Amethyst

You might notice a theme with these recent pictures I have taken.  You see, I really like gems.  The more they sparkle and glitter, the better!  I also specifically really love amethyst.  When I was younger, I would often buy a small chunk of it as a souvenir from the various vacations my family took.  So I definitely already have a lot of amethyst in my home, but something about being on a vacation with my family again turned me into a kid and I just had to get another.  Of course I can't tell where I got each of those individual chunk from now, but they still hold so much value to me.

The nice thing about Nenya being white is that she looks so stunning next to any color, but I especially love the way she looks with the purple of the amethysts.  

I don't know how obvious it is or isn't that Narya is small for being a Syrian hamster, but she really is the smallest full grown syrian hamster I have ever seen.  My understanding is that her siblings stayed small too, so I'm not concerned.  I think it just makes her that much cuter!

Speaking about things that may or may not be obvious, I don't know if you all can tell that there is generally at least one picture from each ham in which they are eating.  I try to time the pictures so the food isn't super obvious (in other words, wait until they have stuffed it and pause to see if there is more food before I take the picture), although there are definitely times when the pictures in which they are obviously eating are so much cuter.  Anyways, using food is a trick I often utilize to get the hamsters to stand where I want them to be for pictures.  Anyways, I brought that up to explain why Vilya has his paws up to his face in the first picture.  :)

Turtle

I FINALLY got around to taking new pictures of these adorable little hams!  Sorry it took so long!  Summers force me to be flexible and spontaneous which is something that I typically fight against happening because I love my routine and schedules.   I was out of town for one week with the youth at my church working in Flint, MI with an organization called Flint Mission Project which focuses on providing help such as new roof, painting, yard work, etc to those who can't afford it.  It was a lot of hard work, but it was so awesome!  I was also in Townsend, TN for a week with my family.  The 16 of us who were able to make it were all in one rustic, but beautiful cabin with the most gorgeous view you could imagine!  We all had a lot of fun and no one got killed so that's a bonus.  Hahaha!  

I always think Nenya looks so dreamy, like a little cloud.  She's just so cute!

So, summer is winding down for me which has helped me get back into at least some of my old routines, including taking pictures of the hams.  This tiny turtle that they are all posing with is one of the souvenirs that I got from our vacation.  I picked him up at Ripley's Aquarium.  I fell in love with him because we saw a real sea turtle in the aquarium.  Honestly, it was so incredible and I'll never forget it!!

Narya is seriously so pretty and just so calm and sweet!  I call her my fav, but that title changes as soon as I pick up one of the other hams.  Haha!

Vilya holds a special place in my heart because he not only looks like my beloved Tarcil, but he acts the most like him compared to the other hams.  He always seems to have the biggest smile and brings so much joy to my life!

Hamster Prints and Products

I just wanted to remind you all that you can get prints and products of some of my favorite pictures of Tarcil! I will also be adding in pictures of my new hammies if you are interested! These make great gifts! I love my calendar of Tarcil. It's so cute and reminds me of the wonderful little guy that he was. :)

This gallery might be my favorite! Within this gallery you will find the results of what started as more of a hobby for me and then become so much more! I have over a thousand pictures of my hamster, Tarcil, so it was difficult to narrow it down to my favorite, but you can see them here!

Thank you all for your support! :)

Succulents

I took these pictures at the same time as the ivy pictures.  All the hams did so well in the ivy, but when it came time to pose with the succulents, they all needed food to bribe them into holding still for these pictures.  The results are still just as cute!

Nenya never hesitates to shove food into her cheek.  It doesn't matter how big the piece of food is.  She always tries to stuff it in her cheek and then if it doesn't fit, she pulls it back out and breaks it into smaller pieces that will fit.  This walnut fit in the first try so it disappeared quickly!  She cleaned her face up after that little talent show.  

I thought Narya would be fine without any food bribes, but she seemed like she wanted to eat the succulent, so I gave her a walnut which she stuffed into her cheek right away.  She looked incredibly lopsided after that.  

Vilya was a little slower with his walnut.  He likes to take a bite or two before saving the rest for later by sticking it in his cheek.  Also, I have to point out that he always looks just so happy!  

Ivy Plants

I really loved this little photo session with the hams and I especially loved the results!  

Doesn't Nenya look so dreamy among all that green ivy?!  She's seriously so cute!

Narya is seriously so good at posing for pictures.  She's so cute!

Vilya thought he could hide, but then he decided he would show everyone how cute he is.  

Mini Buckets

Trying new things with hamsters generally mean that lots of food needs to be involved.  In this case, it took a bucketful.  With the help of the mini buckets, the hams were all fairly patient with me while I played around with a new light set up.  The lighting makes it look so dramatic which created a very different look than most of my work.  I think overall this little photo shoot turned out pretty cute! 

More and more I am realizing that Nenya's ability to hold still for even a split second was apparently just a phase she went through because she never holds still anymore.  Nenya is still the most interested in food which can help, but she just shoves it all so quickly into her cheeks, that I still have trouble getting pictures of her.  Oh well.  She's cute so its alright.  :) 

My tiny Narya is so happy to sit still for pictures.  She is showing more interest in food outside her cage, but she's still kinda picky.  I don't mind though, because even when the food is gone, she happily sits until I get the pictures I want.  She's such a good little girl!

I think Narya gets her talent for posing from her dad, Vilya.  He definitely has the ability to do well, especially when he is bribed with food.  In general, even if he isn't interested in staying in one place and wants to explore, he tends to be fairly causal and slower about it, so I can generally still get action shots of him that are in focus.  He is seriously such a big sweetheart just like my Tarcil was.

Mini Pet Bed

So, I got this adorable mini pet bed that is the perfect size for my fat hammies!  Be prepared to see me use this in sooo many photo shoots!  Hahaha!  Also be prepared to see some different photos from me.  I have been playing around with different equipment and set-ups.  I have been trying new things recently which has been both exciting and some times disappointing.  But hey, it's good to try and learn no matter what the results are.  These hamsters can actually be fairly hard to photograph at times which makes them good for practicing. 

Nenya really did not want to stay in this bed.  She was sure that everything outside of the bed was more exciting and needed to be seen close up instead of watching it in a comfy bed from a distance.  She also practically blends into this bed.

Narya seemed to like this little bed the most.  She is the tiniest, so it was big enough that she still had plenty of space to move around and snuggle in.  But even her curiosity got the best of her and she had to venture out to see more of her surroundings.  

Vilya stayed in the bed for the food he got and then to sniff it because he could smell the other hammies had been there first.  But once he realized they were long gone, he didn't have any interest in staying in the bed.  I have to point out how similar Vilya and Narya look in their last pictures.  They both have the same little smile.  I guess it runs in the family.  :)