SPOKANE, Wash. — Finding friends can be a fickle task, especially when the friends you're trying to make are animals. That's the case for Christie Pierce, local Chipmunk Wrangler, amateur photographer and owner of Friendchips.
Picture this: coffee cups smaller than a thimble, basketballs the size of an eraser, a six pack of 'nutz lite,' all small enough to fit in the tiny paw of a wild Chipmunk. Friendchips is the result of Pierce luring chipmunks into miniature worlds created by her and her husband, then snapping the perfect photo at just the right time. She says it takes a lot of patience and even more buckwheat to get the perfect shot.
Friendchips started with one particularly curious and personable chipmunk Pierce named 'Mr. Stubbs.' She calls him the clan's great great great great great great grandfather, because he was the first Chipmonk she took a photo of more than a decade ago.
"Then I just started playing with them and learning that I could get them to hold things, stand up, [and] look like they were sitting," Pierce said.
The Chipmonks aren't actually holding anything in the photos. Pierce positions herself and her camera at the right angle and uses what she calls 'old Hollywood' techniques to make it appear as if the animals are interacting with the sets. In total, she's taken more than 400 shots.
"Sometimes people argue with me that I use photoshop, but I don't even have a photoshop program," Pierce said.
She does it all with just a small point and shoot camera and all that patience. Once she gets the perfect shot, she uses them to create calendars, cards and even has a published book.
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