Cats in RAW and a passion for cardboard boxes
Luna and Yellow continue to be photographic subjects of excellence, even if they are not studio models, preferring to be photographed “as is”. This series of photos from recent days was all edited in a couple of hours session in the software ON1 Photo RAW version to be launched next week.
The photographs published with this note were all taken recently, being more grabs from the day to day life of our two cat companions, Yellow and Luna, than anything else. We just feel the need to keep documenting — with some video, but that’s for another day — their moments with us. This series was edited, in the last couple of hours, while I am testing the new version of the RAW editor ON1 Photo Raw, which will be launched somewhere next week.
I received it a couple of days ago and I am trying out some of the new features, while testing the stability of the program. I’ve edited this series of 11 photos after browsing, comparing, selecting and going through the normal editing process without any special problem. The program seems to be more stable than a previous version, while also offering new functions, some of which users were eagerly expecting. I’ve to write a whole article for Pro Video Coalition, but that’s for next week, when the official release happens. For now I am exploring this version, to get back to the people at ON1 next Monday, with some questions and, eventually, any problems I find during the test.
Besides one or two initial crashes, the editor seems to be running OK, with now and then some small problems — thumbnails disappearing for a few seconds, some pauses between the change of sections — which I believe will be ironed out. I am not expecting it to be blazing fast, because the sheer amount of functions ON1 Photo RAW has under the hood is really fantastic. You can do almost anything with it, without needing to use external editors. That’s something users will have to understand when using the software.
Anyways, this series of 11 photos edited from RAW files, is a good excuse to share some more photographs of Luna and Yellow, while suggesting those interested that editing their own photographs of animal companions might be a good idea to create a more organized document of their pet friends. The photos now published show different moments of the two cats, which, although not yet sleeping side by side do share now, sometimes, the same bed, a sign of the bond that has grown between them.
They play together, running around the house like mad, each with very specific behaviour patterns that are fun to watch. Luna, for example, is a specialist in big jumps, using the walls as a spring loaded ramp to help her move in a completely different direction while mid-air. It’s crazy to watch, too fast to photograph, and I wonder what the neighbours will think is happening when she does it late at night, a time she seems to prefer to “go crazy”.
Yellow continues to think that life is continuous play — except when she is sleeping, something she does for hours — and Luna, sometimes, does not have the patience. She hisses like a cat, then, and turns to go somewhere else. Probably one of the cardboard boxes we seem to be collecting around the house. Yep!
Now, each time we receive a package in a cardboard box — their food and sand comes in such boxes — they take ownership of the box as soon as it is empty. We even have boxes stacked on each other now, because they love to sleep on the “top floor”. I even built a cardboard box nest on a space where I’ve some of my photography backpacks, because they started to try to climb the pile to sleep on top. Some of the photographs shown here are from Luna and Yellow on that strategic place, which also allows them to keep an eye on what’s going on in the street outside. Another couple of pictures shows Luna taking possession of a box just arrived. They love boxes, to the point that Yellow, which is smaller, uses a very small box where she barely fits, to “hide”, staying there looking around as if we could not see her. These cats are completely mad. And we love them.
