Having a design background, presentation and branding mean a lot to me. I thought I’d share how I package and brand my business. My aim was to ensure continuity across all elements of my business, reinforcing my brand through my logo, website, business cards, packaging, labels, letter heads etc.

I cant stress the importance that your business cards and printing be of a good quality. I use a Printer based in the UK mainly for my business cards and stickers. For my DVD inlays I personalise the covers per shoot and get them printed in SA. If you would like to check out my printers you can order and use this link http://www.moo.com/share/ghdkxm. You will be given a unique code to use at check out which will save you a further 10%.

If you are starting a new business and need assistance with your branding and stationery, contact me for a quote to design your logo, branding and/or packaging for you. I offer a personalised service at reasonable rates helping small businesses find and share there unique identity. When selling your service, nothing is more important than the first impression given to potential clients.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with the Pratley/O Sullivan family. Nicola an old friend of mine wanted family photos with the entire family with the new addition little Conor. It was temperamental weather ranging from being overcast and drizzly to very hot sunny and humid, but even with the changing light I think we got some awesome photos on the Pratley property which has stunning gardens including a real train!.

Conor gets this cute grin when his dad calls him a little creature *so cute*

Hannah Jayne and Levi David are two little twins that were so excited to meet their family they arrived a little earlier than expected. Their very wise doctors didn’t like that much and told them they needed to stay nice and warm in a little incubator till they grow big and strong enough to go home. Now after 2 months of growing strong and getting healthy both twins are finally home.
Jenna their mommy wanted to record the occasion and asked me to take some family photos that they could share with everyone.
Jenna and Grant have been friends of mine for years and I’m just so happy that both twins are doing so well after this very difficult time. They are still so tiny but it was truly amazing to see them home and to see just how happy and relived both parents are to have their beautiful family all together. Here are a few photos taken on the day.

Big brother Ethan and his Daddy.

One thing i loved about this wedding was just how relaxed and calm Slade and Nicola were. We had them in all sorts of spots for the creative shoot. Andrea did some scouting before hand and found two off venue sites, where we did the creatives. It was a perfect afternoon with tons of light. The first venue was at the green door barn. While we were there, we were very excitedly asked to join the owner in a drink to toast the bride and groom. Luckily we could use the excuse of having to get back to the wedding, or i fear we may still be stuck at the old Ooms place having a few drinks. After the very event filled invitation our cool and calm, bride and groom let us trek them out to the veld to get some killer sunset shots. It really was a good creative shoot and after rushing back to the venue the party began. Nicola and Slade are truly a blessed and very loved couple. Their family and friends really are a great bunch of people, making us feel like part of the family. Andrea thanks for the fun shoot, now for the images…

Forgive me i went green wall mad…

If you know me well enough you would know i have a thing for sunsets “heart flutter”

First dance joy

pops getting slightly choked up dancing with his gorgeous daughter

bouquet toss – Nicola really made sure that it got to the girls

i Love the Garter toss it was so funny, something out of a Rugby match

Thanks to Nicola and Slade once again your wedding was magical and i wish you all the best for your years together as a married couple.

This past weekend I had the pleasure to assist Andrea Carlyle at Moon and Six Pence for the wedding of Slade and Nicola. This was such a stunning wedding I’m going to share it in two parts. The morning started out cold and overcast but by midday it had cleared up and was promising a warm and beautiful afternoon.

After meeting Andrea at the venue we got started on the decor shots, Nicola and Slade choose a white and sliver colour palate I just love the pure classic white decor it is so elegant very much like this gorgeous couple. While we were busy with the decor shots Slade met up with us, I have never seen such a calm yet excited groom, I think it had allot to do with his entourage of grooms men they were always by his side making sure he never had a dull moment.
I had the pleasure of doing the Groom and grooms men shots, usually this could be quite awkward but this bunch of guys were such a laugh and made me feel right at home.
Nerves started setting in once the guys were ready and dressed I gave them a few moments to relax a bit and popped in to help out with a few of the bridal shots.
Nicola was breath taking and I just loved her Gorgeous Spanish inspired gown. Before we knew, it was time for the ceremony, the minister was the same marriage officer and minister that married both their sets of parents, what could be more special. The ceremony was filled with special moments but for now ill let the photos speak for themselves

Nicola’s nerves started setting in this was just before a few tears made an apperance

The rest of the wedding coming soon..

It doesn’t often happen that i struggle to pick a favorite image from a shoot I’ve done, but this was just the case after i went through the images of last weekend. Jacquie and Xavier are really good friends of mine and Jax and i have known each other for years. I felt very honored when she hired me to take there engagement photos, she is also a designer and freelancer and its always nice to know friends in the industry like your work are supportive. Jacquie wanted to be creative with her photos and in a few of them add some props and fun outfits. I’m so happy we decided on Gold Reef City as the location there are some amazing spots and just so many photo opportunity’s i’ve posted but a few so that they have some to look forward to.  It was a gorgeous day and after a nice lazy lunch we got going, we were very lucky aswell with Gold Reef city being very quite that day. I will definitely recommend it as a venue for creative shots.

I love the glow of late afternoon sun it makes my heart flutter.

the two images bellow fall under all time favorite list, especially the little visitor that had to be part of the photo.

i loved the way Jacquie accessorized with red details it just made everything pop ( i know designers are supposed to hate that word “pop” but here it actually means pop)

i love the colour of Jacquie’s eyes

Xavier and i were playing while Jacquie had an out fit change, we called this the Justin timber-lake..

hugs and kisses!

I also love these last 3..  actually i just think maybe i love them all

Its not often you get a perfect day in August, this last Saturday was a gorgeous summer day. It was the perfect day for a picnic at the Walter Sisulu botanical garden which the Van De Moortele family had planned to enjoy and relax and we could get some casual family photos of their lovely family.

Hayley contacted me about a month ago and asked if i wouldn’t mind taking some photos for their step Mother Ria’s belated birthday gift. I must say it was such a relaxed calm day, i love taking photos when there is no rush, and on such a stunning day with great light, cute kids and being surrounded by a loving family made it one of my favorite family shoots this year.

Zoe, is just to sweet i couldn’t pull my camera away from her. She loves flowers and nature and just kept herself busy playing all afternoon. Too cute!

Zoe, cheeky face

Hayley and Sam are sister inlaws.

Teagan is Zoe older sister, both of these girls are so photogenic and beautiful.

Ria and Eugene,

Zoe has the most gorgeous eyes i’ve ever seen, but you will see where she inherits them from soon..

The chocolate was way more important than the monkey in my camera..

The whole family,

Hayley’s stunning eyes that little Zoe has inherited

It took Teagan a while to warm up to the camera, until i told her “wow you look just like a model”

Ria stole a kiss from Eugene, you can see his supprise in this set, i just love it when i capture moments like these.

Shaun and Sam,

I love this photo of the 3 girls, it was towards the end of the day in the shade put peaks of golden sun came through the trees.

Shaun and Sam are getting married next year, I will be doing there wedding photos really looking foward to photographing this good looking couple again.

I love being creative and having the opportunity to design for pure pleasure, so when the opportunity came about to design some DIY templates for an awesome wedding inspiration site called Prima Donna Bride i couldn’t resist. Prima Donna Bride will be featuring my designs and photographs on their site for you to view and download. I designed the templates in such a way that anyone can download them and use them for their own themed vintage high tea , tea party, bridal shower, party’s etc.  I used a classic feel, something that reminded me of my own late grand mothers taste in fabric and design. Vanessa from Delicious Gifts joined me for the setup and provided all the Delicious eats and treats that i could use to show case the templates in the “environment” they would be typically used. What i love about set ups like these is that even if the templates wouldn’t typically be the theme you would use for either your kitchen tea or wedding it inspires ideas that you could use for any function. I love ideas, brain storming and making our environment beautiful. So if you have any ideas and would like to give them a go contact me I’m always excited for new ventures and would love to help you get great images out of your products or capture those memories of your special events.  here are a few images of the day let me know what you think.

The afternoon dappled light wasn’t very strong under the willow trees, and we needed to pop some light back into the shade. We wanted to use natural light, so with the help of two assistants we had 1 large and 1 medium reflectors to reflect light onto the models body, face and onto the food. I can’t stress just how much difference a simple reflector can make. I don’t ever leave home on a shoot with out it. Here are some of my favorites from the day and once branding is completed I will post the company’s full details and logo choice incase you would like to get into contact with them.

His brief was that we capture some of his range of products to be launched at the Wedding Expo in September. He needed imagery for his flyers and stand. I will also be doing his branding for his business once the name has been confirmed and registered, that’s another post to look forward to.
But for now the first lot of images are basically selected product shots of the different items on offer. I will soon be posting part 2. Thank you to Hannes Uys for helping out on the day.

I,m not one to bake but i had a sudden desire to bake these amazing homemade jam cookies after i read about them on the Pretty Blog. About two weeks ago i got stuck into my tiny kitchen and made a huge mess. It was allot of fun and hard work, not being knowledgeable in the art of baking i decided to double the recipe. It took 4 hours about 4 burnt trays of cookies, and maybe 2 trays of decent ones to complete this task. I have to admit though my motives for baking were more on the photography side of it but i did end up with a great gift to give friends of mine at dinner party that night. They were super yummy though and worth all the effort! thanks THE PRETTY BLOG…

Next post to look forward to is of my new client, we did picnic inspired food photography for his new company. This one should be an intresting post, as ill be working on his logo and branding aswell.

Back to the cookies here is the recipie incase your not such a disater in the kitchen as i am.

* 125 g Butter
* 250 ml Sugar
* 2 Eggs
* 625 ml Flour
* 12.5 ml Baking Powder
* 1 ml Salt
* ± 125 ml strawberry, raspberry or cherry jam, strained.

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until light, fluffy and pale.
2. Add eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well until a dough forms. Leave the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
3. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut out 25 – 30 rounds using a round cookie cutter. Cut heart shapes out of the centre of half of the rounds. Place them all on a lined baking tray.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced and thickened, about 7 minutes, leave to cool.
5. When the cookies are done, remove the tray from oven and allow to cool. To assemble, sandwich the whole rounds and the heart cut-out rounds together with strawberry jam.
6. Leave for a while in order for the jam to set. Dust with icing sugar.

This post is long overdue considering the wedding took place on the 23rd April 2011.
It was really a rainy week, the weekend Angus and Chevorne were in South Africa to get married,
They work and live in Japan and came all the way here so they could celebrate with close family and friends.

Ursula Tocik from Ursula Tocik photography ask me to assist her at this truly international wedding with guests flying in from all over the world.
I couldn’t miss the opportunity to work with one of the most awesome and friendly photographers I’ve met in a long time.

Even though stormy skies were looming we managed to get some really nice shots,
there’s not much I can add about this lovely wedding the pictures speak for themselves.
EnjoyXXX

Mia & Francois were married in April 2010 at Leopard Lodge. This was one of those blog posts that got lost in the process and only until i started updating my site did i realize i never got round to posting this awesome wedding. I second shot for Kat Forsyth. Its always a pleasure to work with her a very talented lady indeed.

These are just a few photos i took at Ricky and Candy’s wedding. There was an official and very expensive photographer there but these were just some of the moments i photographed through out the day. It was nice not to have all the pressure to capture everything and take the photos technically correct etc etc… so i took photos when i felt like it, because for once the photos were for me, my memories and my album of family pictures. It was such a special day, watching my cousin say his vows and just being part of it all . Congrats guys, i know you will be very happily married.

My mother grew up on a game/ cattle farm in Namibia until she went to university in South Africa. We still have allot of family in Namibia and for my grandmothers 80th birthday we decide to celebrate on the farm which the family used to own, the new owners run a hunting and guest farm now as well as still working with cattle. They invited the whole family to stay over new years which was really amazing.

I was able to see where my mother and all her siblings grew up and put pictures to stories I’ve always been told. I never imagined it could be so beautiful and isolated its literally 3 hours in any direction to any form of civilization that means no shops no malls nothing just pure wilderness, sunset and dramatic sky’s. You could really get lost here.. Literally and figuratively…

there are allot of photos so click on the more link there’s a mix of the farm then also of Windhoek itself.

My husband took this picture * credit is due hehe

Candys hen party was one of the most fun i’ve been to in a long time, beside the fact we are now “new cousins” it was just awesome. Her family and friends went through so much effort to give her a vintage tea party of note, we all stepped in to help to give her a day she really deserved to be pampered and spoilt. Firstly the food… “i just drooled a little”. My boy cousin is a very talented chef and until recently was running a Arline catering company that supplied flights food for some very famous and very dare i say “rich” people. He did the catering for his future wife’s hen party, and all i can say is that food is art. He truly is one of the most talented people i know. If you like what you see i can give you his contact details. the day was spent enjoying family, friends, sunshine and of course great wine. welcome to the family candy :we love you very very much!

You don’t really appreciate what you have until its gone, this is so true in so many way but today for me its our holiday. Its been two months and im already daydreaming of when i can go back. Rhodes is typically quite a tourist destination but we found such lovely spots that were so gorgeous. I would recommend a visit there to anyone. Today all i can think of is that i should of appreciated it so much more i wish i could go back and relive the carefree holiday all over again.