Never work with children or animals…

It’s been said that one should never work with children or animals and from my experience, I tend to agree. When editing my last post Travel themes; Red, I had a giggle to myself thinking about how difficult that shot was to take. Now obviously there were no animals or children in the shot, but what went on behind the scene was a very different story.

I set up the shot for a proportion assignment I was doing in my Dip Photoimaging course. I figured the capsicum and or fruit would look kind of cool in the miniature trolley and would demonstrate the photographic element of proportion. So with different coloured cardboard on hand to create a cyclorama, I placed the props where I wanted and proceeded to take some test shots.

Enter Stanley.

Yep, you guessed it, just as I thought I had the perfect shot his lordship saunters onto the ‘set’. And as he’s not one to want to miss out and more particularly having the need to be in my presence 24/7, he felt it his job to make sure I had set up correctly. So he sniffed and licked, sniffed again then proceeded to plonk himself down next to the trolley and in doing so, knocked it over and sent the apple rolling away and in a flash was off in hot pursuit. Now I’m quite sure there are many dog lovers among us who probably feel as I do that our 4-legged friends would speak if they could and in the moment I just described had Stanley been able to voice his thoughts, it may have gone a little like this.

‘Oops, sorry mum, it’s all good, I’ll get it’, and off he bounced and on his return deposited the now mildly mangled apple complete with slobber and dribble back onto the cardboard, thus creating a very different effect. Feeling very pleased with himself and the fact he was obviously a great help he began wagging his tail frantically, which connected with the apple, which in turn sent it rolling all over the cardboard leaving mangled apple goo in its wake. Some may have become angry, but not me as I was too busy laughing at my loveable fuzzy faced friend whose only crime, so to speak, was to help.  So I simply exchanged the soiled yellow cardboard for a crisp, clean white one and shot off  more images whilst Stanley watched from a more prop friendly vantage point; the couch.

Ah animals, you gotta love ’em.