Puffins…!   I should’ve looked up Puffins! Where do Puffins go?  ‘They burrow in holes…..’  Was that convincing?  Well I figure if you say anything with enough conviction it becomes believable.

Today it would appear that I am the driver / tour guide!!  I must revise my subjects of interest.  I do enjoy ‘couple’ shoots.   It is great when I get to drive normal folks to fantastic locations and marvel at the artistry, as Koala creates their very own ‘people in landscapes’  image ‘.

It also means that I get allies…

I get sympathy,  appreciative comment,  shared experience of adventure,  even bonding, forged in the enthusiastic wake of Koala when she’s ‘in the zone’.  I like allies.  I like couple shoots.  It does however mean an early start.  ‘…..to catch the light!.. It’s all about the light!!’

The feckin light! I’m not impressed with any form of light at an hour that begins with a 4.  I’ve realised this.  So… Puffins.  This subject threw me,  as I drove our lovely clients, in the dark, to the spectacular landscape of Glen Coe.   No puffins will be seen here, but I did learn that they are to be found on the Isle of May in the Firth of  Forth.   Just a stones throw from Edinburgh.  Who knew?

The drive to the location gives Koala time to adjust.   Time to soften the impact on the client,  acclimatise them to a day of cold, hunger, mud and maybe fence climbing!  I provided knowing consolation and the offer of coffee from my Army thermos!  It also gives her ample time to wind up the enthusiasm spring as the sun begins to rise.  Koala becomes more animated as the snowy peaks become visible… ‘Look!!! Look at the reflection on Rannoch Moor!!!!’

The plan had changed.  Nothing new there… ‘… follow the light!!’  I immediately stopped the truck.  The resident Eastern European photographers hastily took cover as the Mitsubishi ploughed into their tripod-ed lay-by!  …the adventure begins!

It’s 8.30 am on a Sunday morning and I’m on my knees,  in the freezing bog of Rannoch Moor, adjusting a wedding dress!   A wedding dress!!!  A beautifully bejewelled traditional Pakistani wedding dress it had to be said.  The silk embroidery was just not fanning out as it should darling… I observed Gok Wan style… and adjusted accordingly.  The Eastern Europeans had observed my efforts and smiled or was that a disturbingly subtle wink?!

No matter.. Koala was now in motion.  The spring was released!  The clients looked toward me for help, wide eyed in their wedding finery.  Stood frozen in the bog wondering how exactly they had woken up here!  ‘Reflection… look at the reflection!!’ Buachaille Etive Mor stood majestically behind the scene at the head of Glen Coe,  her snowy peak glistened in the pink of sunrise.

Koala was off and running. There would be no return now until the sun hit the buffers at sunset.  They never had a chance.

I smiled sympathetically.

Coffee?

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