Nowhere To Go But Up ⋆ Lin-Manuel Miranda x Reader

Chapter Five

Finally, and somewhat to my disappointment, we reached our last stop of the shoot: London Zoo.

As promised, the Zoo had closed off their penguin pool temporarily in order for us to use it.

The penguins were the most adorable things ever and so much fun to watch!

It was almost impossible to tell which of us on this shoot was more excited about them. It was hard not to feel happy while hanging out with these flappy, waddling little dudes. Even our stern-faced bodyguard couldn't resist cracking a smile at the sight of them.

They weren't in the least shy; they were friendly and full of curiosity, coming right up close to my camera to peer with fascination at the lens. They flocked around us on this little makeshift beach area, like mini James Bonds in their tuxedos...awkward-looking on land but all sleekness and grace while swimming in the water.

However, as tempting as it was, we couldn't spend the whole time just playing with penguins. I had a job to do. But I quickly discovered it wasn't going to be as easy as all that.

As freaking cute as the penguins were, they weren't always the most cooperative of models, to put it mildly...

They would peck at the camera...or take a poop right in the middle of the frame, therefore ruining the shot and the whole whimsical impact I was aiming for. Sometimes just at the moment I attempted to take a photo, they would dive into the water at the very last second...or simply just waddle off out of the picture completely.

But as I knew in my experience when photographing animals, you needed to have the patience of a saint! You had to wait for them. It was no good forcing them to do things they didn't want to.

One of the keepers, fortunately, were on hand to kindly help us out. Armed at the ready with a bucket of fish, she tried distracting our new little friends and gently persuade them to stand in certain places and look in the right directions.

I crouched down at ground level, getting myself as low as possible, taking picture after picture at different angles where I could of Lin in a variety of improvised poses with a cane; standing in a line with a few penguins, one foot raised off the ground, arms held aloft, making it appear as though he really was doing some kind of tap dance routine with the birds.

Eventually...after much giggling and resigned sighing over my not-so-helpful models...with a super fast shutter speed, and Lin being the absolute dream he was, our patience and teamwork was rewarded and we finally succeeded in getting the pictures I needed.

I honestly could not have asked for a better subject than Lin, who was patience itself, and seemed determined to persevere and hang on in there for me to achieve the best shots.

"Think this one's clearly a fan of yours," I grinned, pointing at one penguin in particular which kept obsessively following Lin around like a tiny shadow. It didn't seem to want to leave him alone.

With a grin, Lin lowered himself so that he was sat face to face with the fangirling penguin, and I immediately held up the camera, unable to resist this sheer abundance of cuteness. If my photos were agreed to be published, I was pretty certain the rest of the world wouldn't object to this. Lin-Manuel Miranda with cute animals - a winning combination, no?

"Hey, little buddy...look at the camera, look at {Y/N}... Smile, my flappy friend, you're famous now!"

📷

A little while later, we decided to not to put the penguins through any more and our crew agreed to stop for a break, and I popped over to the Zoo's restaurant to fetch a round of coffees for everyone.