Dash Kitten CWA Success 2023

Late last week the Cat Writers Association announced the winners of their Certificates of Excellence (CoE) for the blogging year 2022. The Certificates are much sought after as they confirm the best work done by cat artists, authors, photographers, artists and bloggers during the year. Let me tell you about Dash Kittens CWA success.

Judging can be tough as the judges, who are Professional Members, have detailed criteria they need to use when judging each entry.

This year Dash Kitten achieved thrilling success in posts that included a review, a tutorial and most importantly for me personally, a Certificate of Excellence for the Blog. I have truly stiff competition for the Muse® Medallion so I am really just happy the blog is finally in the best shape to help new and aspiring cat photographers, and the Cat Writers’ Judges agree.

Cat Photography in the CWA Contest

For me the biggest news was that this year there are 30+ photographs submitted for the Single Image category which is astonishing and gratifying. Yes, cat photos are now a serious thing and every submission can be proud to receive their CoE for the fine work done. The bar rises every year and the photos get better and better.

This is my own successful submission for the Single Image category. I did not submit an entry for the Photo Series for 2022. I did see that one of our favourite cat blogs Kitties Blue has two sets of images in the photo series which is absolutely fantastic.

Blog Post Success

Cat Steps Review

I rarely do review posts as, frustratingly, we are too far away for many sponsors to send products but, sometimes, I am able lucky enough to showcase local New Zealand’s craftspeople and manufacturers.

These steps were custom made to our requirements and they have been a dream come true for our older cats. As you can see, Jack is happy to model his very own ‘Cat Stairs’ from Beloved Pet Furniture. Natural wood, not plastic, and made in New Zealand.

Celebration How-To Award

My most important CWA success of 2022 was my Celebration Image How-To. The long post includes two videos and detailed instructions for adventuring into basic layers using your own photo app.

It’s also a perfect way to create a tribute to a cat who has passed away, comforting a cat lover as they create an image with a lot of love and care. It means a lot to me and I love this tribute image from the post. This is Dot who helped me win my very first Muse® – an unforgettable moment.

• Mailing List members get a free eBook of the blog post which has been popular.

Dazzlng Your Friends

I sat down and thought about how I would want to impress my own friends (and what I needed to do to succeed to do this!) The result was this post which assembles the best ideas and top tips including good focus and the importance of light. The post includes some of my favourite cat photographs too. I figured we could all use a few shortcuts and this fits the bill.

Fosters For The Win

I know that many of us foster, or know people who foster cat and kittens. We may also know that, sometimes, these peope are not convinced their photos are good enough to help their fosters get adopted. I disagree which prompted this post.

I just hope this CWA success proves to fosters that perfect isn’t what matters. In the post suggest tips and share samples of other fosters photos. A foster’s smartphone can capture the perfect photo that gets that gets a cat into its forever home, because its the moment matters, not pin sharp focus.

Fosters pick up your ‘phones. Your moment is now (or when you can catch your kitten!)