Never work with kids or animals

That saying has been banded around for many years, I think it started in the theatre or maybe even on TV, anyone old enough to remember the baby elephant on Blue Peter will agree to that, who would try and hold onto a defecating elephant that wanted to leave the studio? Kids are just as bad, I don't recall the program name but it was a Saturday morning show presented by children, the poor girl reading the auto-cue was meant to say 'Prix' (as in Grand Prix) but pronounced it 'Pricks', bless her!

So what's all that got to do with Photography I hear you cry (I don't actually, but what the hey). Well I realised the other day that most of my work centres around those two subjects so am I mad or just desperate?

To be honest, it's neither, if you know what you are doing and you have the desire to get the shot then both are very acceptable subjects, hard work, but very rewarding. There is still a huge amount of skill in taking still life or advertising pictures (I will tell you about the boiling sprouts one day!) but I find nothing more exciting when a parent dumps their little darling in front of my lens and states 'You won't get him to smile, he hates cameras/men/lights/wednesdays (choose any one). What a challenge! The problem isn't with the kid, it's the parent who if he/she is honest, they would love a great picture of their child to show to friends and hang on the wall, the truth is they haven't been able to do it themselves so why not blame the kid for not wanting to participate? We all do it everyday, how many times have you heard 'Stupid car broke down today, it ran out of petrol (or similar)', when in fact we mean 'I forgot to fill the car up and I ended up stranded'. Or perhaps the most frequent one, 'Bloody weather, i'm soaked' as opposed to 'Wish I brought a coat or looked at the weather forecast'.

Ok, i'm going off on a tangent but then why not? So do I have anything worthwhile to say now that i've alienated most of the country? Well yes I do, if you want to take a decent picture of a child or an animal simply stop and think first, try to see what is happening through the eyes of your subject. Is this a good time? Am I doing anything that could make the subject nervous or frightened? Am I helping or hindering the situation? Am I on the same level as the subject (not looking down, very bad!)?

You get the idea, give it some thought and I bet you get the photo. If not, ask someone like me to do it, I bet you won't be disappointed.