Every Picture Tells a Story, Don't it?

My friend, Bret Edge, has a series running on his blog http://blog.bretedge.com/ where he is posting some of his favorite images of the past decade and giving the story behind the image.   I LOVE this idea and gave considerable thought to stealing the idea and still may, (though I'll wait a few months till all our common friends forget it and will think I'm a genius) but today at work I had a conversation with a co-worker that changed my mind.  We were discussing her screensaver picture of a cougar and I had the brilliant idea of posting some of my essays off my original website.  They were written before I started blogging but still have some pretty good content so with your permission, here is the first one.  Enjoy!

Every Picture Tells A Story, Don't it…

And mine are no exception. Take the Cougar series for example. I don't often have nightmares or dreams that wake me up in the night but when I do, they usually involve a cougar. We all have our phobias and that's mine. So when I was given the chance to photograph one of the cougars at the Prairie Wind Wildlife Refuge I gave it considerable thought before deciding to go for it.

The nights leading up to the weekend photo session were restless for the most part and as the time drew nearer I became more and more anxious. Was this thing going to eat me? Chew me beyond recognition? I'd seen deer and elk that were cougar kills and an illustration of a cat's power and ability. I've even seen a housecat kill a rabbit in one swift motion. The power per pound of these animals is awesome. It took all my will power and resolve to avoid picking up the phone and calling to cancel. But I was strong!

Saturday morning dawned clear and beautiful on the plains, the first rays of the sun lighting up the Front Range in my rear view mirror on the drive. That served to calm me a bit, but I was still more nervous than I'd been in a while. The orientation speech Michael gave did little to bolster my confidence. "Whatever you do don't run or show any signs of fear. These maybe pets but they're still wild animals." That's code for "they will kill and eat you if you're not careful."

Okay, done with the speeches, tripods and lenses set up, film loaded, and my shooting site selected. The cat is released by one of Michael's assistants and comes over the hill about 100 yards away headed for Michael and the tidbits of meat he offers as incentive to behave. Right away I notice that the beast seems to be fixated on me. His eyes meet mine over the distance and I immediately look away. ("….don't make eye contact, they think it's a challenge.") The cat, Cheyenne, lopes up to me then walks in a slow circle around me giving me the once over. "Relax" Michael says, "he just likes your deodorant." (which by now has failed miserably)

Finally after 10 seconds which seemed like 10 minutes, the cat comes closer and drags his tongue up the side of my head (taste test?) then plops down to rest about 5 feet from my camera. I could have tugged his tail if I'd been so inclined. Check out the Critters portfolio and you'll see the results.