'Both the bunny and the chicks fought us and the camera the whole time.'
It was W.C. Field who first coined the phrase 'Never work with children or animals.' Fortunately for FH, photographer Tom Nakielski, (Lights On Studio) doesn't pay much attention to advice from Vaudeville comedians born in the 1880's. Tom always heads to the farm before Easter to buy baby chicks and little bunnies for his Easter themed shoots.
Even this year, with all of his mobility issues, Tom drove to the country to pick up some feathered and furry friends. Tom is always careful to ensure that he has good homes for the chicks and bunnies after their brief moment in the spotlight is over. It's not a bad gig really, you get a friendly photographer transporting you to your new home, and on the way you spend an hour being cuddled and petted by naked young hunk. There are worse fates for little chicks and bunnies.
I should really stop using the word little, that doesn't exactly describe the birds and bunny in questions. Although Tom has purchased baby chicks many times for shoots, this year he got a bit of a surprise. Thinking he was being cute, Tom asked the clerk jokingly for the 4 prettiest, sexiest chicks that they had. The clerk went in back and brought back a box with the chicks inside. Not wanting the chicks to have any additional stress, Tom decided not to open the box and disturb them until he arrived home.
'I did not even see what she gave me till I got home... Well, the chicks were HUGE. Not Easter cute at all. I called the stored and learned those chicks were "meat chicks". Raised for meat and not eggs. The person who was getting them after the shoot wanted chicks for laying eggs, not for meat. The store agreed to let me exchange them for a smaller breed.
The bunnies are more a a challenge to find, especially with Easter approaching. Luckily my photography friend Cari, does a kids Easter Special each year. She told me who she got her bunnies from. There were not many bunnies left, and the only bunny left for me was HUGE! In the end, I think the big bunny ended up working well in the session with Zilo. The only drawback was that it was an hour drive to the farm. Nice drive in the country:)'
Unfortunately, once everyone, and every creature, was in the studio, things didn't run as smoothly as Tom had hoped. Despite his extensive planning, including matching Zilo's yellow thong to the Easter Lily's, Tom's muscle weakness had progressed to the point that it was difficult for him to lift, and hold the camera to his eye. Fortunately, his studio mate Karah was on had to assist. Karah is also a photographer, so with Tom's direction, she was able to take the shots Tom wanted.
The chicks and the big bunny were also not exactly feeling camera ready, and as Zilo shared, fought them the entire time. Fortunately,it didn't bother Zilo in the least. An animal lover himself, Zilo actually has two rabbits of his own. I'm sure Tom would have asked Zilo to bring his own bunnies to the shoot if he'd known ahead of time. The bunny was especially squirmy, and at one point, scratched Zilo all over his chest. If you look closely at some of the shots above, you can see the love marks (scratches) the big bunny left on Zilo's skin. If you want to check out that big bunny, and see more of Zilo, check out more from the shoot on FH HERE:
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