Pogie & Friends Meet at the Public Garden

Photo of owl by nature photographer Jim Gray + Nikkor 500mm beast lens

Here is Pogie, a spirited little Bichon mix who met me at the Boston Public Garden on a warm November’s afternoon. I’ve been shooting there quite a bit lately. Our reward for the soggy rainy summer has been trees with brilliant leaves in the fall that have stayed on longer than usual. Every week I think, OK. Next week all the leaves are going to fall for sure, so better get the shoot in right now! And before I know it, 5 straight sessions at the Garden have passed, it’s December and there are still leaves in the park!

So this was probably the most action-packed shoot I’ve ever done. When I arrived early to scope out areas, there was a small group of nature photographers crowded underneath the giant ginkgo tree (so pretty that tree), gawking and photographing a huge barred owl sleeping high up in the branches. Very cool to see wildlife other than rats, squirrels and baby strollers in the middle of the city.

Pogie arrived shortly thereafter and underneath this tree and the magnificent gold carpet of leaves it created, we posed some, chased squeaky toys and said hello to other small dogs within reasonable running distance. Pogie became tangled in a mesh of leashes, and we followed the trail to see that they were hooked to a tall (so tall!), striking blonde in the form of CameronDiaz, who was just by herself strolling through the Garden with her two dogs.

We all took our eyes off of Pogie for a little bit while trying to make casual small talk with CD, like whatevs, nice day in Boston isn’t it, there’s an owl up there, yeah I’m on a dog shoot, I see you have dogs, wanna be friends? etc. etc.  When we finally focused our attention back on Pogie, he had given himself a really good facial and the left side of his little white face was absolutely caked in mud. And we had just barely gotten started! Luckily their parents understood that this was about fresh and candid pet photography, and if fresh and candid meant mud-caked yet exuberant, then more power to Pogie!

(It was determined later in the shoot that Pogie was really caked not in mud but in poo. Pogie’s dad learned the hard way after a fragrant kiss on the nose.)

After our shoot was finished, I went back to the ginkgo tree to look at the owl some more and see if I could run into another celebrity. Instead, a red-tailed hawk swooped in and landed in a small tree next to me, with his dinner swinging from his talons. He was barely 6 feet off the ground and sat there resting for quite some time, treating a large crowd to a portrait session, before he took for higher branches to enjoy his meal. But he wasn’t so high that I couldn’t see or hear him tearing through the gristle.

So an owl, a hawk, a movie star, and a Pogie under one tree. Not bad for a afternoon’s shoot!