It was something different for me, so I got to play a bit with some cool graffiti backdrops and some urban landscapes. Audrey looks just a cherub – complete with blonde curly hair, chubby cheeks and an adorable pout. It took her a while to warm to me, but we managed to coax some smiles out of her towards the end. I know Audrey’s extended family will be waiting patiently to see the photos, so without further ado, here they are…

I wanted her look to be about scorching hot days at the beach, ice-creams that melt too fast and scratchy transistor radios. I really got into the retro groove with this project and was just about to don my afro wig and flares, when I came up with this concept. Bec said:

“Love, love, love!  It’s fun, it’s full of sunshine and retro, it’s all about summer… I just wanted to let you know that I am so, so happy with what you’ve done.  Thank you so much!”

  So without futher ado, here it is!

This family was going to be my last official portrait session (but I’ve scheduled another next week for a family who were given a gift voucher and of course I will still be honouring all gift vouchers).

I got to photograph Jed and Abbey whose gorgeous blue eyes you can see below. Abbey was a delight, such a bubbly and fun child to photograph. Mr J was a bit more serious, and it took him a while to warm up to me, until we started playing peek-a-boo and then it was all good!

Some photos from the session…

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I don’t often get to photograph newborns, and the fact that Jamie is the daughter of one of my closest friends made her even that much more special to me. I was pretty happy with the photos while at the same time being so scared that Enjel and her husband Ray wouldn’t like them! Thankfully they do, so all is well!

Congratulations Enjel and Ray, she is just the sweetest thing and I hope to capture many, many more photos of her as she grows up!

here they are…

The session was at 10am and it was already sweltering, so we were unable to do any outdoor shots, lest the children burn to a crisp. Megan had a great back room flooded with natural light which I took full advantage of to capture these shots. Anika did make me work for the smiles, but it was well worth it in the end.

Such a gorgeous family, you can just feel the love in the family photo.

It was the first time I’d had a chance to use the teeny-tiny pettis from Marcella Creations in a client session and I was stoked with the results. David and Kath had just bought a gorgeous new home and the front two rooms were a flooded with natural light and white walls – truly a photographers dream to shoot in! All the lovely neutral colours were the perfect backdrop of these shots and I love the peachy tones of the family photos.

The first shot is my absolute favourite from the session. I wish I had one with my girls like it! I’d have it as a giant canvas in the living room *sigh*

David and Kath, enjoy your sneak peek!

Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light, is one of the times that I remember fondly from my childhood. My aunt and my grandmother, all working together in the kitchen to produce some of the most mouth-watering, decadent sweet treats from old family recipes. While they worked for days in the heat of the kitchen, we would run through trying to pilfer a favourite here and there, get scolded, and unabashedly try again.

On the day we would receive new clothes, get dressed in our best, package up all the sweets into festive plates of goodies and take them to family, friends and neighbours as a gesture of goodwill. In the evening we would light the clay lamps along the verandahs and strive valiantly to ensure none were blown out by the winds. Inevitably in Durban, it was always rainy or windy on Diwali.

The best part of the evening were the fireworks. My grandfather used to buy boxes of them well in advance for all the grandkids. Roman candles, Tom-Thumbs and a host of others that whizzed, swirled, popped, or simple exploded overhead in magical showers of light.

As many of the foods made on Diwali are only made on this one occasion each year, I took the opportunity to photograph some of the sweets. I was supposed to be packaging up the plates but instead I was trying to make the most of the fading light, my mother’s dining room table (already overflowing with trays of food) to capture the colour, the richness and the variety to share. And if you think they look good, the flavour is indescribable…

Happy Diwali everyone!

Kyra requested a leopard outfit quite early on, and my grand visions of making a costume came to a grinding halt when I discovered the fabric cost $69/m. Off to local toy shop we went where this snazzy leopard outfit was only $50 and probably much better looking than one I could turn out.

Not to be left out, Lia was bribed with face-paint, a pettiskirt from Marcella Creations (website launching next week – watch this space) and ‘her’ leopard print jacket that was a gift to Kyra from their godmother Kasia (who bemoaned the fact that they were not available in adult sizes). I have to say this jacket has fared impressively well over the last 5 year and still looks in mint condition – a near miracle given how often its gets worn.

Anyway – some pics of my wild African children from today…