I have had great fun with my shooting blind mini series and will definitely be using the technique again in the future. I've still got a few shots done in the same way that I will be uploading to my other album at some point but this is it for now in my main album. The pigs are definitely the most difficult subjects for this because of the shadows cast by their enormous floppy ears. The fill flash does help to some extent tho.
Pigs have one of the most powerful bites of all domesticated animals. On the odd occasion that I get a glimpse of their teeth it always amazes me because the teeth aren't particularly large and always appeared to have been thrown into their mouths without much thought to where they will end up.
For the past week we have had spectacular weather for the time of year. I took the two old donks for their walk last Sunday while Graham was at the rugby. We walked through the village and they met with some very much appreciated fuss from a few passers-by and gave disdainful looks to a couple of dogs who barked.at them.
On the way home we walked past the end of the road where the village pub is. Now these boys don't readily pass by the opportunity for a graze in the pub garden and a packet of crisps to share, so they weren't impressed when I tried to walk past, stopping in their tracks is if to remind me that I had forgotten something. Fortuntely, I happened to have a fiver in my pocket for just such an 'emergency,' and the thought of a half of Stowford Press cider was quite appealing, so I thought that I would walk past the pub and see if there was anyone I knew in there who would either go and order from the bar for me or hold the donks for me while I did.
Not a soul in the garden. In retrospect not very surprising as the rugby was on, so I walked past the window to see if there was a familiar face in there - only strangers, who were probably wondering if anyone else saw that strange woman squinting through the window whilst out walking with two donkeys, or whether they were in fact hallucinating. Damn!
I turned the donks round to walk home. As we passed the entrance to the garden they stopped. Now when donk puts the brakes on there is not much you can do other than try to gently coax them into action. When two donks put the brakes on the problem is much larger because you have got to get both of them moving at the same time. They simply could not believe that I wasn't going to take them in.
It took me ten minutes to get them the 70 yards to the end of the road.
Why am I talking about donks when I have just posted a picture of a pig? No idea.......
Sorry I have been AWOL for a few days on here. Yet another laptop charger decided to stop working on me, so I had to wait for a replacement.
this is brilliant - sounds as if the donkeys were convinced they were getting their grass and crisps, especially when you did tempting things like walk close and check
A great 'donk' story to go with the pigs......must have made a great picture of you trying to persuade them to move on! I think the secret lies in letting them lead the way....that is the theory anyway which never works! My mind boggles thinking of how low down in the mud you had to be to take this!!
love this series! Thanks for checking in - I'm incredibly busy at the moment , coupled with some big problems with my neck and shoulder so trying not to lug camera gear around with me! I'm going on a couple of shoots over the next few weeks so will hopefully load up a few in the next few weeks. Hoping to get back to it full time if things calm down in a few months - missing the interaction and creative buzz!
I love reading your stories...and I have really enjoyed your 'series' of low shots...this one is particularly good, to my eye. The shadows and details are wonderful. fav
