Farewell, Little Buddy

I lost one of my favorite photo models this week. Mokie was a kitten when my wife and I got him 15 years ago and he's been a good friend and constant companion ever since. Needless to say, it's been a long week or so. Any pet owner would agree.

Like most "children," he was often a ham when I pointed the camera at him. To get pictures of him that didn't involve him either showing off or turning his head I often had to sneak up on him when he was sleeping or shoot pictures from a distance with my 80-200mm so he didn't know.

One of the first pictures I shot of him (the one above) I had to plan in advance. I parked my camera next to me during an afternoon nap one weekend when I knew he would nap on the blanket with me. Of course, my planning wasn't perfect, as I had left my 100mm f/2 lens on and not my wide angle. As I pushed my head into the back of the sofa to try to get enough distance to get a photo of him, he woke up. It's still one of my favorite photos of my Little Buddy.

As is often the case with people, my wife and I used pictures to help us through the grief. We spent the weekend looking for as many pictures of Mokie as we could find and put together a little video memorial. It certainly isn't my best work, but it did help us remember all the good times we had with our feline buddy. He will always be missed, but he won't be far from our hearts, thanks to all the pictures I took of him during the good times.