A day in the hills
A bit of a change from the usual property stuff today. One of my “legacy clients” from my early days a s a freelancer is Dogs Trust. As you’ll probably know, they’re a charity devoted to the rehoming of our canine friends, and will never put a healthy dog to sleep. I’ve had a working relationship with them for many years now after doing a voluntary job at their Darlington Rehoming Centre back in 2005. I only shoot the odd brief now and then – usually getting studio shots of the more difficult sponsor dogs, and going out for the odd PR shoot with their in-house publication Wag Magazine.
I was contacted by one of the chief press officers there and asked if I could put together a plan to shoot some ex Dogs Trust pooches in a spectacular location somewhere. The idea was to get some lovely imagery on mountains etc, and they would provide the relevant dogs and handling assistants. The images were to illustrate the annual report which details the accounts, achievements, and future plans for the charity. It all sounded good, so I put together a budget for a location shoot in the North Lake District.
Unfortunately, as the deadline loomed, they decided to change the plans, and asked me if I could provide the dogs & handlers and sort everything myself. I was half expecting it to be honest, as nothing ever goes smoothly where charity organisations are concerned.
I chose three dogs whose owners I had contact with, and kitted them out with Dogs Trust collars and leads. Two days of shooting were scheduled in two locations, and I set out with my wife and two nippers, plus a backpack of very heavy equipment to accommodate any eventuality.
Day one was set in the Cheviot Hills to the north of Northumberland. I spent many days with my old mutt Elvis up on these fells which are largely abandoned by humanity most of the year. Jake and Jack were our models for the day, and performed wonderfully in the most part. Having the kids was probably the most stressful part of the process, and once they get tired, you can forget working.
The brief was all-encompassing, and included all sorts of caveats and conditions in order to take into account the entire range of protests that they receive from the bloomin\\’ dimwits that complain about every aspect of the things they perceive as animal cruelty. (Such things as allowing a dog to hold a stick in it’s mouth, or drinking water from a river). Various specific poses have to be shot, with consideration given to where text will be placed, and there needs to be duplication of images in portrait and landscape format. All images have to be crisp, perfectly exposed, and have no element of movement blur. There needs to be action, sitting, standing, laying down, walking, and all sorts of different facial expressions. If you think you can be an effective canine photographer for editorial publications without experience and a boatload of gear, then just get yourself a sample brief and go and try it – you will shit yourself as you realise you have to memorise a two page set of instructions, mentally cross off the required shots as you go along, while trying to persuade a wayward, big-balled Labrador to do what you want while it tries to pursue it’s biological prerogative to hunt birds and fight or shag anything in sight.
I slept well that night.
The next location was the beach in front of Bamburgh Castle. An absolutely gorgeous location full of bloody day-trippers. The weather turned out to be ideal – hazy, but not too sunny. Our model for the day was Max – a white Cockerpoo belonging to some dear friends of ours, and who has appeared in other shoots where we’ve needed a reliable mutt at short notice. If they’re reading this, they may laugh at the term “reliable mutt” as Max has a habit of doing whatever he wants until he is physically exhausted. We had to run him ragged before I could finally start to get the shots I needed, and it all worked out well in the end. The kids had a lovely time playing on the beach as well, so it meant I could have a bit of family time while working.
Once I’d recovered from the trauma of those two days, I realised that I was missing some variety in breeds that the brief had specified. I searched through my stock library for some suitable shots, and forwarded a good few shots for inclusion. The collars had to be retouched so that they were Dogs Trust ones, which involved shooting the collars in positions roughly matching those in the various different shots and carefully pasting them in afterwards.
There was even a shot of my beloved old boy Elvis – whose ashes are scattered on the fells where the first day’s shoot took place. His final resting place overlooks the entire Harthope Valley, and I’d like to think that he was looking over us as we toiled – although it’s more likely that he got bored in 30 seconds, and pissed off in the opposite direction without giving us a second thought because he saw something that looked like a sausage.
