I've been working on the winter issue of our print newsletter this week and the last photo we needed was, of course, the one with Alayne and me with one of our animals for the "ranch letter." We hadn't done a horse in a while, so we decided it was time to feature our beautiful blind mare Lena again. This meant there were plenty of outtakes — as usual!
Now, the problem with having a horse in the photo is … the ears. Yes. I want their ears facing forward, not backward or sideways or one forward and one backward. But, you see, the horse knows a) there is a camera present and b) that I want both ears facing forward and c) that there are any number of ear positions possible that don't involve both facing forward. It's difficult enough to get two people both looking at the camera in the right way, but as you've seen from previous outtakes, getting the animal looking just right adds to the challenge. And when you add a pair of multi-directional swiveling horse ears … well, all bets are off. So here is a progression of scenes from the photo session we did a few days ago, which resulted in the "that's it!" photo above that we will use in the newsletter (cropped to center us in it).
The photos were taken by Kate P., our wonderful new part-time animal care employee. Alayne had already delivered "the speech" to Kate about what the photo session would be like and what to expect. Kate was gracious and patient through the entire thing — thank you, Kate!
So we start with me framing the shot I'm looking for. I ask Miss Marker to stand just-so in the spot:
Then we add horse … please note ears aerodynamically positioned for drag-racing:
Next I hand the camera to Kate and step into shot … please appreciate the one-forward/one-backward ear arrangement:
Then Lena reverses those ears, just to see if I notice out of the corner of my eye:
That's blind Cash in the background, wondering what those strange people are doing with his Aunt Lena.
I decide to switch things around and ask Miss Marker to hold the horse while I look at different framing … and ears have flipped again:
Then I get the perfect shot of horse (look at those ears!) and woman … but alas, someone's missing from the scene:
Lena is very confused by this point, as are Miss Marker and Kate, but all hang in there.
I decided I liked the original framing better and returned to the scene … though I can't recall why both of us were looking at Lena this way (click on photo for full effect). She's looking great, we're the ones screwing up the shot:
Then I discovered that if I blew into Lena's ear, she'd flick both ears forward:
But she fell for that trick only once. (Smart horse, eh?)
Finally, shot No. 65 of 68 was the one:
Lena was very relieved to have her halter taken off so she could resume grazing. I'm sure she was muttering to herself as she walked away, "What was that all about? And what's wrong with my ears, anyway?"
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Still 2nd place as of Thursday — but it's close!
Please keep voting for the sanctuary in the Shelter Challenge — the votes are adding up! And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.
You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.
Please note: Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.
It was thanks to all of your amazing votes that we won the $20,000 Grand Prize in the final Shelter Challenge of 2009, and we came in fourth nationwide in the first Shelter Challenge earlier this year, winning $3,000. So this is serious money and can really make a difference for our disabled animals! Please help us win this round of the contest by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too. Thank you!
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