Читать книгу Dogtography - Kaylee Greer - Страница 31

Okay, so that said, here’s another photo example I shouldn’t have and should be deeply embarrassed that it exists (hint: I am).

Please don’t judge this dog by this single photo you’re about to see. I have to tell you, this dog was awesome. Despite what you might believe based on this photo, we had an amazing shoot. It was wintery and snowy and fun and magical. A banner day to remember for many years. This dog was a joy to work with. But (don’t worry, there’s always a “but”). While this pup was absolutely lovely in so many ways, he had a very special affinity for sticks. You see, sticks were a very high value, very special prize to this guy. Think of a 3-year-old and their favorite teddy bear that they sleep with every night. This dog worked very hard among all that snow to unearth a brilliant, perfect, magical stick, and once he had it in his possession he was quite proud and very much looking forward to enjoying it all to himself.

This is a completely normal behavior and it is something that, as a professional who works with dogs and who prides herself on knowing safe boundaries when working with animals, I should have anticipated. That said, when I saw the joy of this dog with this amazing new prize he found, I thought it would make a brilliant photo. So I got in close. Too close. I used a 16mm lens and filled the frame up entirely with his face. I was probably about 5 inches away from his mouth. I was so excited in the heat of the moment, that I forgot to consider how aggressive this action might be to this dog who has a very special resource, and who may not want to share that resource with the clicky camera girl whose been all up in his business for two hours thus far. I should have considered all this before moving right into this moment. I let the selfish need to capture a photo override my better sense. When I got in close, this was the dog’s reaction.

Pictured here in crystal clarity, is the very 1/200th of a second that I realized that I was inches away from potentially getting my face bitten right off of my body. Enjoy.

Whoa. That was a reality check. Just like humans, dogs have thresholds and boundaries and I was really bold in crossing the line of this dog’s comfort zone.

Thank goodness I realized my mistake in the nick of time and removed myself from this pup’s immediate bubble. (For the record, this dog never attempted to bite me, despite how rude I was being. He only gave me those warning signs to send the message that he wasn’t comfortable with my face in his face. Which is so, totally fair.) But looking back on this photo always reminds me that my job most definitely has its hazards, and that sometimes, when rolling around in puddles and covering my lens in peanut butter, I have to remember that I am not completely invincible.

1.18

FIGURE 1.18 Photo proof of the moment that I majorly overstepped my boundaries while Ralph was trying to enjoy his very exciting and very high-value stick.