Never work with....

Meet Gomez....

 Yes, I do pet photography too!

Not as much as I used to, but I do enjoy it. Animals are totally and instantly accepting of the camera and are more phased by the presence of the strange man holding it....usually!

Peepoh- the first minute.

This shoot came about through a scheme I joined where people buying pet insurance through a certain company would have the choice of special offers from local businesses- mine involved a free photo shoot of their pet.

The old- flying catnip mouse ruse.

Gomez was my first client- he was a very young cat with limitless energy and he spent the entire session running crazily around the garden, stopping only to catch his breath, or to chomp on some of the treats we put down in an attempt to catch him at a standstill.

The title image was one of those moments. From many hundreds of shots I think my average 'in focus' rate was 1 in twenty- not what I would normally aim for: but he was so fast, my camera couldn't keep up. He saw the shoot as a game where he tried to stay as far away as possible from me and, as much as we tried, he managed to keep a distance, and on the move. The owner helped with the treats and a scabby mouse on string- Gomez' favourite toy- but with limited success.

Tired....

After about an hour he started to tire, lying panting on the grass, so I was able to get a few more shots in with a long zoom lens before we ushered him back into the house and closed the door- apparently he would eagerly disappear over the fence via the apple tree at any opportunity.

Gomez was the only cat I worked with during that promotion, the rest being dogs- but he was certainly the hardest work!