When it all comes down to it, photography is pretty darn easy; that is, with the exception of the following subjects: people, food, fashion, music, wildlife, still life, news, sports, travel, interiors, exteriors and—among other things—pets.
Shooting for last year’s Advocate pet issue was fraught with all the triumph and defeat you’d expect of running around with photo gear, high hopes and pet treats. Among other discomforts, I was nearly mauled by a large house cat one day and on another found myself prone in a backyard in wait of a sprinting dog only to come up realizing I’d been lying chest-first in a pile of crap.
In spite of the challenges of pet photography, a photog catches a break sometimes, and last year’s Pet Issue offered one such instance when I had the pleasure of working with Scout, Lakewood resident Kaitlyn Culbertson’s standard poodle.
Many pets get spooked by cameras, let alone strobes, umbrellas and soft boxes. Scout was different. After all, it wasn’t her first time in front of the lens. (She’d been featured in a music video by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.)
The day I photographed Scout I’d get my lights dialed in, raise my camera and say something like, “Give me ten degrees left and a snap of energy. That’s it! Hold that!” And she did.
Well, OK, it might not have worked out quite like that, but she very agreeable… a smart pup, to be sure. I recall thinking it was perhaps no accident that John Steinbeck motored 10,000 miles around the nation with a standard poodle as his travel buddy.
Scout just seemed to get it. It was as if she knew she was supposed to be my supermodel for an hour, and I don’t doubt that if she had been a supermodel she would have known precisely when and how to flash a coquettish smirk, or let that satin spaghetti strap slip off her shoulder… only in this case my model was not rewarded with a contract extension, but a few all-natural dog treats.
Looking toward 2013’s Pet Issue, we can only hope that the featured pets in our magazine prove as graceful and easy-going as that photo shoot with a sweet, smart dog named Scout.
I’m sure Steinbeck’s dog would have made a stellar supermodel as well.
