Mane Growth Photos: Month by Month
Hi, I’m Azmi from Meknes! Once a month, the mane gets its portrait session. Think of this post as a time-lapse director’s notes: three episodes, same script, growing star. I photograph the mane from the front and side at fixed distance. Lighting is daylight by the window, same chair each time. No styling, just record. This is not grooming advice, for mats or skin issues I see a vet or groomer. Here: the episodes and how to shoot them.
Episode 1, March: the setup
Chair by the window at 10:00, rabbit facing the light, me on a floor cushion one meter back, tape on the floor for both marks. Two frames: front (both ears visible, mane falling center) and left side (ear tip as the measuring landmark). I note length versus ear tip with a soft ruler held nearby, never pulling, ruler floats beside the cheek, photo shows both, reading taken from the photo later, never on the animal. March reading: mane tips just below ear base at the side. Brush dates logged alongside so I can see coat change over weeks: March brushed 4 times, soft brush only. Friends love the month grid, the grid starts here, 1 of 3 cells filled, and the empty cells are a promise.
Episode 2, April: the growth spurt
Same chair, same meter, same 10:00, daylight shifted warmer and I note it so nobody thinks the coat changed color. Side frame: mane now level with the ear tip, front frame visibly fuller at the cheeks. Ruler reading from photo: roughly two finger-widths longer than March at the sideburn point. Brush log: 6 sessions, shedding peak passed mid-month, pile photos filed with the grooming log. The comparison trick that makes the grid sing: I overlay March and April side frames at half opacity on my phone, cheek line jumps out, growth undeniable. My three-month series shows clear growth even at two episodes; episode 3 will complete the arc. One angle, one distance, one photo, the discipline is the content.
Episode 3, May (preview) and the grid
May session planned for the first Saturday, same script, plus a back view added by popular demand (friends want the full lion). The month grid layout: three columns March-April-May, two rows front-side, captions with date and brush count. Printed 15 by 10 at the Meknes shop, pinned above the desk next to the couch-throw prints. Total cost of the series so far: zero, window light, phone, tape marks, soft ruler from the sewing box. If you run one: pick the monthly date now and keep it (mine: first Saturday), shoot before brushing not after (fluffed fur lies about length), and file brush dates with the photos or the growth floats unexplained. The mane grows whether filmed or not; the grid just proves you were paying attention.
Mane portraits mine, same chair and meter monthly. Not vet or grooming advice. Portrait method only.
Director’s commentary, the blooper reel
Episode 0, unaired: February attempt with flash, white-eye horror, deleted same day, lesson one (daylight only) learned permanently. Wrong-hour attempt: 14:00 harsh sun bleached the mane white in frame and he squinted through all six shots; 10:00 window confirmed as the series hour. Ruler blooper: first held the ruler touching the cheek, he shook, frame blurred, ruler retired to floating-beside duty. Spin-off approved by absolutely nobody but me: the shed-fur envelope, each session’s collected tuft taped to the log page, March envelope flat, April envelope plump, the molt curve you can touch. Finale plan for May: the completed 3×2 grid printed, framed in the 5-dirham souk frame, hung by the desk. Total series budget holding at tape plus printing. The credits roll over disagreement: friends say episode 2’s side profile is the peak; I hold out for the May back view. The grid will judge. Until then: first Saturday, same chair, same meter, call time 10:00, star already notified (he’ll be napping, as usual, which is exactly the shot).
Syndication and fan mail: the month grid photographed to three friends, unanimous verdict (April side profile wins so far), one request for a winter shaggy-versus-summer sleek edition, greenlit for December if the mane cooperates. Archiving: full frames kept, burst rejects culled monthly, ruler photos filed with grooming log cross-reference dates. The time-lapse shelf in my notebook now holds mane, weight line, and paw cabinet index side by side, three histories, one shelf, same dates. Future seasons greenlit: ear-tuft watch (tufts forming at the ear base, tracked but unannounced), tail-puff winter edition. The director thanks the star, the window, and the tape marks. Mane growing; cameras ready.
Call sheet for May: first Saturday, 10:00, window light. Star, chair, ruler, tape.
Episode listings complete through April; May filming soon.
Grid awaits its third column.
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