Five Feet From a Tiger

Being an advertising photographer of a certain age, I’ve been lucky enough to receive some rather exciting briefs over the years. Long before drones were commonplace, I often found myself sitting in the open doorway of a helicopter with my legs on the skids (think Apocalypse Now), with nothing but a harness separating this world from the next. On other occasions I’ve been leaning over the edge of a high rise building photographing people below, while the art director stood safely behind me complaining of vertigo.

But perhaps the most memorable shoot of all was coming face to face with a tiger.

The brief came from The Bridge in Glasgow for a Scottish Government campaign. After a bit of research we discovered a private zoo in Oxfordshire called Amazing Animals, which was well set up for film and television work.

When we arrived we were shown into a large indoor circular cage, about fifty feet in diameter. Everything, including the bars and background, was painted bright green for chroma key removal in film work. Not ideal for stills photography, but workable.

After a detailed health and safety briefing, which stressed that the tiger was still very much a wild animal, we were shown the small sliding hatch through which we would poke our cameras. The trainer warned us that a tiger can squeeze through any gap the width of its own head.

Someone then suggested widening the opening slightly so we could fit two cameras through at once. We all paused for a moment before agreeing that perhaps the original size had been chosen for a reason.

The main handler giving the briefing had clearly spent many years around large cats. His face carried a collection of scars that looked very much like they had been earned the hard way. It was a quiet reminder that however controlled the environment might seem, we were dealing with an animal that could not truly be controlled.

Eventually the tiger was released into the enclosure. He was magnificent, fully grown and around ten feet from nose to tail, moving with a calm, fluid grace that immediately commanded attention.

Inside the cage were two handlers directing the animal with long poles, another person operating the door that allowed the tiger in and out, and someone standing just behind us with a tranquilliser gun should anything go wrong.

A thought crossed my mind that if the tiger did attack, the tranquiliser should probably be used on me first, as it would likely have little immediate effect on an animal of that size once their righteously enraged adrenaline kicked in.

In the morning we photographed the tiger leaping through the air. After lunch we moved on to close-up shots, where he sat calmly studying us from about five feet away from our cameras.

There was no mistaking who was really in charge of that situation. He regarded us with quiet indifference, and we were all aware that given the opportunity we would probably have made a decent lunch.

We left that day buzzing, having experienced something we would never forget.

One of the unexpected gifts of a career in photography is the strange and extraordinary places the job can take you. Some assignments involve helicopters, some involve rooftops, and occasionally you find yourself five feet away from a tiger, hoping everyone has done their job properly so we live to shoot another day.

#Photography #AdvertisingPhotography #CreativeIndustry #VisualStorytelling #BehindTheScenes #WildlifePhotography #WorkingWithAnimals #Tiger #OnLocation