Its a childhood joy. Jumping in puddles!
I've watched my niece's gain endless hours of pleasure, just by walking and running through puddles of water.
It turns out though, that not all people have enjoyed this childhood pleasure. Take Yvonne. She says she has never jumped in a puddle. Ever.
It goes deeper than that - puddle jumping is connected to a free childhood, something Yvonne didn't have. And now she is trying to reclaim the experiences that she has not had. Starting with jumping in puddles!
After days of rain, and a weekend looking to be filled with storms and more rain, we were faced with not being able to take photos. Or we could find something to do with all the wetness and puddles of water everywhere. Puddle jumping!!!
We don't own wellies, though. So the next best thing - high heels! As an extension of our boudoir shooting, where the motivation is to look good naturally, puddle stomping in high heels made prefect sense! Added to that we wore LBD's (little black dresses) and makeup. And adult twist on a childhood activity!
I've watched my niece's gain endless hours of pleasure, just by walking and running through puddles of water.
It turns out though, that not all people have enjoyed this childhood pleasure. Take Yvonne. She says she has never jumped in a puddle. Ever.
It goes deeper than that - puddle jumping is connected to a free childhood, something Yvonne didn't have. And now she is trying to reclaim the experiences that she has not had. Starting with jumping in puddles!
After days of rain, and a weekend looking to be filled with storms and more rain, we were faced with not being able to take photos. Or we could find something to do with all the wetness and puddles of water everywhere. Puddle jumping!!!
We don't own wellies, though. So the next best thing - high heels! As an extension of our boudoir shooting, where the motivation is to look good naturally, puddle stomping in high heels made prefect sense! Added to that we wore LBD's (little black dresses) and makeup. And adult twist on a childhood activity!
Vanessa, capturing a splash moment, in my black, patent leather peeptoe heels!
We went puddle hunting, which is quite a task. They cant be too small, or too big, preferably clean water, and with a nice background to shoot. We only managed the 'nice background'. We ended up choosing the muddiest, biggest 'puddle' of water along the road, which just happened to be near the entrance to the Jockey Academy in Summerveld.
Picture the scene, two ladies in heels and black dresses, with cameras and tripods in tow. One standing in her heels, in the water and the other directing the action. Must have looked hilarious. Specially when I started waving and smiling at them, in an effort to reassure them that we didn't need to be chucked
out, and weren't mad. Yvonne just giggled.
out, and weren't mad. Yvonne just giggled.
Yvonne gingerly standing in the water, doing gentle little puddle jumps.
And so, to the puddle jumping...... Yvonne went first, and that was when I realised that she really didn't know what to do. She spent some time swishing the water around, tapping the edge and looking sheepish. Luckily I have some experience in this matter, so told Yvonne what to do. "Jump! Make a huge splash! Stomp on the water!" And after much encouragement and hooting with laughter, Yvonne got it right!!
Yay! Yvonne got the puddle jumping exercise right! And understood why its so thrilling and exciting, and why its irresistible for little ones! Look at her face - the Puddle Jumping Grin emerges!
It was my turn next. I put on the peeptoe black heels, and proceeded to the water. It was deep, muddy puddle. No wonder Yvonne struggled a bit! But within seconds, the old feeling of euphoria and glee came back - the joy of jumping in puddles! Yvonne snapped away, capturing me in my Puddle Jumping Glee.
Such fun - high heels, little black dress, the wind in my hair, and a puddle!
Such fun, and an effective way to reach back into those childhood memories, and just be! I could see on Yvonne's face that she had achieved a milestone - captured a happy memory, which although was current, was now part of her 'Happy Childhood Times'. I cant wait to do it again, maybe with wellies, maybe with heels again, who knows!?
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