"No English"
Well this was a new predicament I have yet to find myself in. After approaching this pups owner and giving my usual speech, "Hi sir, I am a dog photographer from Buffalo, NY and would love to take a photo of your pup".
He looked bewildered and replied, "No English".
DANG IT.
Quickly, I had to think on my toes because there is no way I could let this opportunity slip by.
Without even a second thought, all of those games of charades and the little sign language I know, just started to take over my body.
Holding out my camera, pointing to the dog, flailing my arms around gesturing to the beautiful scene behind us. At one point I posed on the rock to show how I wanted the dog, my hands on the rock and feet planted in the stones beneath me.
He's nodding vigorously, he understands my lunacy!
He brings his pup over and I swear she understood what I was describing too because she placed her tiny little paws right on that rock like she knew the scene before I even saw it.
I gestured to him where to stand, lifted my arm high to show him how to hold her leash and I started making my noises.
Bing, bang, boom...head tilt...click, click, click. DONE.
The people around us "oohed" and "aahed" because they saw it too and it happened SO FAST!
The entire interaction lasted no more than 60 seconds and my whole body was full of tingles as I handed him my phone to give me his email address.
I have been photographing dogs for many years now and this was a first. Had I not had the experience of photographing thousands of dogs, approaching countless strangers in similar scenarios, working with all types of personalities and not being afraid of making a little bit of an ass out of myself in front of others, this opportunity more than likely would have passed me by.
I emailed this image to the owner but haven't heard back yet so I don't know her name (he told me but I didn't understand). For now, she is "Kootenay", the name of the river behind her.
