Amber on Daisy

"Never work with children or animals" is a phrase much quoted in all forms of creative media, and did cross my mind when discussing the idea of photographing my friend's daughter on her pony at the tail end of winter.

When he talked to his daughter, Amber, about it, she suggested the idea of riding bareback in a white dress - something for when the weather turned a bit warmer - and dryer. We then explored the woods near his house and my friend pointed out they would be carpeted in bluebells within a few weeks.

A bonnie wee lass on a pony in a bluebell wood, with a low evening sun spilling through the fresh green leaves of the trees - what's not to love?

Arrangements were made.

Well, only loosely. In Scotland, the weather is not to be relied on.

Finally the sun came out late in the afternoon. I phoned but it was too short a notice.

A week later conditions were ideal, but Amber had other arrangements she didn't want to cancel.

The following Tuesday the weather was perfect, and it looked like it was going to be the only day of the week where the sun was going to be out. Except that Amber had exams on Wednesday, was stressed out about them and was completely committed to revising.

My hopes faded. If I didn't get it now, then the bluebells would have gone and the leaves on the trees would be darker and thicker. It wouldn't be the same.

My friend said he thought the sun would return later in the week, even though the BBC weather site predicted rain. However, it turned out he was right so a couple of days later we were able to do the photo shoot after all.

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