Ruby Ferguson covers: the photoshoot
June 17th, 2009 by Becky
As many of you may know, Fidra will soon be publishing Ruby Ferguson’s Jill series, which is beloved by pony fanatics, and Vanessa in particular. And because they’re so cherished by so many, we’re determined to get them right.
Which is background information to explain why Vanessa, a lovely lady called Sally and I were on a hillside overlooking Edinburgh one day last week, jumping up and down waving dock leaves, throwing grass and generally making complete and utter idiots of ourselves in order to attract the attention of two horses whose expressions veered between bemusement and mild irritation.
This photoshoot wasn’t the easiest to organise, not just because we had to coordinate people’s diaries but because we had to predict good weather. Anyone who’s been to Edinburgh will probably give a wry chuckle of Bitter Experience here, because it’s often possible to have four seasons in one day here. We ended up cross-referencing the BBC, the met office, and various other weather sites to find a day – at one low point with the rain lashing outside we were even considering the shipping forecast!
In the end though, we had an almost idyllic day, with only a tiny bit of drizzle. There were birds singing; there were rolling hillsides and beautiful ponies:
It was obvious that nearby ponies were actually a bit jealous, going by the amount of ‘casual’ fence peering:
And although we have some photos where the pony is clearly thinking ‘what the?!’, all the insane jumping around was successful, because we have some gorgeous pictures which are worthy of the Jill series. Robbie Smith, our photographer, is a very talented and dedicated man, as is evidenced in him lying down very, very close to a cantering horse, his only protection a grey woollen cableknit cap.
Sally and her daughter Emma, who own Melody and Minnie, two of the horses in the shoot, also went above and beyond – I’m not sure many people would agree to give up a day and let strangers put their horses in poses. Emma even consented to put her hair in plaits, which I don’t think I would have been so amenable to when I was thirteen. We’re considering having a Top Gear style Cool Wall in the office, and Sally and Emma would be in the sub-zero range.
If you’re a Ruby Ferguson fan, the first three books in the series, Jill’s Gymkhana, A Stable for Jill and Jill Has Two Ponies, will be out in August…
I should point out that only one of the photos in this blog post was taken by Robbie – I was taking photos of the shoot – it was all a bit postmodern!
Oh.How.Gorgeous!
Is the bay chap Rapide?
Yup :-) Although she wasn’t feeling very lively on the day, hence the jumping up and down to provoke a response…
Although Gaby’s face-pulling isn’t really up to Rapide’s standards, I think she’s managing to convey ‘will you stop jumping up and down you blithering idiot’ quite well. With an overall tone of ‘you are SO beneath me’
Oh, WOW. I loved these books *so* much when I was young – I spent an hour a week horse riding and many many more reading these (and a similar series). Oh, wow wow wow wow.
Ahhhhhhhhh looking forward to the books.
Lovely stuff Vanessa and Becky!
Just wondering if you decided to make any changes to the original text of the books?
Ummm…will you all still speak to me if I admit that I have never read a pony book? I know, I know what you will say, “Now’s your chance.”
Catriona, clearly you are blessed with the gift of second sight! Actually, I’m not really a pony girl, but I loved the Jill books, because Jill starts not knowing anything about horses and makes mistakes, which is reassuring (nothing more annoying that a perfect person!) She’s also very funny.
Julie- I think we made one small change, but that was done when I wasn’t here, so I’d have to check with Vanessa.
Everything I know about horses I learned from Jill’s Gymkhana! The pics should be lovely.
Ooh, is the second picture Black Boy? If so, does this mean he’s gone back to be black, rather than piebald?
It is indeed Black Boy in the picture, Emma!
I’d love to find out if I was right to love those books a very long time ago.
Ooh I’m excited :-) Looking forward to August!
[...] gorgeous new cover (thanks to Sally, Emma and Melody not to mention the very talented Robbie who risked life and limb to get that close to those galloping hooves) and I hope that she’ll find fans among a whole [...]