Photo shoots at The Cambridge Satchel Company have always been a little unconventional.

Back in 2008, our Founder & CEO Julie photographed the very first satchels by her bike, on the grass in her garden. One day, she collected her children, Emily & Max, from school and they headed to King’s Parade in Cambridge for a mini photo shoot. (They were paid in chocolate bars, naturally!).

Today, although a lot has changed for us as a business, we try to maintain this approach to photography. We never use models, we’ve never felt the need to; our bags are for everyone and so we love to photograph people who already carry and love them: our friends, our family, our colleagues and other great people we know.

This season’s collection brings us full circle. With a palette very much inspired by the colours and quirks of our founder Julie's garden, we decided there really was no better place to shoot the new season bags.

Here’s a little look behind the scenes of what we got up to on our day trip to Cambridge; highlights include some seriously impressive cameos from Julie’s dogs and a picnic on a punt down the River Cam… it was a day to remember!

9.45am: We arrive at Julie’s house and head straight out into the garden. The sun is shining! (This shoot had already been postponed twice because of the terrible British weather so we were very excited about blue skies!)

10.30am – Julie’s dog Barnaby has found a spot of shade to escape the heat – we don’t blame him!

11am – We stop for a sugar break with treats from Julie’s local bakery in Cambridge. How cute are these little guys? Almost too cute to eat. (Almost – we managed somehow!)

11.15am – Back to shooting and this time, we have a surprise guest – Barnaby is ready for his blue steel moment. Our Graphic Designer Maria has made a friend.

12.30pm – We book our taxi into Cambridge city centre, but not before Julie treats us to some more beautiful cakes. These are the fanciest French Fancies we’ve ever seen. (We’re big cake people here at CSC, in case you hadn’t already noticed).

1pm – Table for 8 please. Lunch at one of our (and Julie’s) favourite places in Cambridge – Fitzbillies

1.45pm – Shooting some classic ‘Cambridge’ shots on a bike-lined Trumpington Street.

2.30pm – Zoe & Charlie are delighted to be exploring the colleges of Cambridge University in the best way possible – a punt down the River Cam with Scudamores

2.45pm – Our Traveller Bag in its element, carrying our camera and spare chargers (a must have for a day of shooting!)

3pm – Listening intently to our chauffeur as he tells us the history of the colleges (whilst also posing for photos – multi-tasking at its best!)

3.30pm – End of the punt, smiles all round. (Almost – we think Sophie must be hungry (again) in this shot!) We took a few more snaps around King’s Parade before heading back to London with our Fitzbillies’ Chelsea Buns in tow.

Another brilliant (but exhausting!) shoot day.