Eight Bags of Candy Hearts, a Hot Glue Gun and an Idea...
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Well, two finger burns with blisters later, me thinks a lot. lol
The Idea
So, here's how it all started: I had this vision of creating a whimsical image of my Havanese surrounded by a sea of candy hearts, with just their cute little noses poking through. Simple, right? Well, let's just say it took a lot more effort (and a couple of finger burns) than I initially thought. But hey, what's a creative project without a few battle scars?
The Idea I wanted to give the illusion that my pups were buried under a mountain of candy hearts—like a sweet, pastel-colored avalanche. But since I wasn’t going to actually bury my dogs (even though they probably wouldn’t mind rolling around in candy), I had to find a clever way to make it look real. Enter the foam core board and the trusty (albeit dangerous) hot glue gun.
2 Hours In and Still Gluing... Two hours later, and with a decent-sized pile of conversation hearts glued down, I started to wonder: How the heck am I going to photograph this? My setup consisted of a foam board covered in nearly four pounds of glued candy hearts. Now, to get the dogs involved...
How the Heck Do I Photograph This?
The Attempts
Attempt #1: The Nose Through the Board Trick I placed the candy heart board across two chairs and lured the dogs to poke their noses through a strategically cut hole. Result? Fail #1. The Havanese decided the treat wasn’t worth the effort. Clearly, my bribe game needed an upgrade.
Attempt #2: Perpendicular Setup We tried laying the board flat against the chair legs so that it was perpendicular to the ground. We tried luring them again. But Fail #2—the treat wasn’t working its magic, and some hearts were falling off. Yikes!
Attempt #3: Lighting and Treat Troubles Finally, I realized that juggling the camera, the board, and the treat while also managing the lighting was a recipe for disaster. The setup just wasn’t working. I needed a new plan.
Attempt #4: The Final Attempt After a break and a fresh order of candy hearts (and another round of finger burns), I glued down even more hearts and switched to natural light. With the camera on a tripod and the dogs prepped with the highest-value treats ever, I was finally ready. And... SUCCESS! The candy heart board, lighting, and eager dogs all came together for the perfect shot.
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