No mishaps and some laughs on Friday the 13th

March 14th, 2009

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I am generally not a superstitious person but I do pay attention on Fridays especially if the date is thirteen. There are three Friday the 13th’s this year and I have managed to get through two of them. February’s I don’t recall much but yesterday I will remember even though there were no mishaps.It was a fun day and left me thinking of how fortunate I am most days that I photograph.

I had two projects to handle with just under 250 miles  and six hours threaded between them.

I started at day break and  was out the door heading to a corporate assignment in Louisville just east of Boulder before eight.

Ironically I was within ten minutes of where I needed to be the day before on an assignment but the stars weren’t aligned so back I went after getting home at 1 a.m.

Everything went smoothly in the morning and it appeared I would even be able to grab a bite to eat before my 2 p.m. Having the extra half hour was nice for regrouping and focusing on the next task at hand.

You see going from photographing corporate employees in a retail environmental setting to photographing a stuffed horse, pardon me, an NFL mascot takes a little bit of moxie. Clearly I am much more comfortable around Miles the Denver Broncos mascot than I am corporate types. However, in this economic environment I am grateful to be working no matter what.

Denver Broncos mascot Miles isn't afraid to ruffle his mane.

Denver Broncos mascot Miles isn't afraid to ruffle his mane.

Miles’ handler had scheduled a photo shoot at an indoor sky diving venue which would feature the celebrity horse and two kids sky diving.

Miles, the human, yes, the ” hay burner” has a homo sapien alter ego, is ALWAYS  and I mean ALWAYS fun to be around. There are two problems  however when working with this creature. Number one he is about three “Sea Biscuits”short of  a full feed bucket and secondly, it is hard to photograph when you are laughing so hard you can hardly stand up.

Miles did a couple “test flights” just to get the hang of it in the wind chamber. Once we started shooting he did everything conceivable to hang on and keep himself collected next to two relatively expert  youth who have had hours of experience in the tunnel.

Just about the time I had all of them lined up precisely where I needed them,  there went Miles up out of sight or floundering toward the safety mesh below.

What I wasn’t aware of until his fourth and final attempt was his sense of balance was a skewed due to his over-sized head and shoulder pads. Consequently he was having to fight the natural contour of his body the gale force winds were attempting to mold him into during flight.

Safe to say he was mimicking a ping pong ball just launched in a Saturday night Powerball game. When all was said and done we got our shots and Miles was ready for a hottub or a jacuzzi.

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One Comment for “No mishaps and some laughs on Friday the 13th”

  1. This is hilarious! Wish I could have been there to see it.

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