Behind the Image: Luke the Bunny

Kayaking with a Ten-Pound Rabbit Head
Canon EOS-1 and motor drive with a 20-35mm 2.8 lens, exposed for 1/1000 sec at f.4 on Fuji Velvia film
By Skip Brown

What can you say about giant bunny rabbits kayaking big waterfalls? It's not something you see every day....

The kayaker, a young pro by the name of Luke Hopkins, and I conceived this photo. His clothing sponsor had hired me to shoot photos for a promotional poster and Luke was to be the bunny. We had both run this waterfall on the Potomac River many times before and Luke decided he could handle it while wearing a giant bunny head. The river needed to be at the right level to attempt this waterfall, so on a cold, clear January day with snow and ice clinging to the river's edge we headed out, bunny costume in hand.

I had the easy job, paddling with my camera gear to a rocky point near the waterfall. Luke definitely had the tough job. He ran this 25-foot drop nearly blind from the five-pound headpiece perched on his shoulders. After the first of five attempts the bunny head was completely soaked, weighing nearly ten pounds. Cocked sideways so that he could just see out of one of the eyeholes, Luke would peel out of an eddy and charge off the waterfall. This shoot attracted more attention and curious gazes than most. Everyone was laughing and pointing, delighted by the sight of our daredevil rabbit. On one run he flipped and the head disappeared below the river's currents. We spotted it a few minutes later running a Class 3 rapid further downstream. As the crowds on the shore grew larger, we retrieved it for one more run before Luke announced that he'd had enough.

Like a lot of my work, this shot involved some planning and more than just photographic skills. I had to paddle my whitewater kayak with my camera gear to a point just above the falls where I then climbed up to my vantage point. I used a motor drive for most of the sequences, thinking about framing and focus as the kayaking bunny flashed by me and off the big drop. I used my Canon EOS-1 camera and motor drive with a 20-35mm 2.8 lens, shooting at 1000th/sec at f.4 on Fuji Velvia film.

Skip Brown has been a freelance photographer for nearly 20 years. He combines his love of travel and the outdoors with a talent for action sports to create unique images. Skip is a Class V whitewater paddler, advanced rated hangglider pilot, and an avid boardsailor, surfer, mountain biker, and snowboarder. He lives in Cabin John, Maryland, near the Potomac River.
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