Never work with children or animals the old saying goes…why not?

I guess it is due to the unpredictable nature of both and the lack of direction they take. Personally speaking, animals and children are my favourite to photograph. Maybe it’s because I’m on the same silly wave-length as kids, or because animals don’t talk back?!

In all seriousness, (if I must!), the main reason I love taking pictures of children and animals  is because they don’t have any insecurities, hang ups or doubts. They are not worrying about if they look fat, how big their nose is, are they showing too much (or not enough) skin, will their picture get any Facebook or Instagram likes and so on. You get the picture (see what I did there ;-). All they are concerned about is having fun, getting some words of encouragement and if they are really lucky a treat at the end of the session. This makes for beautiful, honest and above all genuine images.

Why am I musing about this? Well this week I finally got to use the Christmas gift Mr JB had given me, a photography course at Edinburgh Zoo with the amazingly talented Scottish wildlife photographer Laurie Campbell. I could have listened to his stories and experiences for days. What a career! At the bottom of this post is a picture I took from the day of one of the chimps enjoying some roasted turnip (bwoak!).

Of the eight of us on the course almost half of us were professional photographers in one field or another and that also made me realise that you never stop learning and enhancing your craft. I learnt loads on the day that I can apply not only on my pet photography but in all aspects of photography, particularly when out on location. Brilliant – maximum hubby points awarded Mr JB!

You can check out the rest of the pictures from my day at the zoo over on my Facebook page and to all those who say ‘never work with children or animals’ I say you’re missing out!