It is around this time of year that string lights begin to appear on suburban houses with the unpredictable suddenness of a fungal outbreak. We, as a species, collectively decide that the most rational thing to do with our weekends is to trek into a frozen pine forest, chop down a perfectly healthy piece of flora, and drag it into the living room.
There, we cover it in fragile glass balls, wrap shiny paper around small boxes to torment the local children into a state of near hysterical delirium, and pretend this is all entirely normal behaviour.
Cashing In the Ultimate Gift Voucher for Pet Photography
One such shiny box delivered last Christmas contained a gift voucher for pet photography. It was, in my humble opinion, a magnificent piece of gift giving.
With the festive season looming once more, this was the ideal weekend for Garry to finally redeem his gift. Doing so required prizing myself out of an extraordinarily comfortable armchair, a minor tragedy, though in hindsight a necessary intervention, as I was precisely one mug of cocoa away from slipping into a hot chocolate induced coma.
Enter Tia: a one year old dog operating on the sort of relentless, eye watering energy usually seen only in seven year olds who have gained unsupervised access to a bag of espresso beans. She offered me a brief, cursory sniff of approval before vanishing into the middle distance at warp speed.
How to Photograph a Fast Dog: Shutter Speeds & Mud Mechanics
Fortunately, I am reasonably handy with a camera and possess the good sense to crank the shutter speed up to the sort of fractions of a second usually reserved for measuring particle physics.
This is a crucial skill. My standard human portraiture mostly captures people mid blink, looking as though they’ve just been hit on the back of the neck with a cold trout. But with the camera set to maximum velocity, I somehow managed to freeze time and capture Tia looking like the utterly magnificent queen she is.
The Best Unique Christmas Gift Idea for Dog Lovers
So, as the glow of early Christmas lights begins to bathe your neighbourhood in festive madness, might I suggest a unique gift idea?
Why not buy a loved one the quiet, unadulterated pleasure of watching a gentleman of a certain vintage lay flat on his stomach in the mud, attempting to photograph a furry rocket? A pet photography shoot isn't just a present, it's a hilarious memory captured forever.