Stu and I moved into a new place in February this year. We went from the little Umdloti cottage shared with my sister Lisa, her husband Tyrone and the two main coons Ruby and Darwin, to complex living. This scared the hell out of me at first. I was horrified about going from old wooden floors to white tiles and electric fences but I can honestly say after some home TLC I am loving living where we are now.

My tastes in decor are rather polar opposite  from Stu’s to put it mildly. I am convinced that if I let  Stu have his way we would be living in an apartment with white walls, black leather couches, a beer fridge, a braai, a flat screen and a fishtank! I on the other hand could think of nothing better than living in an old Jaipur palace!!!! In order to create a space which we both feel happy and at home in, I have kept things quite simple. (well simple for me anyway) My main emphasis has been to make tranquil bedroom space and a home with soul that displays all of our travel trinkets. We still have loads more to do but here are a few pics for now.

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Hayley or rather Doctor Hayley is one heck of an inspiring women! Anyone who has completed a Doctorate and run the comrades gets a serious bow from me! Did I mention that she also planned her whole wedding whilst doing her Doctorate? Yes Endurance could be used as her middle name but there must be a bit of madness thrown in there too! Only kidding! Besides all of that, Hayley is sweet as pie, she has such a lovely gentle nature and the prettiest eyes (which she definitely gets from her Mom). I can see why Mitchell is so smitten with her!

The two of them make a wonderful, laid back, friendly couple and it truly was a pleasure photographing their big day at Calderwood Hall in the Midlands. Thanks guys for picking me!!!

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The week before my 35^th birthday I picked up the book Annie Leibovitz at work and a wave of “Oh my word I am 35 years old and just haven’t achieved enough washed over me”. I am hugely inspired by Annie’s work particularly her early portraits. She has a way of capturing personality rather than just taking a photograph of a person. Her portrait work blows me away.

I began to beat myself up a bit. I looked at all her amazing pictures and suddenly became racked with self-doubt.  I was comparing myself to her!

I recently wrote a Facebook status update saying that I would be taking on an intern in July (which I will elaborate on further in another post) And I got an email that said:

“I would love more than anything to work for you. If I could be anywhere near as good as you I would be happy. In fact looking at your blog makes me sad as I feel like my work is so nowhere. Please pick me.”

It was then that I realized how silly I was being. Just as ‘anonymous’ was comparing herself to little ol me, so I was comparing myself to Annie.

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Sometimes bad things happen to good people, that is just life. What is important is the way that we overcome obstacles and move forward. So many things went wrong before Kat and Garrick’s big day. Kat got an awful flu and was women down and bed ridden on the days leading up to their nuptials. Her photographer (that’s me) caught this flu and was feeling pretty deathly on the wedding day. Her GORGEOUS Vera Wang gown tore on the morning of the wedding whilst she was running to give her Gran a kiss. This meant that they had to call in a friend to help sew and sort out which meant she was rather (ie 2 hours) late for the ceremony.

This amazing twosome could have got in a tizz and turned ugly but both of them took it in their stride and accepted that “it is what it is”. After the “big rip” when everyone was fussing, stressing and all emotional over the dress Kat burst into song. Her beautiful powerful voice replaced all the bad energy with huge smiles and the next thing we knew the ring was on her finger and everyone was dancing joyfully under the twinkling fairy lights.

The way that Kat and Garrick are together is wonderful. I believe that if they handle life with as much grace as they handled their wedding day … they will be a super strong couple. (they already are!)

Oh .. . they got married at The Plantation in Port Elizabeth and besides all the silly drama it was wonderful. Click here to see their engagement shoot

Kat and Garrick thanks for picking me – I have absolutely loved working with you and getting to know you. You are special souls!!!

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Taryn and Judd are two creative souls who met at work.  Judd being the shy type admired Taryn from a distance and they got to know each other slowly. After a while of secretly fancying each other Taryn eventually made the first move. They have been together for six and a half years since then!

Judd proposed on a tropical island so it was only fitting that they got married at the very tropical beach venue Palm Dune at Blythedale. The weather gods smiled down on them, close friends and family came from all over to celebrate, there was lots of dancing and smiles all around!

Thanks for picking me … it was great working with you!

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I have always loved working with people who aren’t afraid to be themselves. Abby definitely fits that mould. She loves big hair and bling and this was translated into so many facets of their wedding! She wore a huge princess dress, sparkly shoes and there were bouffants all round. Grant who prefers clean lines and simplicity  looked super stylish in that perfectly tailored suit!

They got married at Netherwood with 250 friends and family who they spoilt rotten with delicious wine, caramel vodka, Johnny Walker Black and gorgeous wedding favors. There were so many special moments on their big day, there was so much energy in the air and damn it was one heck of a party. (must have been the bottles of caramel vodka on each table!)

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This is the engagement story of two of my most favorite humans on this planet.

Tash is my wonderful assistant and friend. A women who I love, admire and respect for being such a special person. She is always laughing, always smiling always caring.

We went out to India to photograph the wedding of Shane and Laurie and took a few extra days to explore Goa. Her long time boyfriend decided to come out to join us. One day whilst Neil and I were swimming in the warm calm Indian ocean on Palolem beach he told me that he had brought along a ring destined for Tash’s left hand. It took him a few days to actually pop the question (which was rather hard for me as I am not good at keeping secrets!) And when he did, he did it on a pretty Goan beach at sunset. I have never seen a bigger smile nor a happier face. Tash was literally walking on air!

You may ask why I have entitled this blogpost Raj and Parrot Entangled in India. Well .. I have nicknames for most of the people who I adore. Before arriving in India Tash had her hair dyed purple, turquoise and black. The Indian folk just loved her. Wherever we went we heard people saying (Please imagine this with Indian accent and head wobble at the end) I really really like your hair you look like a (insert either one of these birds) peacock, kingfisher, parrot. Parrot just stuck. Tash’s hairdresser would make a bloody killing in India. As for Raj … well Neil looks like a Bollywood actor and does such a fine rendition of one It just stuck. As for the entangled bit …. well ….. they are rather fond of each other!!!!

Love you both …… And yes I will be shooting their wedding!

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The first time I met Natalie she brought me a MASSIVE bunch of country bumpkin flowers. On our second meeting I got to meet Mike and they brought along a bottle of champagne and a punnet of strawberries!  When they found stretch tent hire to be a bit too pricey for their liking, they bought their own. They have now started a little stretch tent hire business with affordable rates on the side (see their details at the end)

They are just those kind of people. And honestly Nats has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Flip I have the best clients! I can’t even class these two as clients anymore they are now friends!

Natalie and Mike met whilst Mike was stranded alone in a non 4×4 bakkie on a sand road on the way to Ponto, Mozambique. Natalie and friend rode up alongside him and came to his rescue. The rest is history. A love story. A wonderful soulful connection. A beautiful child. And then a wedding at the Hatchery which is in Zululand near Amatikulu.

It was wonderful.

I will say it again ……. I have the best clients! Thanks guys for picking me!!!

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Natalie is a huge fan of Christmas, her name actually means Christmas so when Matt proposed he did it on Christmas day on Christmas hill! Using a Christmas theme was therefore perfect for their engagement shoot. Both Natalie and Matt are super creative and so we wanted to do something really arty and unique. I called in my insanely talented friend Drew Christie of Evolve Salons to do the styling and the idea to use a Nutcracker theme was born. Huge thanks to everyone involved and especially to the fabulous couple for giving me the opportunity to make something really different!

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I have always felt like my soul has had a good scrub after a few days in Cape St Francis. It’s my special place, my soul place .. the place with the unique fynbos smell that sends my mind, body and spirit into instant relax mode. Cape St Francis also known as Seal Point also happens to be one of my favorite waves in the world. So …. when Garrick contacted me about shooting their wedding in PE my mind immediately thought about the fact that PE is just an hour away from Seals and that I would naturally have to extend my stay by a day or two. Then I discovered that Garrick is a surfer and that he asked Kat to marry him in St Francis Bay and that was that! Kat and Garrick’s engagement shoot just had to be done there. I have always wanted to do a portrait shoot down in that part of the world and they were the perfect couple for it.

Thanks to the two of you for being the perfect couple for this shoot!!! (that is really the highest compliment from me by the way) We loved our time with you and we loved our time in Seals! Happy Honeymooning!

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