I had one of those nights where my mind jumped from one thing to another and I found myself finally falling asleep at 11:30 only to wake up at midnight back where I started. I was going to be in a tigers cage in the morning and all I could think of was “what if they get in”… “this is how I will die”.
Too amped to shoot in such a location, under a waterfall, my brain considered sleep a low priority. I tried blocking out the moonlight by fully covering my head with my blankets but then I couldn’t breathe. I tried counting sheep but ended up writing a children’s toilet book on constipation in my head. (I suppose that probably needs a back story… but I’ll save that for another time!) Anyway no matter what I did I could not fall asleep.At 4:30am I was still awake. Shocker! I hit the road to north florida and arrived far too happy for someone awake so early. After 30 mins of hair and makeup I was in the golf buggy on my way. The enclosure was gorgeous, magical, anything but florida! I was on the rocks, by the water, under the waterfall. This was one of the coolest environments I’ve been able to shoot in. Side note, its extremely hard to stay standing much less look good when freezing cold water is pounding you into the earth. Also when it tastes like cat pee. The tiger keepers made it a point to tell me the cats have never been in the water and havent swam, and when I asked if they’d tasted it they couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe they aren’t swimming but they sure are squatting!
I only have one behind the scenes photo, but the magazine comes out next month and word is that I got the cover! Wooo!!!
don’t go chasing waterfalls… but do!
On the way back to the hair and make up room I spoke with the woman in charge of all of the animals and asked if they had elephants on site. When she said yes, I swear I probably spoke of my love for them for about 30 minutes. She was so kind to arrange for me to meet them and after changing back into my clothes they buggied me around to the back gates. I have loved elephants nearly my entire life, hell I resembled Dumbo as a child with my overly large ears and since there has been this connection! I even have one tattooed on my side! Maybe I’m a tad obsessed! I’m sure I had seen one at the zoo as a child but I have no memory of it now. So this day was beyond incredible and I don’t think I had ever been so happy! To top it all off, they let me feed the female! I can’t put into words the feeling of interacting with an animal like this, weighing at 7000lbs and having the power to completely crush you, but the amount of emotion that they have and their ability to feel love is so powerful. My emotions were everywhere and I smiled bigger and brighter than I have in a long time! I’m sure I will never forget this day! Check out the photo the team captured for me! They videographer came along as well and captured a bit but I cannot get the clip to upload! ):
just hanging out on the koi pond!