband and I moved into our own space. Kitten from an unwanted litter. She was such a bundle of playful and adventurous energy. Sadly, after 10 months, I noticed something was wrong, she seemed to be experiencing seizures. It turned out she had Feline Leukemia for which there is no cure or treatment. I had to let her go as well. She didn't even see her first birthday. I was devastated.

At the moment we don't have any cats. As I am not sure if my kitten was born with the illness (which I suspect might be the case, as she was very tiny) or if one of the neighbourhood cats which bullied her at times might have given it to her. So until I can ensure the safety of any feline additions to the family by securing our yard, I do not want to risk it. We do have two dogs and a bearded dragon. And I love them very much. But there will always be something special about a cat to me. One day I hope to befriend a cat once more...

I have noticed that the AI can sometimes interfere with photographing. I was having a serious fight with my phone the other day in the garden. I was relaxing outside when I noticed some bees on the nearby flowers. I had my phone on me, so I thought I would see if I could get a shot.

Gosh what a struggle! The darn auto-focus kept trying to focus on different things, mostly in the background! I got so many blurry bee photos. I did eventually manage to get maybe two decent ones. At least the bees didn't mind me and kept enjoying the flowers.

I do have a car, but I still don't really take my DSLR out much. Still, it is nice to have that option. I do sometimes simply have fun and play around with it at home in the garden. And I use it when I know I will be safe, such as at events. But going out alone with it is a definite no no. I have had some criminals try to snatch from me before, once my phone, once my handbag. They didn't manage though, thankfully. And these were not armed, more snatch and run types. But friends of mine have had more violent encounters, so I just won't risk it. Besides, it is really hard to focus on getting a nice photo when you are constantly having to look around and be situationally aware of possible criminals, haha.

Whoops, wall of text, sorry!

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fiberfrau (65) 2 years ago

Mojo will have lots of friends here on hive. He's adorable. !HBIT

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hivebits (52) 2 years ago