As a photo producer, you can wind up putting resources together that may seem a bit hard to line up under a deadline. Where I was raised, people referred to these near impossible tasks as similar to herding cats. Not the easiest thing to do.

On a shoot not too long ago, I got to do just that. Literally. It was a lifestyle scene in Riyadh, where a local family was enjoying a picnic together. We had styled and propped out a whole feast with the checkered red picnic blanket and all.

As we began taking pictures, gradually we see stray cats emerge from the shadows of the park. Soon there were dozens of cats surrounding the set location, licking their chops and getting closer and closer.

As I realize the set is about to be over taken by cats, I have a flash back of when I was getting my immunizations for travelling. My doctor had said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Just stay away from wild animals.” I figured no problem. Little did I know in a couple weeks I would be brandishing the photographer’s tripod to scare back a whole herd of cats like a keystone lion tamer.

Though we had a few frames with cats whisking through the set, for the most part I kept them at bay. I must admit it was a bit comical to myself and the crew to see me running around trying to fend off these cats who had shown up for a snack. I now have an amusing memory from that shoot anytime I hear someone use the phrase, ‘It’s kinda like herding cats.’