lawrence family shoot

i've never done a maternity shoot before, so this was a combination of an experiment / baby shower gift for my friends justin, christy and their son mark. christy is about 33ish weeks pregnant with a boy -- we've been waiting a long time for little evan :)

it helps having such a ridiculously good looking family to photograph {and a glowing mom-to-be}, but i think the fact that we had a lot of fun also comes through in the pics x

nicole & willem sneak peek

if you know me, you'll know i'm not a morning person. at all. but waking up at 5:30am on an almost-winter saturday morning was completely worth it to shoot nicole and willem's wedding. 

the amazing tim gerges (check out his photo blog here) and i had done their engagement shoot a few weeks back and it was a lot of fun (even when it started to rain!), so we were really excited about shooting their wedding as well.

i could not be happier for nicole -- she absolutely glowed on her special day. she also had the most beautiful bouquet i've seen. and willem looked so dashing in his perfect pin-stripe suit. thanks for trusting me so many times -- asking you to take off your shoes and climb in a freezing cold pool and loads of other stuff. but thanks, especially, for being so authentically in love.

here are a few sneak peeks, enjoy x

weddingness

so....i shot my first wedding on wednesday {the public holiday} and it was so much fun. it was also special being able to celebrate with monique and donovan whose engagement shoot i did recently. they are such a wonderful couple, and i wish them all the love and happiness they deserve.

i was a little relieved to be second shooter for the day, so there was less pressure on me, especially being a "virgin wedding photographer". i am not going to lie...it's hard, hard work and i was totally exhausted after the ceremony -- only halfway. sheesh. but i learnt so much. and i got to use my brand new 50mm lens and my newly acquired external flash, which was a total lifesaver when the skies turned black and any natural light completely disappeared :)

anyhow, these are some of my faves {sneak peeks really}...

love in unexpected places

this is not photoshopped, promise. i opened up a pack of golden delicious apples and found one apple had an interesting discolouration on the skin...in the near-perfect shape of a heart. this is not the first time something like this has happened. i once opened up a pack of simba chips and found a chip in the perfect shape of africa. no word of a lie.

so i had to take a pic of my "lovely" apple. 

sometimes we find love in surprising places :)

hello little olive bun

i was so privileged to spend the morning with the practically brand new {5 day old} olivia van lieshout who was born to two wonderful parents, gary and chelsea, this last week. 

they were gracious enough to let me take some pics, and i am completely in awe of this beautiful little babe. chels fell pregnant while i was in the states, and there was a possibility i would not have been back for her birth, but i am so glad that i am back home, and that i get to witness this lovely little baby grow into a beautiful little girl and more.

congratulations gaz and chels, you could not be more blessed. love love love x

{belated} birthday love

there's nothing quite like getting a parcel from home. it reminds you that even though you are far away, you kind of never really are too far from people who love you. 

so i have some birthday love from johannesburg and cape town, south africa. and the words in the cards were so special. despite the delay in postage, the timing could not have been better than today x