just as a warning, i feel a long post coming on… you might want a bathroom break now.
Those of you who know me and my past photo projects might be familiar with the one so affectionately named, “Betty Crocker Country.” It encompassed photos from around my mid-west – aka Minnesota, Iowa and a taste of Wisconsin. I made some images I’m pretty proud of and liked the project enough I plan to continue {when I get that next gusto of inspiration, that is.} But the one photo I always wanted and never got was a variation of this one… I present to you, an image that has been 3 years in the making. I call it, The Horse’s Schnoz.
Ha! I really like this photo. I’ll let you take it in another moment.
To give you a bit more background on my ‘need’ for an image similar to this, let me start with I always felt that my project was not complete without a photo taken right up in a cow’s face. That kind of an image just screams Betty Crocker Country, no? The heartland {and possibly even the cheese capitol of the nation, depending on where you are} has lots of cows, so it seems only appropriate that they would be included in this encompassing photo essay. I was even very close to stopping on the side of the highway once to approach feeding cattle and get my prized picture. But then I had a vision of a farmer leaping off his front porch rocking chair with a shotgun in hand chasing me away while firing shots at my boots as I jumped in the air like Wiley Coyote. I believe that thought was planted in my brain by a combination of visual footage – the first Men in Black {where the farmer get’s taken over by the alien} and that rascal Wiley Coyote. I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Alas, no photo of cow nose was in my final project.
I snapped that photo last weekend while starting my education on equine photography. I do really love horses, but they are a mighty different ball of wax than dogs or cats, including when it comes to photography. I’m taking pictures next weekend of Ben, a beautiful horse who I’m hoping loves the camera. This lovely horse is owned by a friend of my aunt who also owns this guy…
This fuzzy sheep was chit-chatting away waiting for dinner while I took photos of the horses. I think he was hoping my camera lens was a delectable variety of grain. I felt bad dissapointing him when it turned out to be made of glass. After I snapped this, his head went down in his dish and never looked up. I’m thinking it was because his winter wool had been shaved recently so maybe he was feeling a little on the naked side. I probably would if I was a sheep.
Post sheep I came across Fudge the brown and caramel kitty.
I understand this is not the most telling photo of Fudge or her personality. As far as I could tell, Fudge did not really have much interest in posing for the camera. With the light going down quick, I tried snapping a few photos but really all I got were a bunch of blurry ears nuzzling up against my lens. I think if I had had a bit more time to give some good scratching of the ears and I would have had her eating out the palm of my camera. Maybe another time.
Meanwhile, back at the C&G farm, the two darling dear pups were snoozing away after a long photo shoot of their own. As I showed last time, Roux and I ventured up to the site of the mini-session and also as mentioned, she was a bit like a jack-in-the-box. I mean that because I think the entire car ride over there was a bit like the ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ song. As soon as we got up the driveway to the field **POP** – there was little stopping her. The best photos came from the end when I tricked her to come to me. This works every time, I love it – I call her name, and then when she looks, I start running the other way. It’s great.
60% of the time it works every time. {name that movie}
I got her to pause in a a patch of tall grass because I’m pretty sure it smelled like bacon. That seems like a plausible reason for a dog to stop running and eat grass, right?
After getting done most of what I wanted to get done ‘up top’, I ventured down to the house and found this little lovely.
Miss Ahni was planted in the driveway waiting for her family to return from the store. She had an expression of focus on her face like she was willing them to return. I suspect she does this a lot when they leave – she looked experienced.
Well that pretty much sums up last weekend – finally. Only a week behind, wish my scrapbook was like that 🙂 This weekend was a blast, too. Not so much photographically but creatively, comfortably and spring cleaning-y. More on that to follow. I think I’ve exhausted my typing fingers for the evening and it also gives me a subject for my next post. Since those seem to be few and far between, maybe I’ll actually get 2 posted in the same week! Eek – scary thought.
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