christmas cheer...

well, can't believe another year and another christmas has been and gone again so fast! hope you all had a great time with family and friends over this time.  ours here in south africa was very hot and very different from a cold snowy english one!  we had a great time with friends and family tho and managed to have a good chill in between.  
has been so long since i last posted something, but after being on holiday for a while couldn't go any longer without putting something up, so here are some pics from our south african christmas day.  my friend's child, loved opening her pressies from Father Christmas and trying them out as soon as she opened them.  Makes me wana be a kid all over again to experience the loveliness of christmas! happy holidays everyone and hope you have a fantastic new year, may this next year bring all your hopes and dreams to reality! :)
(p.s. music to listen to at the moment, Yann Tiersen's soundtrack to Amelie, love that movie!)

party party party

well, nearly Christmas time...and in usual Christmas form the party invites start rolling in around this time.  up until now we had a lovely time celebrating my birthday, then a friend robbie's birthday and then the engagement of our lovely friends jess and caleb.  the engagement party was in a fab cafe in barrack street in cape town near the assembly.  its run by caleb's brother and is def the place to be, so go and check it out!  have lovely old bicycles there that i had my eye on the whole night.  gave a couple of hints to the hubby so we will see! 

here are some pics from the parties below.  looking forward to the Christmas hols to get snapping with the camera a bit more.  also in desperate need of some spare time now!  roll it on!  until then....

hubby at my bday drinks

friends at robbie's 21st

robbie, the bday boy (right)

hubby chatting at engagement party

friend emalie at engagement party

jess (centre) the lovely engagee :)

fashionista: a person who creates or promotes high fashion.....

had quite an eventful weekend.  on saturday night went to my friend Roxanne Robinson's graduation fashion show for Elizabeth Galloway academy.  was some amazing talent there, hats off to all of you girls who worked so hard to put this show together! went with my friend emily and managed to get some shots of the show.  was my first time photographing a fashion show, and unfortunately had to do it from the side on the front row which proved a little difficult.  check out my friend roxanne's blog here for behind the scenes and emily's blog here for coverage of the event.  

Sandra Peck

Elmi Marais

Johene Van Der Burg

Roxanne Robinson

Roxanne Robinson

Roxanne Robinson

emily is also wearing the same shoes for a month in aid of barefoot against poverty.  follow her journey here.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder....

went to such a rad market the other week called Kamersvol.  it was jammed packed with jewellery, stationary, food, kitchen stuff, antiques, clothes, bags....and was everything original.  i was in my element! i even made my hubby come back with me the next day so he could experience it, he esp. loved the food stallls of course!

managed to make a few purchases of my own there.  some of which, i wanted to share with you.  i am in a funny stage recently of collecting or making things that i find beautiful or quirky.

the funny little bear/monster thing i made a while ago, just messing around really

the bashew bottles and crate i got from the market.  have been wanting an old crate for ages now to store my mags in

the pocket watch pendant was cheap from a little jewellery place in a mall, thought it was cute

the medals are from my hubby's grandfather.  his dad gave them to him recently, i still have to do some investigating what they each are for.

i have been wearing my hair in a new style now, clipping it up on the sides, so when i saw these bow clips i had to get them, and only R20.00! bargain!  who said beautiful things had to be expensive?

pendant necklaces are made by the pendant warehouse. made my mother & daughter combo.   website is www.thependantwarehouse.co.za if you wana check them out

the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker....

decided to be more creative on the recycling side of things the other night.  had 4 Grolsch beer bottles left from a dinner the other night and remembered that i had some black glass paint lying around, so decided to make some candlestick holders out of them.  below is a pic of my attempts.  now thinking about more things i can recycle from around the house...

inspiring........

have been looking at some amazing blogs at the mo, that are really inspiring me.  thought i would share a few:


iheartyouroutfit - written by my lovely friends Emily & Liza check this blog out if you love anything to do with fashion. 


Rosie Hardy - inspiring photographer, that has just done the album cover for Maroon5. love Rosie's honesty about her life and the work that reflects this.


Lucy can't Dance - from my lovely quirky friend Roxy, who is just finished her degree in Fashion at Elizabeth Galloway Academy.  Rosy not only writes about fashion, but her life and anything that she has found that inspires her creativity.


myluckyundiesarered - friend of Roxy, Thomas' photograph blog.  Thomas has an amazing way of capturing life on film...


He And She Photography - Randy & Erin, a husband and wife photographer duo hailing from california. He&She photograph a lot of different couples, as well as their travels around America. love their unconventional style..


I Am Photograph - Ryan Strong, photographer, designer, giving his perspextive on everything and anything that is inspiring him at the moment. 


Kelland Photography - friends from here in Cape Town, Sean & Jenna Kelland.  love the style of their photography
Totally Rad Photography
crazed shutterbugs a blog by Jessica Jones. have just been recommended this blog by another friend and love Jessica creativity in everything, not just photography..


Face Hunter - inspired by street fashion, on the hunt for anyone and anything that has style  on the streets of some of the majoe cities of the world


We Live Young teenage gyspy photographer Nirrimi.  She has just shot Brooke Fraser for her new album Flags. 


i eat robots - new blog by my friend steph...she has just entered the blog world, check her blog out for pieces of her life here.....


makes me want to write on my blog more often...

if music be the food of love....

been editing a lot of pics this week and thank goodness i have had endless amounts of music to listen to.  below is a little playlist of bands that have been keeping me happy into the late hours of the night editing pics...

awake my soul - mumford & sons

home - edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros

le mepris - caracol

l'amour est un tricheur - caracol

stay too long - plan b

dogs days are over - florence & the machine

rollerblades - eliza doolittle

brown sugar - rolling stones

vcr - the xx

to name just a few....

just got some pics developed from my old Fujica 35mm film camera that my parents gave me.  put in some Sensia 100 film and then had it cross processed and this is what came out..

watched the 'Factory Girl' the other day about Edie Sedgewick.  Loved it! but what a tragic life she had, so sad!  sienna miller and guy pearce are brilliant in it!

to end off, here is a quote from the movie...

Andy Warhol: I wonder if people are going to remember us? 

Edie Sedgwick: What, when we're dead? 

Andy Warhol: Yeah. 

Edie Sedgwick: Well I think people will talk about how you changed the world.

Andy Warhol: I wonder what they'll say about you... in your obituary. I like that word. 

Edie Sedgwick: Nothing nice, I don't think. 

Andy Warhol: No no, come on. They'd say, "Edith Minturn Sedgwick: beautiful artist and actress...

 Edie Sedgwick: ...and all around loon. 

Andy Warhol: ...Remembered for setting the world on fire... 

Edie Sedgwick: ...and escaping the clutches of her terrifying family... 

Andy Warhol: ...Made friends with eeeeverybody, and anybody... 

Edie Sedgwick: ...creating chaos and uproar wherever she went. Divorced as many times as she married, she leaves only good wishes behind.
[laughs]

 Edie Sedgwick: That's nice, isn't it? 

awake my soul

How fickle my heart 

and how woozy my eyes

I struggle to find 

any truth in your lies

And now my heart stumbles 

on things I don't know

This weakness I feel 

I must finally show

Lend me your hand 

and we'll conquer them all

But lend me your heart 

and I'll just let you fall

Lend me your eyes 

I can change what you see

But your soul you must keep, 

totally free

Har har, har har, har har, har har

In these bodies we will live, 

in these bodies we will die

Where you invest your love, 

you invest your life

In these bodies we will live, 

in these bodies we will die

Where you invest your love,

you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul

Awake my soul

You were made to meet your maker

Awake my soul, awake my soul

Awake my soul

You were made to meet your maker

You were made to meet your maker 

had some much fun editing these pics below, drinking endless amounts of tea, and some wine (not together!), eating chocolate biscuits and listening to the soothing sounds of Mumford & Sons.  Really am in my happy place and seriously wishing, hoping that I was good enough to do this full time. 

has been awhile, but my soul definitely feels more awakened now after being in my happy creative space for a while.  here are the results.  a friend yolande asked me to take some pictures of her a while ago and as i have been away from cape town, it took me a long time to get round to it.  but the other day she met me on the beach and in a vineyard, told me the kind of thing she was looking for, and this is what came of it.  hope you enjoy.... :)

back into the swing of things...

well, knew it had been a while....but didn't think it had been over a month since i last blogged!  time really has flown by.  august was one of the busiest months i have ever known, and not time for many pics to be taken i'm afraid.  i really have been meaning to get back into taking more pics, but luckily this time away has given me time to think about what i want to do with my photography and also a lot of time to get some more inspiration.


am off to england tomorrow for a friends wedding, so hoping this is going to get the inspiration juices flowing even more!  


have been wanted to experiment with some film some more.  alas, some expired film is still sitting in my fridge waiting to be exposed!  going to have fun with that when i return me thinks!


in the mean time, here are some pics that i took with my holga camera yonks ago and only got developed a couple of weeks ago.

we are family...

asked three lovely sisters the other day, some good friends of mine, whether they would be interested in doing a photo shoot for my portfolio.  they agreed, and off we went to the beach to take some shots.  we had lots of fun, doing cartwheels, jumping and getting wet in the sea, and below is the first shot i have managed to edit since then.  being in competition with my husband and his music for the computer is becoming quite difficult.  think we are needing another computer!  but any how, here is the first shot...and once i manage to have time (or more like manage to kick my hubby of the computer!) i will post the rest up on here.


been thinking a lot about what to do with my photography..whether to keep it just a nice hobby or see if i can take it further.  seems a lot of photographers i admire have found their own style, and usually this is what makes them so good.  i still have to find mine and exactly what i want to pursue.  but all part of the process i guess and the journey.  am loving portraits at the moment tho, and have already been asked by some friends if i can take some  family portraits for them. little bit scary, because everything up until now has been of my own accord...now this is someone wanting something its a bit more of a challenge, but i'm up for it! 


if you are reading this and happen to live here in cape town...i want to build more of my portfolio up, so if you are about and up for it, would love to have some people to photograph! :)


hope you like this shot.  you can find more of my work here on flickr. 

combat kid...

wanted to just upload some new pics of fun times had with my friend Michelle.  now on the look out for more models to practice on!  also having been taking my camera everywhere with me (esp my lomo, love that cam...and also trying to finish the film in there!). at the mo loving to bits the fab photography genius of Nirrimi...check out here blog right...here. loving the 'in the moment' vibe...going to try to do more of that I've decided.
also just wanted to add a friend of mine who is living in England at the mo has just started her own business of baby photography.  she has just finished her new website and you can check it out here.
So here are a few pics of my friend Michelle..fun times.  if you wana check out the whole set you can go to my flickr...on this button...here.
have a lovely week...

World Cup Madness.....

can't believe it is nearly over, but having the World Cup here in South Africa has been amazing!  didn't get to go to any of the games unfortunately, but has a great time at fan parks in Cape Town and walking the fan mile with all the Dutch fans.  would have been nice for England to go a bit further...but us English fans usually have our hopes quite high and we never quite get there....but oh well.


in Cape Town they have really gone all out and built like a mini London Eye, except this one is called the Wheel of Excellence! :)  don't know if this is something they are going to keep here, and haven't been on it yet...but did manage to take some shots of it and the city of Cape Town the other night when we went to the fan park.


also had a great time on a shoot with my friend Michelle yesterday.  those pics to follow.  until then, here is the wheel of excellence (not the wheel of fortune!) :) ..