Never work with animals and children they say, well after working with Hypos the furry (AKA Laura), I can honestly say that it was a pleasure on this occasion.
Natural habitat!
We didn't get far down the campsite (From where we were staying) before Hypos was capturing the attention of other holidaymakers..
Hypos High five!!
Laura, a friend of my children was fascinated by these furry creatures and so set about making her own furry suit, after many hours designing and cutting, sticking and sewing, Hypos was born:
Laura was looking for some photo's that captured the character of Hypos and so we set about trying to find settings that would help to bring out his playful side.
Playful Hypos!!
We also managed to find a platform in a tree that was perhaps once a tree house but it made a great location to get Hypos up high in the tree and make Hypos look more in tune with the surroundings.
Hypos in the trees!!
Once we had done some 'wild' shots of Hypos we took a walk back through the campsite and happened across a workman painting the building, what a great photo opportunity me thinks!! So, after a cheeky word with the painter, Hypos picked up his paint roller and we managed to get a snap or two of Hypos at work.
Hypos at work!!
And of course, you can't take a creature like Hypos anywhere without another holidaymaker wanting to snap their own picture!
Happy snapper!
These shots were taken with a variety of settings depending on the shot and in particular the lighting. The shots in the woods were F4 1/100sec and ISO100 with an on camera speedlight while the painting ones were in bright sun so you might think the flash wasn't needed but the flash doubled as a fill-in-flash to remove some of the shadows and I pushed up to f8 to ensure the whole scene was in focus.
If you get the opportunity to do a shoot like this, be sure to take time to understand what it is your model is looking for (if they are who the images are for) and try to get an idea in your mind of how well the shots can be created, you may not have a woodland around the corner for example so a trip out may be needed, and of course, your chances of finding a local tradesman on the job who is happy to let you play with his tools may also be a little unlikely!