I shot a model - and fed an elephant.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Yes, I shot a model, and fed an elephant. Allow me to explain. For some time now I have enjoyed working with a Melbourne model named Soph. She and I first worked together when I needed a model for the cover of Total Image magazine. She has often worked as the model for my photography workshops and I would be happy to work with her for a number of other projects as well. She is a great poser!

She asked me some time ago to help her with some corporate fashion photographs and I was more than happy to oblige. We just needed to work out a time, which, between her schedule and mine was not easy to do. But yesterday morning, it all came together. I picked her up from her home and we drove to the ruins in Sunbury where I photographed Samantha Bennett recently with my old friend, Glynn Lavender. Whereas corporate fashion is often photographed in corporate surroundings, I wanted something different. Hence, the return to these ruins. Soph was a trooper, risking her ankles and her shoes on these broken bluestone bricks at her feet and even standing in the archway being blown about by the wind knowing that behind her was only a sheer drop and a jagged end to her fall. But, we had fun. 

After that, I had to get to Eynesbury Estate for a wedding I had to photograph. This time however I was not the official wedding photographer, but rather a commercial photographer capturing candids of an actual wedding in process for Eynesbury's own wedding advertising. The professional covering the wedding allowed me a few minutes to set up this photograph so I could incorporate the wedding cars, the couple and the Eynesbury main building for an advertising photograph. I had a about three minutes to do it, so I quickly had the cars put in place, set up my off camera Nikon CLS flash system and took a few photographs.

I had been informed that the real reason Eynesbury had asked me to come to this wedding was because there was going to be an elephant here. Somehow, some way, an elephant had been organised for the bride and groom to feed on the wedding day. Because the estate boasts a lot of old National Trust fences etc, the elephant was not allowed to leave the truck. Nevertheless, the bride and groom got to feed it, have their photo taken with it and get a few blasts of elephant snot in the process! I mean, who wouldn't want elephant snot stains on her wedding dress? It makes perfect sense to me! After seeing me try to get photographs of the elephant and the bride and groom, one of the guests asked if I wanted a photograph taken feeding the elephant. Hey! Why not? I mean, I have seen some bizarre things at weddings, but this was entirely new!