Butch the cat - both photogenic and patient

I had the sudden urge to buy a new lens for my Canon EOS. I've had a Canon EOS since they first came out back in the 1980s - my first was an EOS 650. My son was born after my EOS 650, and he grew to love photography, eventually doing a degree in Digital Photography. I lent him my EOS 650 (older than he was) which he used for his film photography. I then got him an Canon EOS 1000D - he retained my lenses and filters. I had a nice 35-70mm zoom and a 100-300mm zoom.

After leaving uni, he eventually upgraded his camera and bought a different make. So this year I received his hand-me-down EOS 1000D digital camera together with my original EOS 650 film camera and all my lenses.

I was surprised at how challenging it was to get back into using an SLR. I've become so reliant on my iPhones to take all my photographs - I even stopped bothering with my compact digital - the iPhone pics were so good. It was hard to get back into peering through a view-finder and just taking more active control over the settings - but I used to do that all the time.

Browsing the web, I came across the lensbaby composer. I'd been toying with the idea of getting either a macro lens or a wide-angle (or both). It had been harder than I expected to take good photos with my new EOS. The controls were all slightly different to my old 650, and I'd rather lost the nack. A few of my photos were very good, but most were mediocre.

So, I just bought myself a lensbaby composer. Learning to use it tonight, I am already getting far more confident with the EOS 1000D controls and I feel that I'm starting to get a feel for it. It feels good.

My cat, Butch, has kindly posed for many photos. He is an ex-stray that I adopted many years ago with the most kindly personality and great patience. He gazes at me with big eyes and I wonder what is going on his head. He certainly seems a very reflective chap and I think this picture, with the edges blurred with the lens baby, really captures the essence of Butch.