You’d be forgiven for thinking I’d made it up...Special memories of a Bounders Photo Experience.
It’s not only our clients who have special memories of their Bounders Experiences. Almost 7 years ago to the day, something very special happened to me, and if you will permit, I would like to share it with you...
It was a super sunny afternoon in May, complete with what I like to call Simpsons clouds breaking up the perfect solid blue sky. The ground was dry and green, the gentle breeze was cooling but without bite.
A feeling of serenity had fallen over me, a calmness that couldn’t be shifted. Not by the screaming headache I’d developed from having not slept in the previous 36 hours. Nor by the high pitch, piercing and incessant yap of a little tanned terrier less than two feet from my head.
It’s possible I was delirious, but it didn’t feel like it. I felt happy, and filled with wonder and totally alive. A few hours earlier, after many chaotic events, my daughter had arrived into this world at 3:37 in the morning, four weeks earlier than predicted. It is fair to say I was not prepared.
But with wife still in hospital and baby in SCBU, I had a photo session to do!
Not just any photo session. This was for our friend and postie Helen, who was to be married very soon, and the photos from this session were to be part of a surprise gift for her new husband.
So there I was, lying on the grass in a field in Derbyshire, face to face with Tia the Terrier, whose bark was like a bullet, and whose fur almost matched the colour of her favourite tennis ball. And if you didn’t throw her tennis ball the moment it came into your possession, she would (and did) unleash several rounds that would rip right through your skull.
On any other day, I may have become slightly perturbed by this behaviour, but on this day everything was like a beautiful dream. And you’d be forgiven for thinking I’d made this next bit up, but I promise it’s true. Half way through the session a World War II era Spitfire roared directly over our heads, and I swear it dipped it’s wings as if to congratulate and share in my happiness. So surreal was this part of the experience, that I had to check with Helen that I hadn’t actually dreamt it, and that she’d seen it too!
We continued our fun photo session getting some fabulous portraits, and by the end of the afternoon Tia and I were the best of friends. We got Tia’s portraits all framed up and delivered to the wedding on time!
Sadly, Tia is no longer with us, but Helen now has a new puppy ‘Willow’, a Springer Spaniel, and just a few weeks ago she came for her first photo adventure with us. With Helen now happily married and no longer our Postie, and me seven years into fatherhood, our situations had altered slightly, but the stunning blue skies (complete with Simpsons clouds) were exactly the same! I’d like to think this was down to Tia’s spirit shining through, ensuring Willow also had a great photo session.
It was wonderful to see Helen again, and to recall memories of that special day, while creating new ones with Willow. And soon Willow’s portraits will be up on Helen’s wall alongside Tia’s. Two sets of portraits taken on two special days, for two unique and beautiful pups, seven years apart.
Now, I’m afraid I can’t promise you a Spitfire flyby, but we do regularly get beautiful blue skies complete with Simpsons clouds. And it's always some kind of an adventure for you and the pups, filled with special memories.
Have you had a Bounders Experience before?
I’d love to hear what made it special for you. Please share with us in the comments.
(And if you’ve not experienced a Bounders photo session for yourself, we do still have a few sessions available this summer! - Click the link for more!).
