Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: George the Rabbit Part 1

Working with more challenging animals just like I see it, georges is this a even more challenging than what a normal rabbit would pay so this's going to be really interesting scenario just to see how even I can cope with being in a situation with the rebel which is can't hear you but normally when you work with a rabbit um because they do hear things they just freeze so rabbits team to be one of the easiest animals to photograph so I was going to be very interesting with george because he can't hear he's a little bit more active because any noise is not going to make a start on team to do the freeze frame like a rabbit normally does, so it will be very interesting as I previously mentioned, I have worked from everything from frogs and gold fresh to lions, tigers, chimpanzees most commonly I work with cats and dogs um that's the general everyday to mystic pit, but we have gone for everything from the topping to the scale to the bottom into the scale, basically for on regards to animals ...

and rabbits. Also, I've had a plenty years of experience of working with rabbits so it's hopefully I can work my magic on george really that's funny like when I was working during rabbits that you can get a vase with a rabbit and just a few pick it up with with soft light fabrics and things and so there's a little space at the top you can normally just let picker rev it up and it'll ball and place it into the top of the bars and it will just stay there. Yeah, I've done this and it's a zoo out there the book there's a image I did have a rabbit on often in the home decor shops you can get like gorgeous ceramic bowls and things and I got a whole lot of variety of balls and I had this little dwarf rabbit just sitting up on a ball I placed him there he just set there literally normally with rabbits issued khun take like five to ten minutes and it's done they're so really so cooperative to work with it's fantasy, but this could be completely here's me saying this and this is probably going to be a completely different scenario with george but he is cathy's amazing with him, but she's just got such a fantastic touch with them and she's tall she's actually taught him to jump over little obstacles. Adler where we've got to get there on a good show that well, I can't say it's ever be so curious there's not not something I would normally photograph because I do more still opposed images but will be so great to see george jumping over his little obstacles because he's been taught to joel that spurious weed so anyway, working with these types of animals exactly the same thing at all boils down to patients and keep come, especially when you're working with large kits like, if you do get an opportunity, work with lions and tigers and things, they are probably the most sensitive to your feelings so seriously, if you feel thira probably don't go inside a cage with kids over the tiger or lion because they will sense it, it's like a a non kept person, goes into a house with a kid that cattle go sit on that can on the person that's exactly the same thing with big kits, they will be drawn to you if you're if you're not comfortable with them. I don't know what it is about animals, but they seems maybe they just want you to feel comfortable with them, so they come up to you and they just try and pushed the a presence on you so that you will then relax and they can actually and you, khun, I don't know what it is, but I've been very fortunate. I've always bean incredibly calm around animals, even to the fact that bean diving with shacks before we came back onto the boat and the guys, the diving instructors looked at the x, the oxygen left in my tank and they said to do actually breathe down, I went yeah, and they say, well, normally when we come back from a diving experience, everyone's tanks are nearly empty because they've been like because it was near sharks and apparently offices that come that I came back with nearly a full tank because I just breathe really just calmly the whole time and wasn't it wasn't aware the fact that we had men eating creatures swimming around us and and also it's really important teo be really aware of any danger, make sure like I've worked with the light, the tigers that tiger island and brisbane before which was amazing, but all these tigers were kept on chains on when I was working with them, so any other shots I took I retouched the chains afterwards because they are unpredictable they're even even the animal trainers who work with these cats every day I have to be cautious around them all the time and exotic animal or a wild animal is still at heart a wild animals, so you just have to be really realistic about working with them. That's good to always research, research the breed before you actually go on and make them find out about what the characteristics are like the likely things they are going toe are going to react to and things like that and certainly do not do anything which is going to startle an animal I had a I was photographing a baboon once and in australia and it was a really it's, almost like it was a schizophrenic but bone I think was an ex circus animal, which was very vory hey hey was a lovely poem, but he obviously had behavioral issues and like he'd just be sitting the really calmly on the storm, the next thing he just that screeching and doing somersaults and just being so we had to be extra extra calm around this this baboon because he would anything with just triggers him tto have a little one of those little a fit, I suppose you'd call them yeah, and I sound like a mom here when I left this on here don't do anything stupid I'm saying just watch make sure your gear is not around your feet you're not gonna walk back was in trip over and therefore start or somebody by falling down or knocking something down make sure everything sandbagged ifyou've got equipment around you it's just it's all the safety and environmental issues I talked about yesterday with puppies and kittens triple it with working with exotic animals and things yeah, and if anything and it normally would be the case if you're working with like even working with cash in the elephant at the zoo, I had probably two or three handlers there who used to working with the same animals every day so if I have if you've got any questions, ask the trainer make sure what you're going to do is ok, you're not going to do anything which is going to upset anybody yeah, so just keep your wits about you and just be sensible it's logical really all of us so an animal trainers, animal trainers are amazing. I've gotten established relationship with a girl called marie manderson and new zealand who is incredible. She works for a company called animals on cue there's bean, a television siri's done with animals on cue, so I'm not sure if it's a pretty sure it's available here being viewed on animal planet in leicester thinks someone that some of you might have seen it, but marie works for animals on cue, and I've worked with this company for many years now and they are amazing that complete animal lovers and do everything only in the safety and the best interests of the animals as well and the things I've learned from them incredible. It is costly when you bring animal trainers involved to train the animals for a shoot, but kit is well worth it like if I've got a very difficult I've worked with many pigs in the past and it's very important when you're working with any work with young paid so you need to get them used to being handled and that sort of thing so it's very important to have an animal trainer trying to work with them to teach them to do certain things, what you want them to do, like if you wantto toe were something or thankfully out pig, we're working with penelope, a za household pit and she's dressed by the daughter all the time, so we've got a great pig who's coming in tomorrow who hasn't needed new any training, so that should be should be heaps of fun, but I'm normally a just a normal domestic farmyard animal that will need to be worked if you're going to do something complicated with them and put suiting props on them and things, but and you are definitely going more likely get the result you're after if you use an animal trainer like I could pretty much guarantee if I've had an animal trained. I know if I've got all the props, the setup all right really will be finished within half an hour. Yeah, so it's a really good way to put least stress on the animal because you that you know that you're gonna be ableto work really quickly, so, you know, not working for a long, long period of time, but of course that's that's great using animal trainers and if you've got a commercial job is something where you gotta budget, which uncover those experience expenses and that's fantastic, but if you're doing it to do like a licensing ranging things, you've got to be a weird is this image going to be bring in enough money to reimburse you for the experience you're going to incur for creating this image? So just think about the actual image or maybe get the animal train so you can create teen images of this animal because you having it trained so actually make it beneficial for you? Oh my, I want my last point that she was just allow plenty of training for a time for training to say if you've got an ah shoot what you need, you need to supply some images within a month make sure you give the trade the animal training like two to three weeks to work with the animals and then you've got that last week to do the chute, get the final postproduction done on the images, then supply them to whoever you need to supply them too. So just give yourself plenty of time. You can't bring up an animal trainer and say I need a pig to wear head or smoke a pipe or something within a day not gonna happen, so you're just gonna make sure you get realistic with your timing anyway let's move on toe george bailey isa site he hasn't been handled much, so we're going to play it by ear and see how we go this is what we're gonna do is welcome cathy, thanks so much for bringing him along thank you for having us. So this is joy hi, george. He can't hear me. So listen, so what we're gonna do, we're just gonna let open the cage, I'll get you to stay close with them can't because he doesn't he doesn't know you anyway, and we're just going to see if he'll come out with so kathy's just gonna use some treats tto see if we can get him to come out anything really? Maybe here let's see what he does. So I'm just gonna say I'm going to stand off just by doing some really simple images just to get him used to it. I have to because the light's della today I'm going to need to use the flesh were on ifit's good though we might try and teo, I'll just play it by ear and figures and he gorgeous hostess. So so as you can see, I've got a luscious sort of fu rag, which is going to he's going to look really he's a ricks rabbit so he's actually he's feels like velvet that's office most jean told gentle, do you know how old he is for yeah, so it is gonna let him just jump around a little bit and just get used to it we'll just keep it make sure he doesn't go off the table hopefully he's sensible enough I don't think he will he'll go to the beach and realize that there's a lynch the only won't go off yeah god he's beautiful little treats we'll pop one in there you ask your sister then you've always going to sleep them just get used to the environment I'm not going to push him straight into during a fight oh straightaway so it's just really good just oh yeah this is a celebrity which is good so he's just discovered that his feed a slipping on this table super so he probably will stay within within the area which he can walk which is great go he is cool just so in love and no idea what this gorgeous stone yeah look at him he's got around the idea I might get can I actually get somebody from the audience just to come up understand just in the area there just to make sure that he doesn't because I'm neither kathy nor myself are going to get around quick enough to stop him from going off the back of the table if he does decide to go there yeah it's our soft these beautiful you know, I'm sure you have dealt with it smartly so you have it's either perry or dave one of them is rex who's super yeah that gorgeous? I actually read the ricks breeders and that's a breed I haven't worked with with a lot on new zealand, we've got different breeds we do, you get to get the ricks, but we've got the the new zealand white ribbon, which is one which I've worked with quite quite a lot. He's gorgeous that we'll see if it comes up home, what I'm going to do, I'm just gonna fire off the flesh and just see if you fix him. Nope. As you can see, he's not even affected by at all. So which is a good thing? That's what I would always do with an animal, which I'm not even even if a dog came into the studio, which is a really place the dog that always just fire off the flesh a couple of times just to make sure that the animals is feeling comfortable and it's not going to suddenly have a startling reaction to the flesh, that sort of thing, but he's fine, so make sure I'm not chained up anywhere. So what I want trying to he's still inquisitive and wandering around. So what we need to do that is there any other treats he's really fawned over anything hey, have you ever tried him on bananas? No way discovered I was doing a shoot once of a little a rabbit called troy and I hit him in the little pair of spectacles and he was on a book is like a little reading member and we discovered he absolutely went nuts for bananas so all I had to do was hold a banana had an assistant holder banana in front of him he'd put his feet on the books and put the spectacles on him he didn't care at all and he just a song he had the banana that he was finally just walked the banana where you got the shot put it back again and you just a beer it was just amazing eating bananas would be interesting to know if you'll be like bananas yeah yeah yeah gorgeous languages is very alert he's not scared at all because he's got his ears up if he was a little bit more timid or unsure he behaves is flipped back and that's that's a sign of a reb it's not comfortable or if they feel they're in danger they'll have the ears pinned back to the back onto the back but these is pretty crazy miss conover look at his tummy's just like cute is what dummy hey george, I keep on talking to you but you can't hear me so it is really working with these types of animals when you can but you're intensely concentrating on something you're doing a wee or something no that's all right I'm not fast already had cooking we almost like it's fun it's part of animal photography it happens it is good I'm just gonna get up on the safest around so they said instances you didn't did you bring that little hit which you put on you don't you gotta this so funny on facebook kathy posted a picture she put little cowboy hit on them that it was really really cute hey buddy he's not this for mei is not the best angle to photograph forever because you can't really see his eyes they were a bit too great on profile slightly or or if you get them toe to come upon set up more and they turned the heat is just a little bit because the eyes of the story so he sold show doesn't he is really good she's got is I slightly to the side there which is great I'm just gonna do it shot to see whether it is make sure we're all going yes we're a little bit it's quite dark for what I would like that might just open can we pump the light up just a little bit can you just talk a little bit about that the light that you have washing yeah so anymore because there's a saying normally I would choose to work in natural light and because sitting still I actually could probably yeah put my camera on toe tripod and actually work it was like what I did with cookie working a slow shutter speed because he is really, really still and chilled, which I might do because I personally I'm very, very particular how I like my images to book on dh I'm not particularly keen on that that looks too for me that's too dark and contrast in them the lights to hash on the animal so I met shi I am going to change things and I'm just gonna throw my camera onto the tripod cannot scrape that tripod with things and I'm going tio take the slave off and we're going to try and with natural light, I think because I would procure it because the flash actually isn't even put isn't picking up in his eyes either and that so I'm gonna try and work in italy like we've got the light there if we need to go back to it, but but this is me just being really particular ijust love natural light and because we've got an animal which is sitting really still I'm gonna be ableto do a slow shutter speed to get the desired effect, which I'm wanting, so I'll just have to do a test to make sure that so I'll let you know what exposes I'm going to do, but it has come upon their I think doesn't like that isn't that time things to prepare for like how to prepare with well what you've been doing has been amazing you've bean because they say kathy's only head george bailey for a month and so I'm via email from new zealand after it's been hit a little bit of communication with kathy and just because the idea the concept which I wanted to do with georgia's I wanted every ever heard of the story that the velveteen rabbit yeah we're not the first images sort of george when I see this is an option of one of the animals you could photograph during a creative life workshop as soon as I saw him I immediately thought of the velveteen rabbit because he's just got that look about him and the story of the velveteen rabbit is, um about, um an animal which is so loved that it was a toy which is so love that it becomes riel and so I've actually brought with me I'm just gonna can I just get someone else to put on keep on putting it on the wrong way boom I think of um I think I've got around right whether the tripod should be that way so I convene but why should be hang on here that way so I need to put it on sideways I think I put it on from winston east coast sideways sorry different tripods not my dear anyway I've brought with me my mom's titty beer which is the most loved tb I have even ever seen and what I would love to do is get a shot of george my ideal situation would be to get him sitting on put drake the fabric of the fabric or the food over kathy and get george bailey lying on his back a stiff he's just really relaxed and then would put this on his tummy and just try and get it like a zit is hugging the titty beer that would be the ideal situation but because george has not been handled so much I think that's going to be a really he's probably feel too vulnerable in that position because it's not something he's familiar with but so what I might do is just pop the little tb here and we might try and encourage him to bring his feet over top of it just know that he's with the bunny because that was the ideas like the fact that he's a rebel this is the world love toy and so he's thin become the velveteen rabbit so that's the way the concept came with this and also I've been dying to photograph my month's tv here on she let me bring him with what made which was really kind I see mom don't worry it's going to be photographed with a rabbit it's not a puppy or a kitten which is going to destroy it it's a rabbit which probably won't do anything to it for george you're not allowed to eat it. Yeah, you know what I'm gonna do now is get the camera on to beckoned to internet troll life so that I'm actually comfortable with the tailoring and things that way we can actually start shooting if I don't run smooth, that should be right. Why can't I do this or am I doing wrong? Tripod should be perfectly easy. What is it? Sorry till we drop oh yeah we're on can I pick the tripod up? Yep, we're on that's called so what I need to do is be able to do that and to remember to do landscape funny teo remind myself yeah, we're running god, he is so chilled what crews? He crazy little guy. So what I'm gonna do? I love rabbits like this that just syria but he's looking how relaxed he is easier up like he's a lute he's from is probably cause he is deaf. He's probably actually is good as he is he's up a little bit more because he's listening and he's using his other senses more strongly than his actual hearing. So even though it doesn't make sense because of years but he is actually heightened and other areas probably what we might do wait, can we get a banana because I would love to see with his oh, we have a banana denny older where we have going on? I'm just gonna have it have it reading just in case we want to try something because he's actually you're quite far back can I get close enough to you? You know I'm just gonna go out east in a way this is just he's not I would probably team to move him onto his side of it more to photograph oh he's no, I've just noticed he's noticed the camera because I'm on one hundred I'm just gonna change us to four hundred arcee so we're now on four hundred I s so good boys actually watching me now and we're going to be going on to one twenty fifth of a second which even with the movement and his nose might pick up movement and even the breathing of the animal you might oh and he's gonna get his notice the camera over there so he's very is very, very visual in those regards how we would so you can see the difference is very, very looks really yellow up on the monitor but that's that's not actually on this one here is we have got a very yellow like that'll be these studio lights which is making it go really yellow b I can't adjust that and in the and price production if we wanted to well, what I ideally want to do is to bring him off the background a little bit more because at the moment he's too close I'm getting too much detail so we need to do it said it see if you like banana even I'm intrigued by that I don't know whether I want to know where the other other rabbits like bananas we're just gonna it is no okay it's not a general rabbit thing when he's turned his nose up a banana oh, is this laid down what I'm gonna do? I'm just going to see if he'll let me handle him we have carrots parsley? Yeah, maybe if we get a few little things like that because what I want to try and do is encourage him to come off the off the background I'm just gonna, um to see what he's like with the boy you know, it doesn't it's not panicking when you're trying when you actually touched him so it's all good he gets hot, you can notice he's hatching down more which means that he's trying to protect himself a little bit more but still he's being he's really alert with his ears because he he's just very aware of what's around them hey he's great he's not I was expecting him to really struggle and to really not be not be comfortable with being picked up so what I might actually do it I'm gonna bring this and and see this I'm thinking that in the post this image might actually work really nicely is a black and white this is hit what on how I'm feeling with us with the textures of the foods the old bandit out the old tt beer and then things that's going to be a really nice black on my image hey will is now he's got his confidence up again he's gonna know what we need to do is just put a few little treats on here to see if we can get him to come up to the booth so ideally what I'm going to try and do let's encourage them to come forward yep capacity no he's become inquisitive again so I just let him yeah yeah but that's that's good that's actually a really great thing he knows his restrictions and his boundaries so to keep him in one spot having the slippery surface is perfect because he's yeah he's not going to try and run to the edge of the table hopefully because he doesn't feel secure on there yeah listen can't nobody I'm cia thanks get them was gonna come in and see if we can win when you do pick up a rabbit was very important to hold the back end of them really, really firmly because that's where they're going to kick from you're gonna um they get the back legs and they just really, um pump out with the bent legs so but he seemed I was going to see what he's so if I was gonna lift him off the ground now what I would do I would attack my hand writing underneath him and make sure that I've got his bottom really firmly held before I actually lifted him off the background, but I'm just going to see if I could just eat him. Ford without him is actually not too bad. Yeah, yeah, but you also you need to make them that they need to feel secure as well because if you pick him up and he's got his legs dangling he's gonna be going oh, god, I'm gonna fall but if you keep them really tight then they'd have been that they must be all much more secure. They're not going to feel like they're gonna fall or got nothing to say she put their feet on hey, buddy boy it's not easy to come at them from the front so I'm just gonna us a little endurable cathy, I'm going to get you to come back in here and just keep handing him while um, molly's on there because he's possibly just gonna run off, so if you just keep your hands on him and I'll get the camera set up what ideally wanted to do at the moment? He's a bit hunched what ideally want is for him to sort of relax a little bit, but we'll just get it set up and want to see what he does. It isn't a normal position for a rare but to get into us to be quite hunched anyway so it's um, you know, he might be the one to see, but if he's moving around too much anyway too much so if you can try kathy all you do keep his bum really firm don't feel nervous about it because you're not going to hurt him just be really calm and just keep it from firm but not like really intense pressure on them but just hold him firmly and hold his chest and a gym. Beck so he's a little bit through the back onto on the rabbit that's great that's good well done wasn't much that we don't owe expression is so cute I'm actually gonna work and let escape on this because of the, um, the shape of the tbm it's gonna come down a bit, get myself also that will come in and bring right? I'll bring him back over and then if I'll just get you to come straight back and behind me and put your hands back on him so that we keep him in place but he's not he's not freaking out your old good that you came you've got yourself in a position now you see I could probably bring him into my hands and and to me really easily now he's not even kicking and I actually haven't even gollum pulled into a football so he's very very chilled you don't like my mom's tv so if you come in cafe and just take over the hand position and I'm just gonna get them so what I'm going to do I'll just get a shot so if you just back up just take your hands out let's go see how that looks hey at the moment he looks nervous so is that the position I've got him in there? He doesn't look like a comfortable rabbit so now what I would try and do is to keep him there but to get him to be a little bit more inquisitive and that maybe might sit up a little bit and look around and that's when a rabbit is hunched they do look doesn't look as comfortable with what they are so I'm just going to see if he if he's going to use his visual I contact he might watch a feather not sure he might not we're working with these types of animals they're all different but you just have to sort of just play it by ear have a few things and just try new things but often with a rabbit seriously it is just waiting for them to suddenly feel comfortable and here he might just start lifting his body up looking around a bit and yet like that hey buddy so what we're gonna do is if you could just hold his bum I'm just gonna lift his front feet up and over well maybe too far did we bring you to foul this right I'll bring the beer up hey buddy yeah well just keep on a time frame here buddy so what is it with this titty beer you doing what I'm gonna do it I might actually even angle you a little bit more that way oh no my mom will never trust me again I spent in his family tree is eating a treat so that's good so you keep your hands on and what I'm ideally want him to do never even have you noticed in the time we've had images anything that he really looks at or watches really it's more like what? Well treats what training what traits? Okay give you that much just stuart I might just try a little so the traits and more of the what he's after going to see what he's like with no this is too healthy too healthy it is you want to see a disc of ego he's your ray but you're gonna need to be able to do this thank you so much yeah, so I think it's often it's a it's a confidence with the owners as well as knowing how to actually handle him. Like if I did this. Yeah it's just sitting in mom's should I take the picture for manu photography? Yeah, so he's perfectly happy proving one thing which rabbits don't often like is you just stroking them up the nose? It's something which they don't particularly like you got going up and over the years. So it's always good just to pet them on the back something but he's just got I'm not even holding him that firmly. There is not tryingto get out or anything is very, very relaxed and adorable. I don't want to put him down very, very cute this's when you're moving them that's when he will start to struggle just a little bit more but he's all right, he's not he just wants to be back on his feet, but he's not he's actually, that was not like a rabbit was going to hurt you. He'd have so much power on his back feet that I would have been covered in script, but that was really gentle kicking that was just just put me down I want to be back on my feet so he was he was fine from here yeah, so your nieces went if your nieces wanna carry harry and myself just teach them that he's not he's not a real kick your he's not going to hurt them? Yeah, which is good he's a gentle river. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I noticed that the dogs and the rabbit tends to be moving back towards the background. Yeah, if we were to bring the background four near the bear that the rabbit gets settled and then dropped the background back take the shot. Yeah. That's absent an idea. Yeah. That's what? I need other people that would involve having more people on see it? Of course, because you need other people for that. That is a really good, but I've never done that before, but it's a very good point. Yes, it could be that could work. You could actually have two people either side of the background and hold it up with the poppy. It possibly would make them just encourage him very even through the forward, but with the rabbit and might work because he is moving himself back to feel the secure innis behind him. But he's actually quite confident little ribbon he's gonna he's gonna stop burying no that's cool. We're just gonna bring him out here doing count very innit, visit exactly I'm gonna make a nest, you're gonna make a nest when it's trying one more boy this is really good for him tto handle this handling he says to me would be perfect yeah that's right but I think you should do well hopefully feel confident now that was perfectly in focus when I even put the camera was great but I'm just gonna come this way a little bit even this like even though his hunch down I've changed the angle slightly which most doesn't make him look so we're looking at over two we've got more light coming now bye bye hey buy you back just can we just pull that back corner just a little bit on the background of a shadow coming in which was he's bright he's gonna pop you back up there again you go this is no yeah I don't either he's paying so it's so good is I was sort of thinking that we weren't gonna be ableto hold him at all but yeah I had faith in your bunny whispering but I don't I'm not I don't think I've got any whispering t ijust got plenty of years of experience of working with animals so I'm knowing howto handle them and just just try to stay calm and get them toe feel comfortable with me as well let's do it right personally I met you I'm actually not liking the background but I think maybe change that a little bit come back a little bit yeah