It doesn't happen very often but, a few weeks ago, I got a phone to say that I have been lucky - I had won a Venture Photography Session voucher which meant we could have an hour in the studio having photos taken and then either a 7 x 5 framed print or £95 towards something bigger.
Last week we had our studio session booked and we were asked to take a few changes of clothes in bright colours as well as any items personal to us that could be used as part of the pictures. We dutifully did that and from the list of suggested items we were sent we chose a couple of soft toys that have significance to us. The studio originally wanted us to do this shoot in our re-enactment costumes but I declined that as all the pictures we seemed to have are in these - it often feels like we have no lives away from re-enactment but I can assure people that we really do! The next suggestion was that we bring our pets - 2 cats! I have to confess I was horrified at the thought of boxing them up and transporting them on a hour long round trip for some photos. My next thought was me wondering where, if we took them, they would disgrace themselves and leave me with a puddle or pile to clear up.
We eventually decided that we would aim for a fun, casual picture of us. Just us. Us as human beings, as a couple and as people who have remembered how to have fun. In that spirit we arrive, we met and had everything explained to us. We spent the next hour being photographed and switching clothes as well as having a real laugh.
Like I said we did take some props - some of Andrew numerous toys! A monkey, the first stuffed cat he bought for me and a jiggly thing that goes bonkers laughing and jiggling at loud noises. I swear the photographer thought we were crazy but it made everyone laugh.
The next step was to go back 2 weeks later and see the fruits of our labour in the form of a viewing session. We were pleasantly surprised as the viewing was a massive slide show of the imagines taken which had been 'worked on' and we could then mess about with the cropping depending on what products we might want. We decided to be honest with the gentleman who did the viewing - we were happy to settle on just the free one as to buy more would have been incredibly expensive and it is money we don't have as this wasn't something we had planned to do. He was really good about that and there was no 'hard sell' which was fantastic.
The print we went for, which comes in a plain black frame, is a black and white one of us looking at each other in front of a light box - Andrew wearing his England rugby shirt and me in my gorgeous new corset. We are smiling, we look happy and we look like we belong together. I can't wait to finally collect it and get it home and displayed.
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