My New Holiday Toy and Season's Greetings!


I have never been able to successfully photograph rats. I've gone through rolls and rolls of film, and all I get is blurs and blobs of fur and fleeting glimpses of whiskers. But thanks to a generous husband and an early holiday gift, I can now photograph rats almost like a pro. Look out Grove Pashley, here I come! (For posters featuring more of his super photos, go here.)

I've been wanting a digital camera for ages, but they're all so awfully expensive. The ones for kids are cheaper, but don't have very high resolution or photo quality. Then I discovered that Logitech now has a QuickCam with pretty good resolution and a fairly reasonable price. I convinced my husband to get me one, and now I am the proud owner of a QuickCam Pro! (He found it at a better price than their listed one -- and with a $20 rebate -- it really pays to shop around.)

I've decided to share with you my first attempts at rat photography. I'm sure I'll get better at it, but I'm really quite impressed. The rats still don't hold still very well, but at least I know right away if a shot worked or not. No more wasted rolls of film!!

Some quick tips on rat photography:

  • Rats hate to stay still for long -- you'll miss a lot of very cute shots, but stick at it! Eventually you'll get a good shot or two.
  • Give treats to bribe them to stay still. Works almost every time...
  • Try shooting in a limited area or on top of something a bit too high for rats to jump off. Your rat won't stay completely still, but it does help.
  • Make weird noises to distract rat from moving. Don't make them too scary, or you'll just get another blur!
  • Try using interesting smells to get good shots of curious faces. Essential oils, baking extracts or spices are good for this. Open jar and blow gently across jar opening to waft odor toward rat.
  • When all else fails, wear the rat out and take a shot of him sleeping!

For more tips from the master himself, see Grove Pashley's article on Photographing Rats

Now, without further ado, I (and the rats of Shadows House Rattery) would like to wish you all a very happy holiday and hope that 2000 is your best year ever! On to the pictures:

The copyright of the article My New Holiday Toy and Season's Greetings! in Rats and Rodents is owned by Karen Yang. Permission to republish My New Holiday Toy and Season's Greetings! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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