Loki’s Kitten –Brindle Staffordshire Bull Terrier Dog with Tabby kitten sleeping on the dog's head, covering dog’s eye.

Loki was an adorably soft-natured dog owned by animal trainer Marie Manderson; Loki had a mothering nature and was always trying to look after any baby animals he found. It was this gorgeous character that Rachael dwelt on to create this image of Gingernut, a kitten that had formed a close bond with Loki, asleep on Loki’s head. Loki was impeccably trained and held as still as a statue during the process of placing the sleeping kitten on his head; due to the silkiness of both animals coats, Gingernut keep slipping, so Rachael’s assistant had to hold the kitten from behind so the kitten wouldn’t fall, and the assistant's arm was removed in post-production.

This image appeared in Rachael’s first book 101 Salivations: for the love of dogs, it was also published in Rachael’s book It’s a Zoo Out There.

Loki and Gingernut were Photographed using Natural light and captured on Kodak Tmax 100 B&W film using a 4x5” Toyoview Camera* This image is from Rachael’s earlier work, which were all photographed using a Large Format 4x5 inch Film Camera, and occasionally an 8x10 inch Polaroid Camera. Rachael used a very shallow depth of field when photographing with film cameras, this gives these images a softer more painterly quality when printed, the prints still look stunning in all sizes and make magnificent Art pieces, they just don’t appear quite as crisp as an image created on a digital camera.

Rachael recommends this image to be framed using a White or Dark Wood Frame, this image looks great full-bleed but can also look striking with a white border.