I recently shot this series of ads for Purina T-Bonz Dog Treats with Fallon Worldwide of Minnepolis, Minnesota. The most challenging part of this series was finding snow.

Minnesota had been experiencing an extremely mild winter with very little snow. The shoot was scheduled for a few days before Thanksgiving and although I watched the sky with great hopes, no snow was to be had anywhere.

I then contacted a friend who managed a local ski area and was dismayed to learn that they had been unable to make snow due to the unseasonably warm temperatures. "We may make some on Tuesday" he said. "Depends if it drops before freezing Monday night." I had a sleepless night worrying and praying for cold weather. Happily it cooled off, and the next day we able to get the shot.

The snow machines were going full blast making it impossible for the model and dog trainer to hear me so we worked out series of hand signals to direct the shoot. The machines which are at ground level, were shooting snow right at us, so by the time we were done, the model, myself, and my crew were coated in a thick layer of wet icy snow. The only one who didn't seem to mind the wet and cold, was the dog, a West HIghland White Terrier named Darby. He was more than happy to play in the snow for a few well timed pieces of cut up hot dog.

The dog with the vacuum shot was also as challenge as we had to get an expression of boredom and disgust from the dog, a lovely Mastiff mix named Frankie. The trainer/owner asked him if he wanted a bath and I managed to capture the expression we wanted.