I met a local photographer through a friend of mine. He has been doing photography for a long time. He bases his imagery on his dog Archer (and his cat). I thought to myself I should attempt to capture this man, but with his dog as a silhouette against a view. I thought to myself that the benefits of solitude would still be there even if with an animal.
I couldn’t resist returning back to Cheddar Gorge. It offers such an impactful landscape and I wanted to explore more around it. Thankfully my subjects where not are afraid of heights as I am.
I tried to get an angle that I could capture both him and his dog looking over the landscape as they bond in this elegant mix of a peaceful but dangerous situation. Similar to the guitar in the last post, having anything in the image other than the person and the landscape was something I didn’t want to do, but in this case I thought it could potentially work. Animals can’t talk, they can only support. I will have to crop this image to have them more visible in this image.
I have missed silhouette opportunities in the past, like in the Glastonbury Tor shoot. I did not want to make the same mistake twice.
I found a rock formation where my subject\s were able to climb upon. I went stand beneath and I was greeted with the beautiful moon creeping through the clouds. At this point I really wanted the silhouette of Archer and his dog stood together but, the Husky was too afraid to go to the edge, which is understandable, it was a very large drop.
There was only a small opening for the moon to show as clouds were passing by fast. I decided to give up trying to get the dog in frame and instead have my subject first look out to the side and then try looking up towards the moon.
Like something from a Disney film, I wanted to portray that fantasy element. We often forget to look up and with this we often miss out. This image is about gazing at the sky and asking the questions why. Being in this quiet place which allows one to wonder with detail.
The clouds passed, I think that it doesn’t look as good without the pink colour of the clouds however I hope that these images will contribute to the overall wide perspective of our relationship between us as humans, this earth and the above.
Ben was someone who wasn’t very open to begin with, but once again, as we sat down together and observed the view cheddar gorge has to offer, I noticed he began to share a lot, not just about his dog, but the darkness of his past. He was able to clear some air between the relationship between him and himself.
Thank you.
Critical Research Journal. 