meet Ed, Bill, and Jazz …

these three were a challenge. from the moment i pulled into their drive, their border-selves exploded into a frenzied display of their individual characters.  circling the car as if a small herd of sheep had just steered onto their property, i could almost immediately read their different energies.  Ed — in the middle — is the alpha …

Ed is head of the this pack, which includes cat, Alvin, and as Bill — on the left of the initial image — became increasingly excited about my car and my presence, circling tighter and tighter, Ed found it necessary to correct subservient Bill several times.

Jazz, upon my arrival, hung back but would explode with the occasional burst of anxiety, circling the car and her favorite tree around which she had created her own track, and then returned to hide behind her bush.

it took a while for these guys to warm up to the camera.  Ed, of course, wasn’t a problem …

… but shy Jazz and Bill were very wary and skittish, so most of their initial shots had to be taken at a comfortable distance for them.

Bill was the biggest challenge.  he is so soft, and was utterly terrified of the camera and the concept of the photo-shoot.  and when owner Nancy tried to coax him into a ‘stay’ in the woods, he literally melted.  for me, though, sometimes this kind of challenge is exactly what feeds me.

in the little clearing in the woods, as Bill clung to Nancy and there seemed no hope in capturing any images of this boy, i instructed Nancy to stay put and to ‘reject’ Bill … to push him away gently, not with her hands, but with her body … her legs, her hips … until he realized that staying with her was not an option.  as i knelt in the leaves with the telephoto lens on one of the cameras, waiting, Bill came to me for help … wanting to cling to me instead.  because i was kneeling i wasn’t able to use my body to nudge him away, so instead, i reached for the other camera which i knew he was still too nervous of, snapped a couple of rounds, and he skittered away.

suddenly finding himself with no protection, Bill slunk around the forest clearing for a few minutes uncertain what was expected of him.  of course, slinking around with his head down, i still had some time to wait before a photo-op would present itself.  so Nancy and i waited, and as Bill realized that Ed and Jazz were calmly going about their exploring, he gradually relaxed …

and in time, i was getting this from the boy …

but let’s not forget about Ed …

and i did manage to get a couple of closeups of Jazz too …

and then there was Alvin …

yup, a black and white cat in a border family, of course.

unlike his canine counterparts, Alvin was a ham.

but, of course, Ed didn’t like anyone else getting camera attention.  bad Ed!

thanks, Nancy, for introducing me to your black and white pack.  and thanks Ed, Jazz, Alvin, and especially Bill, for the challenge.