Innocent Bribes

Chip Faced…..

Beneath a tall pine tree on a warm spring day at Stone Mountain Park, we took a well-deserved, seated break from our long woodsy photo shoot. Walking for miles over root laden paths, rocks and streams, a bottle of water each and a bag of potato chips hit the spot. Our unexpected newfound friend thought so too. From an elevated position, this curious creature took an interest in our photo equipment, our dazzling charm and salty chips. We offered all three, but the chips won out, and our aptly named Squirrel Buddy, accepted every chip we offered.

Photogenic Squirrel Buddy eagerly posed for another chip, and then another, so chips became the agreed upon sitting fee. Twelve feet up the pine tree soon became Squirrel Buddy’s happy vantage point to munch away, one chip at a time, while looking down on us and our cameras.

The three of us had a few intimate moments together. A smidgen of trust was shared inch by inch. We coaxed and clicked, using our best “ease-putting” photographic spiel--you know, “Say cheese”, and “You’re such a nice squirrel”, and “Who’s your daddy”. Now in position to capture our favorite shot of Squirrel Buddy, we began the story. Just wondering is there a legal limit for chips? Not sure, but enough was consumed by Squirrel Buddy to get “Chip Faced”.

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Tongue Action ...

A few years prior on another photo safari, we went to Busch Gardens Tampa Florida. This theme park is one of America's largest zoological institutions, with 335 acres and more than 2,700 roaming, gregarious hungry creatures of all shapes and sizes (the animals there are hungry and gregarious too!)

We found no shortage of souvenirs, amusement rides and hands-on experiences. And FYI, we actually do buy the souvenirs: usually a mug for enjoying our morning coffee together, and a key chain to hang on our Christmas tree, to remind us of another fun adventure together.

Our favorite hands-on experience at Busch Gardens was the open-air mobile truck adventure ride. We drove slowly across African-looking landscape with what seemed to be unending animal-occupied acres. Surprisingly, we noticed that many of the rhinos, wild birds, giraffes, and bunches of unfamiliar species watching us very closely…was this a friend or foe decision? Nope--turned out to be standard practice. Our tour guide stopped the truck in an open field and began handing out leafy bunches of cabbage greens to each of the passengers for feeding the animals. We quickly discovered these clever animals appeared to already know the truck routes and what was on the menu.

As photographers we are always camera-ready, hoping for that perfect shot. So admittedly, our meetup with Squirrel Buddy mentioned earlier was not our first bribe...a tall fellow named “Slim” the giraffe at Busch Gardens also comes to mind.

Several giraffes strolled over to the truck and stuck their necks and tongues out in anticipation of reaching us as soon as we stopped. They cleverly showed us how they expected us to feed them...guess passengers and photojournalists are still trainable, right?

Not intending to insult us, the first giraffe to the truck (whom we named Slim) stood with tongue fully extended in our direction. After all, we were the five-star mobile food delivery service of the hour. Standing eye to eye (well, at 6’5”, at least Bill was eye to eye). We all stood up in the back of the truck in the vegetable section and took Slim’s order. We whipped out our gushy portrait photographer spiel of “You’re such a tall one!”, and “How’s the weather up there?” Surprisingly, this worked. Slim stayed around for about 15 minutes, while healthy cabbage bribes lasted. Slim gave us more tongue than we needed. Bribes had once again saved the day. Slim was extremely happy with his cabbage, and we left with a great picture and a great memory of meeting and feeding Slim. “Thokoleza Ukudla, Slim!” (that’s "Bon Appetit" in Zulu)

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Bird Bait…

And then there are the birds…yup, we have bribed more than a few birds in our day. In fact, it is easy to find birds to bribe when you visit our favorite vacation spot, Destin Beach, Florida. What was once a small fishing village, is now a large fishing town, fishing for tourists. You’ll find it all. Pretty pristine beaches that squeak under your feet as you walk, casual and semi-formal restaurants, scenic views, night life, souvenirs and, oh yes, charter fishing.

In Swahili, “Hakuna Matata” roughly translates into “there are no troubles”, and that is exactly why we go to the beach. We leave all our troubles behind and just enjoy the surf, sand, and vitamin “sea” --and of course look for more birds to photograph!

As we drive over the bay bridge to Destin, our anticipation nearing the beach always causes us to lower our car windows. We take a deep breath, sit back and relax, as we fill our senses with salty air, sunshine, and (wait for it!) the call of squawking seagulls.

We love feeding seagulls on the beach. Just hold your hand high in the air for a few minutes. Seagulls will soon begin to trust you enough to circle and swoop in for treats. First the one most brave and hungry comes at you, then the whole squadron. Incoming! Wait…who exactly is training whom?

Seagulls do not need a lot of verbal coaxing, and definitely not our photographer spiel of “pretty bird”. Seagulls have their own “Top Gun” flight school training. They have fully mastered how to narrow in on a food target, dive bomb us for food bribes, and then fly off into the wild blue yonder. For our part, once again we find we have been successfully trained, as we follow their protocol, standing ready and waiting for that split second great photo moment!

With a desire to share our everyday world in story and imagery, we look forward to sharing many more photo adventures--those special moments just waiting for us to discover, and capture…with bribe offered as needed, of course! Just saying….

Positively Speaking, “Sheri & Bill...Story Tellers in Word, Image and Song.”